Newbie DIY

I purchased a new house in June with a free form AG pool. I was paying for pool maintenance to the tune of $130/month (including chem), however, I recently decided to do the work myself. Part of the reason I made the decision: a week ago I took water sample to Leslie's same day after pool service and discovered that there was no chlorine in the pool and readings from pool guy and readings from Leslie's were not even close. I has been a week now and so far things are good. My question to the forum: with low bather loads, is weekly shock treatment required or can I just keep chlorine sanitized with autofeeder and weekly algae control treatments?

Hi,

Weekly shock treatments are not required--in fact, the only time you need to shock the pool is if you start seeing CC levels higher than 1.0, start losing chlorine overnight, or start having increased amounts of chlorine loss during the day. This all requires, though, that you be able to accurately test your own water. Test strips are not accurate enough to do this for you--you seriously need a drop-based kit. If you don't have one, the K-2006 linked in my sig is a really good one and will test for most everything you could possibly need.

Algae control treatments are also not necessary, except in a very few specific conditions, like a pool with a high metal content. A properly chlorinated pool will not grow algae--and if it's not properly chlorinated enough to keep algae from growing, it's not sanitized enough to be swimming in, anyway.

That being said, my climate is very close to yours, and if you're using an autofeeder (trichlor pucks, I assume?) then your CYA levels are probably very high, and you will definitely need to keep a close eye on your chlorine levels in order to keep the algae gone, since as your CYA levels rise, so must your chlorine levels. (Again...you are not going to be able to do this without a good test kit......). Some folks use the algae treatments and weekly shock routine to compensate for not keeping the chlorine high enough during the rest of the week, and sometimes that will keep the pool clear, but the best way to keep the water clear is to test and treat the water based on your test results. Your CYA and chlorine levels are explained in the "best guess chlorine chart" linked in my sig (might have to log out to read it until your registration is completed), your pH needs to be 7.2-7.8, your alk around 100-120 if using trichlor pucks, and your CH level will depend on what type of finish your pool has (vinyl liner, plaster, gunite, etc.)

If you'll fill out this short form with your pool info on it and list a set of test results, we can help you devise a plan to keep your pool clear.
Pool Chart Entry Form


Welcome to the forum!

If you cannot see my pool information, please advise as I did complete it the same day I registered with the forum. My 8/18 test results: TAC - 5; CYA - 100; TA- 120; pH - 7.4; CH - 260. I understand that with high CYA, chlorine levels will also go up. Taking into account that I am using an auto chlorine feeder w/ trichlor pucks, what would be the ideal setting for the feeder? Currently I have it set at 2.5.

membership updated; Pool Chart data added to signature.

There is no 'right' settings on tab feeders -- the amount of chlorine added depends on your pump and piping arrangement, and is highly variable from pool to pool.

Also, while it's possible to maintain a pool without shocking, most people aren't careful enough with their levels to do so successfully. In fact, with your CYA levels (CYA=100+ ppm) it's not possible to maintain good results with regular pool information, or without a K2006. Read the Best Guess page, linked in my blue signature bar, for a fuller explanation.