Chemicals are off in new pool......

Hey all! Just had our above ground pool installation finished on July 7th! A 28' round! We added the chemicals that our store suggested. They then suggested we add chlorine sticks to the skimmer and once a week add 2 bags of shock and algicide. I added the weekly amounts of those chemicals this past sunday night. We swam on monday and we all noticed itching. With testing using bioguard maintain 4 way strips, the free chlorine is in the 0 range. The pH is 8.0 or higher, and the alkalinity is above 180. They sent granular pH reducer, so I have begun adding that to the skimmer slowly.

Do I continue to add the pH reducer until it is in range?
Do I need to add muriatic acid or sodium bisulphate to decrease the alkalinity?
Do I then add granular shock to get the free chlorine back up??

Questions, questions!
Thanks,
a new pool owner.

Hi drdjsmm and welcome to the Pool Forum!

Yes, to lowering pH and alk. You can read more about this at the following link:

Lowering Alkalinity Step-by-Step (Most of us use muriatic acid to lower pH but since you already have some of the dry acid on hand, just use it.)

Can you tell us the ingredients in the granular shock you used? How about the ingredients in the chlorine sticks? Most of us here on the Pool Forum use bleach for our souce of chlorine. it is readily available, cheap and doesn't add unwanted stuff like some pool store products do. You need to get some chlorine in that pool ASAP or it is gonna turn green! For now, either use some of your granular shock or just add 1.5 gallons (6 quarts) of plain 6% household bleach. That should take your cl level up to about 5ppm. For the first week or so, you'll have to test and add some chlorine a couple times per day. Once we find out the ingredients of what you've been using, we'll talk to you more about something called stabilizer (CYA - cyanuric acid) that is kind of like sunscreen for your chlorine. Without it, chlorine is quickly lost to the sun, leaving your pool unchlorinated and vulnerable to algae. (It is amazing how quickly a pool can turn green without chlorine in it.)

What is the volume of the pool? What type of filter do you have and what size pump?

You'll need a good test kit if you don't already have one. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (same kit, larger bottle of some reagents). If you buy it through the Amazon link in my signature, the Pool Forum makes a little money on the sale which helps us keep this form online. Only buy if the seller is Amato Industries, however. Some other sellers are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want. If Amato isn't listed, wait a day or two and try again. They seem to restock pretty quickly when they sell out.

Come back with the requested info and we'll go from there. Hope this helps.

Okay, here's the results of the test from the pool store today:

Free Available Chlorine: 0.57
Total Chlorine: 0.57
Combined Chlorine: 0
Total Alkalinity:353
pH level: 8.1
Calcium hardness: 228
Cyanuric Acid: 10
Saturated Index 1.1

I added 3-4 lbs of dry acid. If I add bleach, The Pool Calculator says 178 oz of 6% bleach. Is that good? I have a good test kit on the way. Thanks!



_________________
1) 23,500 Gallon Pool (28' round)
2) Sand Filter
3) Above Ground
4) 2 1/2 horse pump

Since you basically have no CYA in there, whatever chlorine you do add is gonna quickly be lost to the sun. The amount of bleach you mentioned will take your chlorine to just a little over 3ppm. I think you should take it higher so that it won't drop to zero so fast. I'd add 2 gallons of bleach. That would take you to about 5ppm. Until your CYA comes up, you'll need to test and add bleach at least twice per day. Each time, take it back up to 5. (In your pool, each quart will add about 0.6ppm of cl. You can use that as a reference to figure out how much to add each time you test.

Until your kit arrives, pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) from Walmart or someplace. Your pool store's readings sound so sophisticated with all those decimal places but .......... no testing can do that. Also, a CYA reading cannot be read if the level is below 10, so another reason to be skeptical of the pool store readings. I'd suggest just doing your own testing.

We still need to know the ingredients of the items requested in the previous post. I'm assuming one of them is cal-hypo based on your CH reading. I wouldn't use any more cal-hypo. Your vinyl pool doesn't need calcium and you are approaching the level where it can start causing cloudy water problems.

Keep working on getting the pH lowered.

WOW! What a big pump. WAY overkill for your pool. Hope you have a HUGE filter!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drdjsmm

Okay, here's the results of the test from the pool store today:

Free Available Chlorine: 0.57
Total Chlorine: 0.57
Combined Chlorine: 0
Total Alkalinity:353
pH level: 8.1
Calcium hardness: 228
Cyanuric Acid: 10

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I would avoid doing too much -- you really don't know what your pool's readings are.

The numbers I flagged above are bogus! Pool store testing can't reliably distinguish 320 ppm from 360 ppm, much less 353 from 350! The numbers you got indicate the store was using an electronic reader of 'guess strips' where are MUCH less accurate than drops . . . which struggle to give you a reliable distinction between, say, 320 and 360.

If you want to test what I'm saying, take TWO samples in today (to check your pH), but tell them the 2nd is from a friend's pool. (I assume your wife is your friend, and that it's her pool?). As a rule, you'll get two different readings from the same pool. If you like, take 3rd sample to another pool store with strips, and you'll most likely get a REALLY different set of results!

But ....... do get some chlorine in there so the pool won't turn green.