Spring opening help

[Kayakersmith]

Hi, new member here, first post. I'm really hoping the combined wisdom of the moderator's and the community can help me clean up the mess that is currently my swimming pool.

A brief history: I bought a house with a pool ( 20' x 40', 30,000 gal, in-ground concrete) last April and we had the pool drained and re-plastered at the Spring opening (on the advice and at the expense of the previous owner). I used a local pool store to purchase chemicals and do my water analysis all of last season and the water stayed crystal clear and the chemical concentrate within spec (according to the pool store water analysis- a local Bioguard distributor), spending close to $1,200 for chemicals. As we were fully occupied with renovations last year I didn't take the time to thoroughly understand pool chemistry, trusting instead to the pool store employees to guide me. Truthfully, they are very nice, helpful people and I have no reason to believe that they are intentionally gouging me. With that said, after doing some reading here I think that managing this effort myself should be doable.

So on to my current predicament. We had a pool company open the pool last Tuesday- 1 week ago. The water was dark brownish-green. They added some "extra-strength" chemicals and suggested I go to the pool store and have my free chlorine tested, which I did. Here are the results:

CYA- 65, TC 1.5, FC- 0, pH 7.3, TA- 95, Adjusted Alkalinity- 75

Based on these results I was instructed to add 36 lbs. of Balance Pak 100 (sodium-bicarbonate), 4 lbs. of Lo n' Slo (ph Adjuster?), (12) 1 lb. bags of Burnout, and 2 bottles of Banish ( an algaecide).

Spent $250, pool looked exactly the same yesterday (6 days later). I've been cleaning the cartridge filter (Pentair Clean and Clear 200 with 150 gpm pump) and brushing daily since adding the chemicals.

So last night, after spending a couple of hours reading here yesterday, I cleaned the filter again, added 10 gallons of 7.91% available FC "Germicidal" bleach from Home Depot and brushed down the pool. Prior to adding the bleach I tested the water (Bioguard 1200V test kit) and read 7.4 pH, 0 FC and the Total Alkalinity test turned bright orange with 1 drop of reagent.

This morning I tested the FC again and it looks to be about 2.0; water color is still mossy green and we can only see down to the second step (18-20")- urrgh.

Sorry for the long post but I'm very frustrated. Last year we had excellent water quality. Then we paid $400 for a pool closing that added "winterization chemicals" and also paid an additional $180 for two visits over the course of the winter to added additional chemicals. We also paid $500 for a Spring opening that included an extra dose of chemicals to combat the poor water quality. Deep breath....

So, now it's time to take control of this situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Mike
Ashton, MD

[waste]

Mike, Welcome to The Forum!!

You are doing the best thing by coming here and learning!

What you want to do is get a good test kit (links to the Taylor K-2006 are in the moderator's sigs). Test your water yourself and read the posts here (& at Pool Solutions). You'll soon learn how to care for your pool without having to rely on the (often inaccurate) pool store testing.

We'll be with you every step of the way to enable you to properly and efficiently care for your pool! (in terms of both time and $$$)

We will also be here to answer any questions you have (no matter how 'silly' they may seem to you - "the only stupid question is the one you don't ask"

Do some reading here, ask your questions and get a good test kit and by the end of the season, you'll not only have an easy to care for pool, but you may start answering questions for other new pool owners here :D

[Kayakersmith]

Good morning all,

An update on the state of my pool and a request for some feedback please. Two weeks and lots of chlorine and filter rinsing later the pool is clear and sparkling- the kids are so happy! My Taylor K-2006C arrived two days ago and generated the following test results: FC=1, CC=.5, ph=7.7, TA=170, CH=325, CYA=50- not too bad, right? I added 4 "leftover" BioGuard Silk Sticks (trichlor) to the skimmer baskets in an effort to raise the FC and tested again last night- FC was up to 1.5 and all other results are unchanged. Last night I added three lbs of "leftover" Bioguard Maintain Burnout 3 (57.8% Cal-Hypo) in an effort to raise the FC to the 5-6 ppm level- I'll test again this evening to determine the results.

Now I intend to commence the maintenance process without the help of the local pool store, so I'm hoping to get some direction from the folks here on a couple of issues.

My first observation is that the TA is high, however is it so elevated that I need to actively attempt to bring it down now or will it naturally come down over time without adverse consequences?

Secondly, I've got 10-15 Silk Sticks and 8-10 lbs of Burnout left from last year, is there any reason Not to use this up?

Thirdly, like everyone else, I'm interested in the most economical/least labor intensive method of routine maintenance. Last summer I used the Silk Sticks in the skimmer basket continuously and shocked weekly with 3 lbs. of Burnout/cal-hydro and took a water sample to the pool store weekly (sometimes every other week) for analysis. Pool looked great but the cost was very high. I'm considering the continued use of trichlor in the skimmer baskets to keep conditions stable during the week and then shocking with liquid chlorine as necessary- the rationale being that, from what I've read here, it seems like people are testing and adding bleach almost daily, which it not particularly appealing to me. Am I misinterpreting the BBB method and the level of effort required to chlorinate solely with bleach?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Mike
Ashton, MD

[PoolDoc]

Here's an answer to one of your questions: http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/lowering-swimming-pool-alkalinity-step-by-step.html

Using up what you had is probably best, but you'll need to keep the pH low for a month or so, to strip both the existing high Alk, AND the additional alkalinity you are adding via the cal hypo.