"Green" Owner with a Green Pool

[SamMac]

Hello! I have an above ground pool, 24' across and approximately 4.5' deep. I have a SwimPro SW256T high rate sand filter, and I don't recall the brand/model on the pump (I'll get that information when it is light out).

I delayed opening my pool due to travel and not having anyone that would be able to check the levels while I was gone. Due to the harsh winter, my pool cover now has several tears... and my pool is a swamp. My cousins son saved many tadpoles (and a few tree frogs) from my pool already, and I'm finding more in the filter each day (ewww...).

I purchased a new test kit at the store tonight, which measures pH, chlorine/bromine, alkalinity, hardness, and stabilizer. I plan to test the chemicals in the morning, but I know that the pH is crazy high (it was very very pink when I tested it with the last of the phenol red that I had in the other kit). The chlorine level didn't even register, even after adding 2.5 gallons of super shok from the local pool store (I have 5 more gallons in my garage). I also have a bottle of muriatic acid which I am thinking I probably need to add tomorrow, to help get things under control in a more efficient manner.

I am looking forward to having a sparkling clean pool in the coming weeks! At the very least, I'd like the pool to be usable by my birthday (in late August), as I'd very much like to have a pool party/cookout/Doctor Who watching event.

[SamMac]

The pump I have is a Dynamo 340210

pH: >7.8 (it was more pink than the 7.8 rating)
Chlorine: <.5 (it was clear, no hint of yellow at all)
Alkalinity: 60 ppm
Hardness: >600ppm (I stopped adding drops after 12)
Stabilizer: 0 (the black dot never disappeared)

I know the pH is too high, and I probably need to add muriatic acid, but with the alkalinity being too low, I should add baking soda. Those seem to be contradictory to each other. Because the pH is too high, should I just focus on getting THAT right, and then deal with the alkalinity later?

I'm still finding a LOT of stuff in the initial filter bucket (attached to the pool, before it actually GETS to the filter). Should I not worry about anything else until that is clear when I check it? I plan on getting the vacuum out this afternoon, to see if that helps at all with anything (and I know the pool needs it).

[Watermom]

Go ahead and use some muriatic acid to lower the pH some. But, please read this page first:> http://pool9.net/muriatic/

Don't worry about the alk for now. Actually, it is not a problem right where it is unless your pH starts bouncing around. With the high CH, you'll want to keep pH and TA on the low end anyways.

What is your source of fill water that has hardness that high? OR, are you using shock that has calcium in it? What are the ingredients of the shock you are using? What did you use last year as your source of chlorine? For now, just use bleach.

What is the wall height of your pool? Do you have a dug out deeper middle section? I'm a little skeptical about a 4.5ft deep AG pool.

What kind of test kit did you buy? Does it have an OTO chlorine test (yellow drops) or a DPD chlorine test (match to a pink comparator?)

Try and scoop out as much debris as you can. Answer the questions I asked above and then I'll better be able to make suggestions for how much bleach to add. Walmart's generic 8.25% unscented bleach is fine and what most of us use. While you are there, also get a jug of distilled water.

Repost with the answers to the questions and then someone here can help you go from there.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

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[SamMac]

What is your source of fill water that has hardness that high? OR, are you using shock that has calcium in it? What are the ingredients of the shock you are using? What did you use last year as your source of chlorine? For now, just use bleach.
I am using well water. The ingredients on the shock I am using are 12.5% Sodium Hypochlorite, 87.5% Inert Ingredients. Last year, I used 3" chlorine tabs (don't remember the brand and no longer have the container), HTC super shock bags, and the same shok that I listed the ingredients above.

What is the wall height of your pool? Do you have a dug out deeper middle section? I'm a little skeptical about a 4.5ft deep AG pool.
I checked the wall height in one area and it is 4ft. The pool came with the house, and I think that the previous owners that installed it may not have installed it on level ground, as there are some spots where it seems to come up higher on me than others when I'm outside the pool (I'm 5ft 3in).

What kind of test kit did you buy? Does it have an OTO chlorine test (yellow drops) or a DPD chlorine test (match to a pink comparator?)
The test kit I bought is a Kokido 6-way Swimming Pool Test Kit, which measures pH, Chlorine/Bromine, Alkalinity, Hardness, and Stabilizer. The chlorine test is marked as OTO. I found a listing for it on Amazon (currently unavailable, but you can see what came in the kit): http://www.amazon.com/Kokido-6-Way-Swimming-Pool-Water/dp/B009TYQCXC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I need to go to Walmart this afternoon anyway. How many gallons of bleach should I get? And just one of the distilled water?

[Watermom]

Ok. Your shock is simply strong bleach. Bleach is 8.25% sodium hypochlorite. So, you can use what you have. I estimate your volume to be about 13,000 gallons. So, each of those gallons that you have (assuming that they really are 12.5% and the strength hasn't degraded although that is common) will add about 9.5ppm of chlorine.

This evening, go ahead and add 2 gallons of the shock. This is higher than your kit's chlorine test can measure but you can use the chart at this link to interpret off the chart OTO results:> http://pool9.net/oto-chart/

It isn't going to stay that high for long so you'll need to continue to add shock to try and keep your chlorine in the dark yellow range. If your pool is as swampy as you say, you may find that by morning, you have lost a lot of the chlorine. That is good. It will mean that is has been busy overnight killing stuff. You may need to add chlorine a couple of times per day although adding it in the evening is the best time because it allows all the chlorine to go to work oxidizing stuff with none of it being lost to the sun. However, in a pool with low CYA like yours, you may have to also add some during the day to keep some chlorine in there.

Once you get your pool cleaned up, you'll need to add some CYA. You can either do so by using some dichlor for awhile or by just adding some CYA separately. A lot of places are selling blended dichlor which you don't want. IF there is a Sam's Club near you, they sell some good dichlor that you can use. If you buy their 1 lb packs, any that you don't use can be saved until next season. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=108822 If you would rather just add some CYA separately, let us know and we can help you figure out how much to buy and add.


Since you have a CYA test in your kit, instead of ordering a K2006 kit, if you will just order a K1515 add-on kit, it will give you the chlorine test that your kit doesn't have that allows you to measure chlorine readings past 5ppm. It is also available through that same link that I posted above.

Just get one jug of distilled water. No need to buy bleach today although once your 5 gallons are gone, you'll either want to buy bleach or buy more of the shock. Figure out which one is the better buy. I will tell you this, though. Higher concentrations of sodium hypochlorite that are often sold at pool stores have often degraded and are therefore not really the strength the label says. Walmart's generic bleach has a high turnover rate and is more likely to be fresh.

By the way, don't run the CYA test anymore for now. It isn't going to change unless you start using a stabilized form of chlorine (which means it has CYA in it) or unless you add some directly. No reason to waste the reagent.

I'd be curious to have you do a calcium hardness test on a well water sample.

Keep us posted how things are going and if you have more questions, we'll be here!

[SamMac]

I checked the chemicals again this morning before I left for work. The chlorine test was registering around 25ppm, and the pH was between 7.6 and 7.8 (closer to the 7.8 pink). I added some pH Down before leaving for work, and left the pump running all day. The basket is looking MUCH better each time that I check the pool, and I try to spend at least 30 minutes out there with the net each day, cleaning up what I can. I imagine that I'll get the vacuum out tonight, depending on how things look when I get home.

I don't think I've ever been so happy to see the chlorine test come back orange!

[Watermom]

When the chlorine is above 5ppm with your kit (above 10ppm with Taylor kits), you'll get falsely high pH results. Retest pH this evening by mixing equal parts of pool water and distilled water and then run the pH test as normal. (This is what the gallon of distilled water that I suggested you buy will be used for.)

[SamMac]

I just got home and tested the chlorine levels. I'm back down to less than 1ppm. The pool is still murky looking too. Part of me almost wonders if I should drain the pool completely, and start from scratch. :(

[Watermom]

If you lost that much chlorine, that is good. It means your chlorine is working hard to oxidize the stuff in the water. You don't need to drain it. If you keep hammering it with bleach or liquid chlorine, you'll clear it. Trust me.

Log out and go to the section of the forum called "Dealing With Algae and Slime. Near the top, there is a thread third from the top called Avoiding Algae/Removing Algae. In the first post in that thread, click on the link called "Does Bleach Really Kill Algae." You will be amazed at the pictures of a pool being transformed from a swamp to a beautiful pool. The same thing will happen in your pool if you maintain the high chlorine levels. Also, run the pump 24/7 while you are working to clear it and clean the filter as needed.

[SamMac]

Oh wow! That is an AMAZING difference! As long as I'm not on crutches, I'll be vacuuming my pool tomorrow after I get home (I think I've either sprained my ankle or fractured something - going to the doctor tomorrow).

The pump is still running 24/7, as I haven't picked up a timer for it yet.

I've now used the last of the Super Shok from the local pool store. Fortunately, I picked up two gallons of bleach when I was at Walmart yesterday. Walmart bleach is around $0.60 cheaper per gallon than the Shok, so I'll buy more bleach in the next day or two. I'm also checking to see if there are other stores in the area that may have bleach on sale, that has a high % of sodium hypochlorite.

Oh, and the pool store I visit bottles their own chlorine on-site. They have a Shok-Line that is updated daily with the stock status of the shok. I don't know how much of a difference that makes, in terms of if I should use their shok vs Walmart bleach.

Sidenote - how long does it take for me to no longer be a trial user/restricted on what I can see?


And I thought of another question. I'm going to be going out of town on Friday evening (coming home briefly before leaving), and won't return until sometime on Sunday afternoon/evening. I won't have anyone to come over and deal with chemicals while I'm gone. Is there anything I can do to minimize the potential issues that me not being here on Saturday/early Sunday may cause? I should be gone for around 48 hours total.

[Watermom]

Just shock the pool before you go.

Regarding trial status ---- we have had SO many people register recently and are working to get them all done as fast as possible (plus continue to work at the same time to answer the posts of all the members who are already 'in') but I can't promise you a "when." I know it is hard to be patient, but trust me, it will be SO worth it! ;)

[SamMac]

Well, I was going to hook up the vacuum and clean the pool tonight, but I'm apparently missing at least one (if not more) parts. I know that I have a Baracuda cleaner, which appears to be a model 1500 based on an image search I did. I think I'm missing some parts though. I know that I used *A* pool cleaner last year, but I don't think it was the Baracuda, and I have NO clue where the cleaner I used is.

I've uploaded a few photos to a Picasa album (https://plus.google.com/photos/112426350659122956240/albums/6039052715980278081?authkey=CK6f-4PuxaPYRw) so you can see what I have. There are several of the short white hoses, which I know connect to make the larger hose for the Baracuda. I know the steering wheel looking thing attaches somehow to the pink and blue main portion of the cleaner. But I have no idea on what the blue hose connects to, or what the white square thing is. You can't see it, but at the other end of the clear plastic hose that is attached to the white square thing, there is another elbow. Also, not pictured is a "hose protector net" (only know this because it was in a Baracuda manual that I found online).

[Watermom]

I'm sorry that I can't help you with this part. But, hopefully someone will be able to. Good luck!

[SamMac]

I still haven't been able to get my pool to clear up. :( Based on the bottles I'm accumulating for my recycling bin, I've put at least 12 gallons in my pool, just since I made my first post here.

Should I add some sort of a stabilizer to the pool? One of my friends suggested it, but I have no idea if I should or not. I don't have access to a Sam's Club (no membership, and I don't know anyone with a membership), though I might be able to go to CostCo this weekend (going to visit friends that live near one, and we usually try to get at least one CostCo run when I go up there).

At this point, all I'm doing is adding regular bleach to the pool. Is there something else I should be adding? I'm trying to get the vacuum figured out, but having no luck so far. I'm about to order something inexpensive off Amazon, just to get me through the rest of this season, in hopes of finding something better on clearance over the winter/at the end of the season.

[BigDave]

Stabilizer is CYA. Same thing. You do need it (see post #5). Sam's Club is one of the few sources we know of that sells unadulterated dichlor (99% dichlor, about 55% chlorine). Wall mart and cosco sell junk dichlor - don't buy it. It can make things much worse.

Is the algae dead? Dead would be white or grey or brown - no green. And no green when you brush the pool. If the chlorine level slips below shock level, the algae will come roaring back.

If it is all dead, then it's just going to take a while for the filter to clear the pool.

[SamMac]

I've finally managed to get the pool to hold chlorine, and it's reading around 9ppm right now (I picked up some CYA, and it's been holding steady ever since). My pH is around 7.6. The pool is still a teal-ish color. I've been brushing the walls and floor as I can, which has stirred up a fair amount (the pool looked brownish the first night I did it), but I haven't been able to get the vacuum to work properly to give it a good sweeping.