Help! Big Time! [Archive]

PoolKid

09-12-2006, 07:45 PM

Hey ChuckD,

Thanks for the advice, :P

The only problem is cleaning it up i don't know how to, I am not very handy at pool stuff lol

Im going to check stickys now.

But if you can explain in detail what i need to get and where and how to put it in, that would be great.

Edited Part:

Also Do i need to have the filter to do anything? Cause that wont be here till friday.

The pools Green but not so green that you cant see the bottom.

The Stuff that i have left is this:

A whole Bunch of Chlorine tabs

Aqua Chem algaecide liquid

and a half a bag of shock,

LOLLLLLLLLL! thats all i have?!!?@!?@!

ChuckD

09-12-2006, 07:58 PM

First you need a test kit that will give you results for high levels of chlorine (up to 25 or so) since that's how you'll clean up the algae. The FAS-DPD test is the best. It's included in Ben's great test kit, but I hesitate to recommend it right now. He's having some trouble getting them out. No test strips allowed tho. They aren't reliable.

Get a decent kit and get your circulation going, read, read, read and give us some numbers, then we can talk about what you need to do. Also we need to know what kind/size is your pool and what kind of filter.

C.

PoolKid

09-12-2006, 08:21 PM

ChuckD

09-13-2006, 01:05 AM

My Pools Not a big pool, Its above ground, and is just 18 ft by 4 ft

My filter pumps about 2000 gals,

It's not that big, thats why i dont really want to spend so much $$ on a test kit for a small pool like that.

As you said test strips are unreliable, but thats only what i have now, and it reads nothing when i stuck it in,

There are pools here much smaller than yours. A test kit is key to keeping your water clean and clear, consider it an investment. And if you can't provide accurate numbers, there isn't a whole lot anyone can do to help, eh?

You've got the same concerns as someone with a 50K inground, just on a smaller scale.

Some suggestions (from Leslie's Pools who I'm not endorsing, no connection to them, just for reference):

- FAS-DPD test kit (you'll use this a lot) #18546
- http://www.poolsupplies.com has a kit called a "7 Way" (#107770) for $20 that looks like it'll pick up the other stuff you need to test for.

In order to get ***istance here you'll need to be able to provide levels for free chlorine, combined chlorimines, pH, total alkalinity and cyanuric acid (CYA). Also important is knowing if your filter is a sand, cartridge or diatomaceous earth (DE) medium.

Last thing I would strongly suggest: once you start this process, and if you're getting help here, don't veer off and start adding stuff based on a pool store's advice (or other 'helpful' types). I've seen many who come here to get advice, they're sent away to do one thing and they come back and said something like 'so my neighbor two doors down said I should add 20 pounds of ACME PeeClear so I did, or worse (and this really happens) they say they stopped at a local Pool store and returned with $150 chemicals and dumped them in. We advocate a very simple, cheap, healthy process that doesn't have much to do with the profits of pool stores and it's really important not to deviate from it.

So, that said, once you get your pump and filter up and running, and barring any unforseen issues, you should have clear water in 3 to 5 days. Personally, I wouldn't do anything with the pool until you can get the filter working. IMO, circulation goes hand in hand with dosing it with chemicals.

Also, don't know where you are but it sounds like you're getting ready to close for the winter. I still think it's worth it to go thru the process for a month or so to get to know it. Then when spring comes around you'll have a leg up on how it works and the learning curve will be easier.

HTH,

Chuck

PoolKid

09-13-2006, 07:07 AM

Hey Chuck, Thanks for all the info.

Is there any place i can get that filter, in the NC salisbury area?

I have a pool suppy store buy the only water kit they got is BioGuard OTO/pH Test Kit.

Would that be good enought to test my pool with?

Thanks again

Simmons99

09-13-2006, 01:33 PM

The OTO test kit only tests chlorine levels up to 5ppm (or worse sometimes 3ppm). The best is the one that Chuck listed with the link to the Internet site. If you cannot wait - yes you can get the OTO kit, but you will need to also purchase DISTILLED water (from the grocery store)

When you test - you will take one part pool water with 3 parts DISTILLED water - then test - then multiply your results by 4. THIS IS NOT THE MOST ACCURATE WAY - but it might get you by until you can get a FAS-DPD test kit like Chuck listed.

doggie

09-13-2006, 02:07 PM

Does anyone know for sure what the kit Chuck posted about tests? It says 7 way, but lists FC, Alk, CYA, PH and Calcium Hardness. I'm curious what the other 2 things are.

ChuckD

09-13-2006, 02:57 PM

What Simmons99 said and...

The reason you need the FAS-DPD test is:

1. because you will initially need to 'shock' your pool, or super-chlorinate, your water to kill the algae. This means over chlorinating to some high level, and keeping that level for a couple days. That level depends on how much water you have in your pool and the amount of CYA that may be present. CYA (cyanuric acid or stabilizer) acts to lock up the chlorine so it doesn't burn off so fast. Shock levels of chlorine can't be measured accurately with the OTO you mention.

2. FAS-DPD will give you the two components of you need to know about, 'free chlorine' (FC) and 'combined chlorimines' (CC). The OTO kit will only give you the FC but you also need to know CC as this tells you if your chlorine is actually killing something (if there's still algae present).

After the shock phase is complete and your water's clear (usually 3 to 5 days), you'll let your chlorine level drop to swimmable levels and only need to add some bleach once or twice a week to maintain.

Get Mike Smith's BleachCalc program to help you with calculations (it's free and no installation necessary):
http://home.earthlink.net/~mwsmith70/data/BleachCalc262.exe (http://home.earthlink.net/%7Emwsmith70/data/BleachCalc262.exe)

Since your pump/filter aren't due till Friday, why not mail order the test kit(s)? Believe me it'll be worth it and make helping you much easier.

(edit: Do Not add any of those chems you list in another post here. especially the chlorine tabs. They contain CYA, AKA stabilizer. CYA is good and necessary, but once it's there, it ain't easy to get out so if you overdo it, you end up having to dump some of your pool water and refilling to dilute it. And since the more CYA in your water, the more chlorine you need to add, you want to have some control (by testing) over how much you CYA you add. We can figure this all out once we know what the present condition of your water is)

C.

PoolKid

09-13-2006, 09:27 PM

Okay, well i never ever spent $20 on water testing kit, :(

But i guess i have to, question how long dose this kit last?

another question how much is it going to cost to get the pool clean after i get the kit? i have no shock or anything just chlorine tabs, i cant get shock anywhere cause they charge to much at the pool store for it and my pool has a liner in it and looks like this pool http://aaabestbuy.com/ebay/pools/56951_large.jpg . give an estamite price .

I am talking about the 7 way test kit.

Watermom

09-13-2006, 09:33 PM

You don't need to buy shock. You can just use plain, ordinary, unscented laundry bleach instead. That is what most of us here on the forum use for our source of chlorine. Much cheaper than buying pool store chemicals. It would also be helpful for you if you go to the sister site to this forum at www.poolsolutions.com. There you will learn much about taking care of your pool inexpensively. Also, read through a lot of the old posts here on the forum.

PoolKid

09-13-2006, 11:37 PM

OKay, Well ill wait till i get the test kit befor anything, but how long dose the test kit last?

ChuckD

09-14-2006, 12:22 AM

You really should get both that I listed. The FAS-DPD will be needed because it measures the chlorine in your pool in a way the other doesn't. Reread what I said about it before. Expect the FAS-DPD to last at least one season, mine lasted two but my pool gets light use.

The 7 way has various chems in it which can be replaced individually as needed. They're usually 6 or 7 bucks each. Most likely you'll have to replace the CYA test before the end of the season. The others will likely last an entire season.

And like Watermom sez, read, and read thru this site. There are lots of people with smaller pools than your and even less pool knowledge. And then there are some here who can talk chemistry and pool water science and pool construction with the best. That's what makes this site so valuable. No one's here to sell you anything except the cheapest way to maintain your pool.

Take a look in the "Off Topic and General Interest forum". The first four discussion areas are where everyone posts pictures of their pools. You'll get a good idea of the range of people who come here and the range of pools they own.

And notice how clear their water is too.

C.

Ohm_Boy

09-14-2006, 01:38 AM

At least your math should be easy.
An 18'x4' above ground round pool should be approx. 6000 gallons. 1 gallon of 6% strength bleach should add 10 ppm of chlorine, if I'm mentally moving decimal points correctly.
So if you need to achieve a 25ppm rise in chlorine, it would take 2 1/2 gallons of bleach, etc.

CarlD

09-14-2006, 07:05 AM

PoolKid:
Sorry I haven't jumped in sooner. Yes, read the stickies. They were written by some UTTERLY BRILLIANT moderators (J/K! ;) -- Bet that made you laugh) . Seriously, we tried to make them clear and simple.

There are two other test kits on the market I know of that are pretty similar to Ben's kit and will cost between $60 and $90--and last for several years. Refills of the chemicals are available so they last basically indefinitely.

This is one place you cannot afford to skimp. What they will save you in Advil / Tylenol alone makes them pay for themselves.

Besides Ben's kit, there's the Taylor 2006 kit, which is also a FAS-DPD kit. Then Leslie's has an on-line store that sells a FAS-DPD Chlorine Service Test Kit (I think that's what it's called). This is made for Leslie's by Taylor and is basically the same as the 2006 but in a Leslie's box. Taylor sells refills of ALL its test chemicals, and Leslie's sells them on-line as well. Either of these kits will serve as well as Ben's--they aren't as nicely optimized as Ben's and you'll need refills sooner, but otherwise you'll get equally good results.

There are some other cheaper kits that are pretty good, but only for keeping your pool clean when it's already clean. They are much trickier to use (if you can use them at all) when you have a problem, like you do. One is the WalMart HTH 5-way drop test kit. If they have it, it's a bargain--but you'll need to research the Shot Gl*** method to measure chlorine levels above 5ppm (use the search function).

You are going to need to kill your algae first and that's going to take lots of chlorine--bleach is the best way to add it. Forget that algaecide. The only one to use is polyquat 60%. Brand doesn't matter. If the container says "Poly...<something>.... 60%" and the rest is inert ingredients, that's the stuff. If there's anything else in it, don't waste your money.

But the algaecide is for PREVENTING, not killing algae. Use bleach.

I'm going to tell you not to skimp on what you need, like test kits and algaecide because if you follow our guidance you'll save it all back and more on the junk you don't need that pool stores try to sell you.

Most of what you need for pool care is at the grocery store or hardware stores. But the test kit is what makes it all nicely possible. And you must use it regularly during the season.

I use Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda from the grocery store, Muriatic Acid from Home Depot (which I rarely use--I rarely need to add acid), and polyquat and stabilizer from the pool store. I rarely, if ever, use anything else. I NEVER use clarifiers, flocculants, metal removers, phosphate removers or anything labeled as "shock". All the pool store garbage. My water is clean, clear, sweet and sanitary all the time.

PoolKid

09-14-2006, 03:03 PM

Okay thanks for all the info!

All see what i can do with the test kit,

Question

Pool Turned really green today lol, anyway i can add bleach now w/o the filter? If so will it bleach the liner? and how much (2.5 gallons)? Just to make the pool not so green so it buys me a little time to get the test kit? and how would i add.

PoolKid

09-14-2006, 05:30 PM

Filter came just now, let me know if i can do anything to make it not so green while i try to get the water test kit.

RavenNS

09-14-2006, 06:05 PM

Yes,
start adding the bleach now!
It takes a few days for things to clear up, so the sooner you start adding, the sooner you can swim.

remember to add slowly... if you don't have a skimmer that you can pour through, try diluting in buckets of pool water.

sidenote:
regarding test kits... everyone here seems to use them & I do believe Ben when he says that the test strips aren't accurate enough... however, that being said, I have a couple of test kits sitting around & I haven't been able to use them... ( One was a professional kit that the recreation dept director gave us - no directions, the other other two have directions which seem to be conflicting, so I haven't figured out how to use these)..
I use "guess" strips ( as they are referred to on this forum).
I have several types of them & usually use at least two types per test for a "best guess".
So far ( for three years) these have been accurate enough for me. I do also bring my water in for FREE in-store testing as well ( occassionally at two different stores for a comparrison when results seemed a little off from expected... like being told to add 40KG of calcium!)
My regular (choice) of strips does chlorine up to 10ppm, however we often have our chlorine that high ( I use a feeder with pucks), so I also use a strip that measures bromine up to 20ppm...
( btw, my family doesn't mind the cl @ 10ppm... no sore eyes, no health problems & no the liner isn't bleaching... cya is 30 & no the pucks don't seem to make my cya rise... I don't know why my results aren't the "typical" mentioned on this forum)
now I'm guessing that waterbear will argue that these strips should not be interchangeable, however, Observable results are that they are.
chlorine & bromine are from the same family and I have discovered that testing materials for either sanitizer yields the correct results for both... ( mostly using varieties of Aquachem brand test strips).
If pool chlorine is 10ppm it will show that on chlorine guess strip & bromine guess strip... two pool stores confirm results ( one uses drops, the other is computerized testing system).
-- so I guess what I'm saying is that if you can't afford the kit right now before the end of the season ( assuming that you live northernly & are closing the pool within a month or so), you can get some guess strips that will hold you over for the several times a day testings that you need to do right now... however, if you live anywhere near a pool or hot tub store, they usually do free water tests, so please be sure to confirm your results frequently :-)

Good Luck & Happy swimming :D
(please pm me if you have additional questions)

aylad

09-14-2006, 06:08 PM

The only way you're going to be able to make it "not so green" is to shock it, using bleach, but the only way to know how much bleach you need to add to shock it but at the same time not bleach your liner, is to know what your CYA level is...that's why they're all telling you to get a test kit. An alternative would be to take a water sample to a pool store and have them give you readings for pH, alk, CYA. Make sure they're using a drop-based kit, not strips. When you get those numbers, post them here and we can tell you where to go from there.

Janet

PoolKid

09-14-2006, 06:30 PM

This is the worst situation i have ever gotten my self into with the pool,

FK ill see what i can do about the kit, i dont know when ill be able to get it.

aylad

09-14-2006, 06:47 PM

Again, you don't have to wait for the kit, if you'll just take a sample of pool water to a local pool store and have them test it for you. Just don't buy anything on the list of chemicals they will try to sell you.;

Janet

PoolKid

09-14-2006, 06:50 PM

What do i do? Just walk in and ask them for a free test? I know they give a free test but my pool store known to screw people up when they walk in.

aylad

09-14-2006, 07:01 PM

Walk in the door with a sample of pool water, and tell them that you need to have it tested. Let them test it, then when they start trying to sell you a bunch of stuff, tell them you have some of it at home but will be back to get the rest. Walk out with the printout, and post your numbers here. Somebody will be able to help you.

Janet

Ohm_Boy

09-14-2006, 09:30 PM

You do need to get started. I would suggest the following.

First, grab a sample of your water and set it aside.
Then get a couple of gallons of bleach (not perfumed... just regular bleach) - check the label to make sure it's 6% or 5.25% sodium hypochlorite. Some low-end brands are 2 or 3%... avoid them.
Walk around the pool and pour the bleach into the pool as you walk. This will help distribute it more evenly. If you can run your pump, run it.

Now take your water sample to a pool store, and ask them if they can test your water. They will happily test it for you. While they are testing, see if they have a small DPD-based 5-way or so test kit that can test for chlorine, pH, TA, and maybe CYA. That should get you going.

With the test done, they will give you the results and tell you that you need chlorine, shock, stabilizer, ph-up or ph-down or ph-sideways, probably some clarifier, algaecide, and maybe a couple of other things. They may even be having an end-of-season sale and boy, will they have a deal for you.

Thank them for the test and recommendations, tell them that you have to check with your spouse before you buy anything, or that you have a cousin with a pool and you want to mooch all of his chemicals first, or something. Buy the test kit, take the results printout, and head home.
Post your results here.

PoolKid

09-14-2006, 10:09 PM

Okay i will,Ohm_Boy

The only test kit my pool store has is OTO/pH Test Kit. Will that be alright? and than i got some test strips left over. that test like 7 way or w.e

Im working on getting the Other Test kit.

Ohm_Boy

09-14-2006, 11:37 PM

I feel that anything that can give you even a rough idea of your conditions is better than just guessing with nothing. It's sort of an emergency deal - you do what you can do right now.

You said you have an 18x4, which is likely an Intex Easy-Set. These guys are pretty close to 18 feet in diameter at the base, and taper in something like 10 inches or a foot near the top. The waterline is about 30-something inches above the floor. I measured it once, and although I don't recall the exact dimensions, I did calculate it to be right at 6000 gallons.
One gallon of 6% bleach is 0.06 gallon of actual sodium hypochlorite. In 6000 gallons, 0.06 gallons is a ratio of 6000:0.06, or 600,000:6 or 100,000:1 or 1,000,000 to 10. That's 10 parts chlorine per million parts of water. Easiest pool math you'll ever run up on.

Two gallons of bleach will put 20 ppm into the pool. That will START killing the nasties in the pool. The nasties will fight back and consume the free chlorine in the process. You will need to keep the chlorine level high to outgun and outlast the algae and bacteria and bugs and lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. This (and loss from sunlight/UV exposure) is why you need to check your chlorine levels so that you can keep it high. You could need a few gallons for the next few days.

Oh yeah... you may want a couple of filter cartridges too. Once the algae starts dying, it'll start gunking the filter. You can rinse it off with a good stiff spray from a garden hose every couple of days to keep it going, but it'll eventually clog.

PoolKid

09-15-2006, 04:57 PM

Just got back from the pool store.

TDS = 350
CYA = 70
Total Cl = 0.2
Free Cl= 0.2
ph = 6.0
Total Alkaliniity = 0
calcium Hardness = 40
Copper = 0.2
Iron = 0.2
Demand Drops =10

Let me know what i need.

Youngblood

09-15-2006, 05:29 PM

Can i piggy back this thread. I had a valve problem and had to shut er down for two weeks. I just got the bottom vaccummed and the valve is now working correctly. Haven't received my taylor test kit yet, but the "evillll pool store" tested my water for me and here are the results

FC=.1
TC=.8
CC-.7
ALK=152
PH=7.7
CALCIUM=222
CYA=100
TDS=1,200

using the best guess chart, I know that I need to shock to 25 and then maintain a minimum of 8 fc and a max of 15 fc. My question is how much bleach will it take to shock to 25? My pool is 16 by 32 & holds abot 18,000.

Is there a formula to determine this?

Thanks.

ChuckD

09-15-2006, 06:24 PM

No, please don't piggy-back on this thread. you may have seperate issues that will confuse this one.
Find any message by 'mwsmith2' and he has a link to a great pc based BleachCalc that'll tell you everything you need to know.

C.

RavenNS

09-15-2006, 08:36 PM

To Pool Kid...
assuming you have a 6000 gallon pool ( which would be 22712.47 liters) & a cya of 70... according to the best guess chart sticky, you need to maintain a shock level of 20ppm...
so if you are at zero right now...
with regular bleach at 5.25%... that would be 8.7 liters of bleach or basically 2.3 gallons of bleach that you need to add immediately!

watch the CL levels... you want to keep adding daily until the levels appear to remain unchanged...
shortly there after, your water should clear up :)

PoolKid

09-15-2006, 09:26 PM

Let me get this straight if the bottle says 3 QT, how many bottles do i need to add?

I thought 4 QT = 1 gallon, so would that be 3 bottles?

RavenNS

09-15-2006, 09:48 PM

1 quart = 0.25 gallons
therefore : 9.2 quarts needed
or 3.067 bottles needed

aylad

09-15-2006, 09:54 PM

Let me get this straight if the bottle says 3 QT, how many bottles do i need to add?

I thought 4 QT = 1 gallon, so would that be 3 bottles?

If you'll add 3 of the 3qt bottles, that will be close enough to 2.3 gallons. Keep your pump running 24/7, watch your pressure so that you can clean the cartridges as needed. Brush the pool at least once a day. The key to clearing up the green is going to be to go up to the shock level, and STAY THERE. That means testing 2-3 times daily and adding whatever amount of bleach you need to get back up to the 20 ppm. If you just shock it once and let it come back down, the pool will not clear. You need to maintain the 20 ppm until the pool turns to cloudy blue, then you can slowly let your Cl drift back down, but with your CYA that high, you never want it to go below 5 ppm, to keep it from turning green again.

Janet

PoolKid

09-15-2006, 10:01 PM

Alright, The only problem is that i dont really have a test kit that test to 20ppm. So dose anyone have a way to do a best guess of the ppm level?

I got strips that test to 10ppm.

Im waiting till tommorow morning to put it in the pool. since its 10pm now.

aylad

09-15-2006, 10:04 PM

It would be better to put it in tonight, since the sun will consume some of the chlorine. You want to put it in initially after sundown so as much as possible stays in the pool to work on the algae. Then retest tomorrow and add more to get back up to 20. You're not going to be able to clear up the algae problem without risking bleaching your liner if you don't have a test kit that will accurately measure up to 20, so I highly advise you to at least get one of the OTO test kits that tests for pH and Cl. An even better buy for the money would be to go to WalMart and buy the $14 5-way drop-based kit.

If you have one of the cheap OTO test kits, you can measure up to 5 ppm with it--you just dilute your pool water 1:1 with distilled water, test as usual, the multiply your result x 2 to read to 10 ppm. To test to 20, you would need to dilute it 1:3 and multiply by 4.

You also need to get your pH up to at least 7.0, because a pH at 6.0 is very acidic and can start to damage your liner. Your alk should be in the 80-120 range, as well. you can raise both at the same time by adding Borax washing soda or soda ash.

Janet

aylad

09-15-2006, 10:07 PM

Youngblood, please start a new thread with your questions, if you don't already have the answers, and somebody can help you out!

Janet

PoolKid

09-15-2006, 10:17 PM

My Walmart dose not sell anymore test kits :(

Plus The OTO test kit, They Stoped selling it at my pool store also!

Any other way?

PoolKid

09-16-2006, 05:09 PM

YES WALMART! i found a cheap OTO test kit that test the Cl,
So how do i uses this? i bought some dilleted water also,

I dont get thet mix 3 parts with 1 part thing, i dont know what parts are Lol

Any help plz befor i start adding bleach

Edited:

OHHHH dose it mean a shot glass like the shot glass you drink out of?

Just get one of those and get pool water and than another with dilleted water or w/e and mix in like a cup or something and test?

PoolKid

09-16-2006, 06:41 PM

I dumped 3 Bottels in, and It started to clear RIGHT AWAY! i can start seeing the sides and the bottom! when should the i should put more in? or when should i test it? and how to test it ^^

Ohm_Boy

09-16-2006, 06:49 PM

I'll take a 'shot' at it... hehe. Hehehe. I kill me. :)

A shot glass is just an easy way to measure a relatively small amount consistantly.
But basically, the concept is this... you need to measure a higher concentration than your instrument will register. Let's say that you are trying to achieve about 20ppm in your pool.
And let's say that you've actually gotten you pool to around 20 ppm, maybe by pouring three jugs of bleach into it... just as a hypothetical example.
And to top it off, let's also say that your kit measures up to ... oh, I don't know... maybe 10 ppm.
Your pool sample will cause a reading of 10ppm (Highest measurement we can get with our kit). That reading is false, and might make us add chlorine to increase the reading, which wouldn't show up, so we add more, etc. A bad cycle. We need an accurate measure to know what to do.

So we can dilute the sample water with pure distilled water to increase our effective range, but we need to be pretty exact in the process so that our result will be as accurate as possible.
If we took 1 tablespoon of pool water, and 1 tablespoon of distilled water and mix them together, then we should have created a 2 tablespoon sample with 10ppm concentration, or half of the original. We would still have to multiply that reading by two to determine the actual pool concentration, 'cause what's in the pool is undiluted.

That is a 1-part to 1-part mix. We decided upon tablespoons for our parts, but it could have been cups, or gallons, or even shot glasses. As long as we use the same 'part size' for both.

Unfortunately, a reading of 10ppm from a tester with a maximum range of 10ppm is still not necessarily accurate. What is the pool was really 22ppm? or 25? we couldn't tell, 'cause 10 is as high as we can measure, and multiplied by 2, we will never see higher than 20 from our sample. So what do we do?

We mix 2 teaspoons of distilled water with 1 teaspoon of pool water. Our sample is now 3 tablespoons, with 1/3 pool sample. We test that, and multiply the result by 3 to get the real number. When we test it, it looks to be about 6, maybe 7 ppm, and we multiply that by 3. We'll know that our pool concentration is somewhere between 18 and 21 ppm, which is where we want to be. Note that we do lose some precision as we expand the scale of our measurement, but that's life.

We select a dilution ratio depending upon how much we need to adjust the reading scale. 1:1 doubles the scale, 2:1 increases by 3, 3:1 scales up by 4, etc. Use as small a ratio as you can get away with and keep your reading in the scale.

BTW, that OTO kit will tell you how much total chlorine you have, but it does not tell how much FREE chlorine you have. You will want to swing a sample by the pool store every few days to a week just to keep an eye on the Total Chlorine/Free Chlorine relationship.

PoolKid

09-16-2006, 07:04 PM

Thanks! How about how many times i need to test and when? do i test tonight again?

Ohm_Boy

09-16-2006, 07:23 PM

Test it two, or preferably three times a day. Killing algae is big, hungry work for chlorine, and you're going to lose a lot of it to the battle. You want to maintain a steady 20 to 25 ppm army in there until they win.
Sunlight (UV rays) will also kill chlorine troops, so make sure you have a good concentration in the evening for night duty. When you do not lose chlorine overnight, you should be done.
If your pump is running, you can test in about an hour after dosing. Check your pH and TA as well.

Ohm_Boy

09-16-2006, 07:33 PM

Oh yeah, I should mention that you'll want to hose off that filter cartridge every day while your algae is dying, too. All that dead algae will clog the filter, and you want to get rid of it. After a few days to a week, you'll need to replace the element.

PoolKid

09-16-2006, 07:35 PM

Yup thats what i plan to do :P

PoolKid

09-16-2006, 07:43 PM

I just tested, Not sure if i was suppose to lol,

Okay when i tested i mixed 1 part pool water with 3 parts distilled water.

And i add 5 drops of the stuff, It turned Red kinda dark, Now it was off the chart cause the chart only goses to 5 ppm and that is yellowish. so instead of multiplying 5 i multiplyed 7 by 4 and got around 28, so right now i think my water is in the 20-28 range, correct?

Ohm_Boy

09-16-2006, 09:55 PM

i think my water is in the 20-28 range, correct?
Perhaps. You could dilute with 5 distilled to 1 pool, and multiply the result by 6. Your test should stay within the yellow range. If your reading is between 3 and 5, then you're correct (18-30).

PoolKid

09-17-2006, 07:58 AM

Arlight Here is my pool so far.

6 pm September 16, ( befor the bleach went in in the bleach)

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2462/dsc05904gu1.th.jpg (http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc05904gu1.jpg)

6:20 pm September 16,(10mins after bleach was put in)
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5713/dsc05908ch6.th.jpg (http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc05908ch6.jpg)

8 am September 17, ( day 2)

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/5830/dsc06004wl9.th.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc06004wl9.jpg)
Their is nothing the the floater by the way, its just floating their.

I backwashed the filter this morning but the filter was not that dirty. That normal?

Pool is Still Cloudy, I tested the lvl i think it around 18-30, So i will add about 1 liter of bleach around 10pm. That should raises it up about 10