New pool owner and NO CLUE about chemicles

We just installed an above ground pool. 30x15 oval. 10,500 gallons. We filled up the pool (we live in Nassau County, NY) and then had to leave for 3 days. A neighbor said we should at least put one 3" chlorine tablet in the skimmer and 3 in the floating device while we were away. We did that, but didn't put on the filter.

We came home today. Started up the filer for a bit. Then I put in a test strip into the water and was surprised to see that all the 4 chemicles/colors were in the OK zone. Or at least I think they were. The colors that are HIGH or LOW are so close to the OK ones. How is anyone certain???? I went to to pool store and asked about better strips or ways of checking (like digital) but was told that the strips are the best thing on the market. Really?? Any advice would be apprecaited. The one issue I was worried about more than anything was that the color for the Ph reading could have been OK or HIGH...it was hard to tell. If it was HIGH....what does that mean and what do I do???

Also my water LOOKS green when you see it from far away, but when I pulled a cup of water out of it to possibly bring to the pool store but - it was crystal clear. Could I already have algea after only a week? Or could be the the way the liner (it's dark blue) makes it look?

So, I decided to use a short term shock product for good measure and my filter has been running for a while now.

I filled the pool last week, my test strips say it's all fine. Could it be that easy?

Hi Elda and welcome to the forum! First of all, I deleted your other two threads. I'm sure you posted and when it didn't show up you thought it wasn't there, so you posted it again two more times. What actually happened is it was in a moderation queue waiting for one of the moderators to approve it before it shows up on the forum.

Two questions I have ---- what size and type of filter do you have and what size pump do you have? And, did you fill from a well or from city water? If the answer is well water, then you may have a metals issue instead of an algae issue.

You need a good test kit. Strips are pretty useless as you are finding out. For your pool store to tell you that strips are the best thing on the market is a pretty good indicator that you need to find a different pool store that has some clue about pool care. We recommend the Taylor K-2006. It is a little pricey, but will do everything you need to do and will make maintaining your pool so much easier. It will pay for itself in no time. If you order it from the following link at Amazon, Pool Forum makes a little money in the process.

http://faq.poolforum.com/products

In the meantime, you can pick up a cheap kit from Walmart for about $15. They should have a 5 or 6-Way kit which will suffice until you get a better kit.

Yes, you can have algae in a week. It doesn't take long but fortunately, you can clear it up pretty easily. In your pool, each quart of plain, unscented bleach will raise your chlorine level by about 1.5ppm (parts per million). What you need to do is add enough to get to "shock level" which for a new pool with no stabilizer in it yet (or at least very little) would be about 10ppm. Add about 6 quarts of bleach slowly to the skimmer while the pump is running. Pour it very slowly and try not to splash any on you or on the liner. Keep your pump running 24/7 while you are trying to clear up the pool. Keep an eye on your filter pressure. When it increases 8-10 psi over the clean filter pressure, you'll need to backwash. Once you see that the green is gone, you can probably add about 2 quarts of bleach in the morning and in the evening for a week or so and you should be able to keep the algae away.

A new pool needs some stabilizer which is also called cya (cyanuric or isocyanuric acid) in it to keep the chlorine from being lost to the sun too quickly. It is kind of like "sunscreen" for your chlorine. This is something you can get from your pool store. Buy the smallest container they have and once you get your green pool cleared up, you'll want to add some of it. I'd start with about 3 lbs. Add it slowly into your skimmer. It takes awhile to dissolve -- maybe even up to about a week. So, during this time, don't add any more and also don't backwash your filter. After about a week, if you haven't gotten your K-2006 kit that you will hopefully order, let a pool store test the cya level and then post it here. Do NOT let the pool store talk you into buying anything else. Actually have them run a full set of testing numbers and post them all for us to look at.

After the cya has dissolved, you should be able to just test your pool once a day (in the evening is best) and add enough bleach to raise your chlorine level back up to about 6ppm. That should be enough to hold you through the next day and until the evening when you'll test again.

Read through the stickies at the top of each of the forums. There you will find lots of info about starting up a new pool and chemistry maintenance. Repost with some good testing results from a pool store and better yet, order the kit I recommended. Repost with any further questions and also let us know how things are going. Hope this helps.

You should already have some CYA in your water from the four 3" tabs you used.

Strips are notoriously difficult to read and unreliable. I use them solely as gross indicators --is there a little chlorine, some chlorine or a lot of chlorine in the water? The pH tab is tougher to read. The T/A tab is worse than the pH tab, and the CYA and CH tabs are impossible to read accurately, CYA being utterly useless.

The K-2006 is the way to go. Leslie's Online service has their Chlorine FAS-DPD Service Test Kit, which is the K-2006 re-branded by Leslies, but a bit more expensive at $70.

Still, paying between $60 and $80 (with shipping) for this kit will save you hundreds this year and thousands in the years to come.

Welcome!

Carl