Intel 5000 Pool

I am helping my friend change over to the methods on here. They have a Intel 5000 above ground. He used softswim products/baqucil last year. this year he totally drained the water and changed the sand and started new. Their readings are NO FC reading at all!Alkalinity is 60, CYA is almost nonexistant, PH is red, which on my Taylor kit if it runs high, it is a magneta color not red? The water is clear, so he is happy, and is just dumping stuff in? LOL! He is using baking soda, put in 1lb., and some tablets that are: 1 step alkaline and PH tablet, Clear Balance, Sodium Barcarbonate, 13% clearifier.

Whoa there, Fresh load of water - luxury! Try not to gum it up - what's Clear Balance, 13% clearifier (clarifier), 1 step alk and pH tabs?

He'll need some chlorine in the pool.
He'll also need CYA - if it's outdoors.

As for pH - sounds like alot of bases have been dropped on this virgin water. Sodium bicarbonate, baking soda (also sodium bicarbonate), will certainly raise the pH and the Total Alkalinity and it sounds like (but who knows) that "1 step alkaline and PH tablet" will too. His pH may be quite high.
The Taylor pH test reagent I use (R-0014, Phenol Red) is red in the bottle and goes from yellow(6.8) to magenta(8.2). Does your Taylor kit include the "acid demand" test where you add drops of acid (R-0015) to the pH test you just ran? If you do, perhaps you could use it to read really high pH.

As always, if your looking for advice here, you'll need to supply at least: pool type (vinyl, gunite), pool volume, current readings from drops type test (no strips) for FC, TC (or CC), TA, CYA, pH (if you can), and everything that's been dumped in - the amounts and the ingredients and proportions.

Perhaps while your friend is in the mood for dumping cash in the pool, he might dump a little on a subscription here. I'm sure it will help alot more than most everthing else he can dump in.

Thanks Big Dave for writing back. I am TOTALLY encouraging them to at least have their daughter get online and join for them ( my friends believe it or not,LOL! dont have a computer in their house!). I tell anyone who has a pool about how much this site has done for me! I believe I have my cousin ready to come on board herself. Anywho... I am sorry, I thought just saying it was an Intel 5000, would tell alot about the pool? Sorry! It is a vinyl above ground pool, which I was assuming the 5000 was the water content? I will do the acid demand test for them. My PH though read the same way, so I better be doing on my own. It was RED not magenta? Thanks
I am going to get our friends headed in the right direction here, so bare with me. I know their pool needs chlorine and stabilizer. It is hard because they don't have a home computer. I would really appreciate any advice. I am going with him today if he wants to get the liquid chlorine. There are no readings of chlorine at all. How much do we add to this pool to start out with. With an AG pool where do you add so it will not hurt the liner? If anyone is offended by me asking advice for them, I can sign up for them and pay for another subscription. I told him to stop adding baking soda and any other products for the time being. I need to get a better reading on the PH. like I said it was Red, not magenta?? Thanks again, I LOVE, LOVE, this site! It has given me control of my pool, that is where control should be, not at the mercy of the pool store!

Wow, no computer. Is that an idealism thing for them, like they're Amish? or just have found no use.
No reason to be sorry, I just mentioned it as the mods here usually ask for this info and really can't help without it.

LOL! No they are not Amish, or anything like that. I guess they just haven't found a use for it. Okay, thanks for you help, I just got a call from him, and I said I didn't want to be pushy, if he wasn't ready to make the big change, thats fine, I just wanted to help them. They have done so much for us! Anyhow,he is going to continue doing what he is doing for now, So Thanks so much for help! I need to focus on my own beautiful hole in the ground, and keep that sparkling, LOL!

Well, since you friend is blindly dumping chems in the pool, I'll bet you get another chance to help.
Be well.

Hi Digger, and welcome back!!

We absolutely have no problem with you asking for advice with your friend's pool, maybe after they discover how good it can look they'll be more inclined to join us themselves!!

I don't know the gallonage of that pool, but if you can give us length, width, and water depth, we can figure it out. If indeed it is 5000 gallons, then each quart of 6% bleach will raise the chlorine by 3 ppm. Assuming the water is still clear, they will need to keep the chlorine between 3-6 ppm until they can get stabilizer in the water. Until the stabilizer is there, the sun will eat up the chlorine very quickly, so they're going to have to add bleach 2-3 times a day to keep it from going below 3 ppm. They can go ahead and add stabilizer to the pool, either through the skimmer if there is one, or by hanging it in a sock in front of a return. Target about 30 ppm CYA, for now. Once that's done, I would go ahead and run another set of tests on pH and alk, just to see what needs to be done about them.

Janet