First Time Pool Owners to a Grimmy Pool

We purchased the house in January. Pool was covered and didn't look at it very much because previous owner promised to replace liner. Well, not going to happen.

So, we had a Lake/Pond in our back yard. We were going to drain until I read online NOT to drain :-)

Like a sucker, I went to the local pool store. A) We were missing some parts and B) didn't know any better.

After purchasing the parts, here is what I was told to do.

On Friday, vacuum and get out as much of debris as possible then turn on filter and let water circulate. Got out as much debris as we could. Now granted, we CANNOT see to the bottom of the deep end (10 ft.) but we scooped until we no longer had anything in the net.

On Saturday, went back to the pool store and she told me to put 6 lbs. of shock and then one hour later put in a bottle of BioGuard AlgaeAll 60 and then turn on the filter and let it run and continue to vacuum and skim. Pool started to clear up slightly.

On Sunday, we ran the filter all day and periodically vacuumed and skimmed. Water was getting darker. Pool store not open on Sunday's.

Today, took water sample to the pool store and they tested it and it had no chlorine in it. The owner told me to put 6 lbs. of chlorine in it EVERY hour until the stick turned purple. Put the first 6 lbs in, tested one hour later and the stick was dark purple. My hubby decided to put another 6 lbs in "just to be sure". Tested another hour later and the stick was still purple. Tested 2 hours later....still purple. BUT.........water is still green and cloudy.

ALSO, we have this back by the filter (Hayward Sand Filter) and it is called the Chlor-Matic III 601. We didn't have a clue about it until I looked it up online (can't find much of anything about it though). I asked the pool store guy about it and he seemed to have a negative opinion about it. Said it was take $200 - $300 worth of salt to get it up and going. WELL HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've already spent over $100 in Shock/Chlorine!!!!!

I found out that I have a cousin who owns a pool company but they are about 4 hours from us :-( She said to put backwash filter first thing in the morning, then add 2 - 3 lbs. of chlorine and keep doing this daily till it clears up.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!! SOS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our pool is apx. 18' x 36'. 3 ft. to 10 ft. with slopped sides. Was told at the infamous pool store that it was about 36,000 gallons. We have a Hayward Sand Filter, Chlor-matic III 601 and the Pump is a P2R (can't remember the manufacturer).

Any help, advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated!!!

Laurie Ann Creager
Wife to Retired/Disabled Army Veteran

Hi, and welcome to the forum!!

In order to clear up your pool, you're going to need a reliable way to test. I STRONGLY encourage you to get a K-2006 test kit, which can be bought several places online, but at a really good price at the Amazon link in my signature. If not that, at least go to WalMart and see if they have the ht 6-way drop-based kit, which is very similar, and sells for around $20. It will include an OTO kit (red and yellow drops for pH and chlorine). Test all of your levels, especially pH and chlorine levels, and report them back here. While you're at WalMart, buy several gallons of plain, unscented, generic bleach (no fragrances or additives). Add 1 gallon for each 10K gallons of pool water in the evening. Test for chlorine again the next evening, and add enough to keep the test in the dark yellow range. This should be done with pump and filter running, and it will help if you can brush the pool daily. In the meantime, we can help you work out a plan to clear it up.

Take a look at your ingredient list on the "shock" that you used, and tell us if it is dichloro....something, or cal-hypo.

Now when I took my sample water into the pool store yesterday, they tested it and gave me a print-out. Here are the readings on it if that helps.

Saturation Idx: -1.7
TDS: 150
CYA: Not Tested
Tot. Chlorine: 0
Free Chlorine: 0
pH: 6.5
Tot. Alkalinity: 65
Adj. Total Alk.: 65
Tot. Hardness: 88

Hi Laurie (or Laurie Ann? dunno if you're FROM the South, or just moved here);

Anyhow:

1. Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) testkit at Walmart or BETTER, an HTH 6-way kit.
2. Buy 6 boxes of 20 Mule Team borax (Walmart detergent section) and add them 2 at a time, slowly to the skimmer, with the pump on. Wait 4 hours; test pH; repeat if pH still below 7.2.
3. Buy 16 gal of PLAIN 6% household bleach. Add 4 gallons immediately.
4. Test chlorine 4 hours later. Repeat till chlorine is dark yellow / orange OR you are out of bleach.
5. Order K-2006 (test kit info page link in my signature)
6. Read the labels of your pump and filter and post make / model info (or photograph them and send photos to poolforum@gmail.com)

We'll work out next steps after we hear from you.