Options to Get Chemistry Back In Balance

Long-time pool owner here but I must have gone brain-dead. Have been keeping my gunite 17.5k gal, DE filter pool clean but the chlorine and PH have gotten whacked. On the 2-part test, the chlorine side is orange - over 5ppm and the pH side yellow, ~ 7.0. I took the floater out last Friday and was away for the w/e so no pool use but things haven't seemed to have changed at all. Leslies guy wants to sell me chlorine neutralizer and soda ash. I wanted him to do a complete test this evening but the water sample was from this morning and he said the sample can't be more than an hour old so I'll try again tomorrow evening and stop home first.

I'd like to use the pool this w/e (it's just me, no kids and my wife doesn't care to swim). What should I do?

Go to Walmart and pick up several boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle). Add about 2 cups slowly to the skimmer while the pump is running, breaking up any clumps. Wait a few hours and retest and redose if needed until you get the pH where you want it.

Order a Taylor K2006 or 2006C from the test kit link in my signature below.

Do not add any chlorine neutralizer. The chlorine will come down on its own.

1. OTO orange = Chlorine > 15 ppm . . . but that is NOT necessarily a problem. See below.

2. pH testing with chlorine > 15 ppm is NOT reliable. Purchase a gallon of DISTILLED water (not: "spring", "bottled", etc => must be "distilled") at Walmart. Mix 1/2 cup distilled with 1/4 cup pool water; retest. Result will be approximately correct. Assuming the test with distilled water confirms the earlier result, use borax as suggested.

3. If your CYA (stabilizer) is below 30 ppm, you will lose almost all chlorine in a single day of sunshine. If your CYA is above 100 ppm, you will lose very little of it in 3 - 4 days of sun. Pending arrival of the K2006, you can estimate your CYA level more accurately that way, than with test strips.

Got the borax and distilled water. The d-water didn't make any difference to the pH test. It's still showing about 6.8. I've added 2 rounds of 2 cups of borax and am also topping off the pool with city water (an inch or so). Pump is running.

17K gallon pool? Confirmed pH level of 6.8?

Add a whole box at a time, slowly, via the skimmer.

Got a TF-100 test kit and ran the tests (a few times):

As already stated, the basic kit shows CL > 5ppm (orange) and pH at ~6.8.

FC - 41ppm
CYA - 180
TA - 180
CC - 0
CH - 900

Is my only option to change out the water and start over($$$!!!)?

OK. Your water has multiple problems. Your heater is at risk.

When was the last time you replaced your water?

And, you better post pH/ alk / calc test levels for your fill water -- presumably this is your tap water. Your tap water may not be much better; if so draining won't help much.

However, if your water is clear, I'd go ahead and swim. Just don't wear a swimsuit you are in love with. FC=40 at CYA=180 is not going to be a problem for most people. It may be a problem for fashion swimwear, and for colored or permed hair -- I'm not sure. FC=40 @ CYA=0 would definitely be a problem for swimwear and treated hair.

But dermatologists routinely put people, even babies, in "bleach baths" at FC=50-100@CYA=0.

I'll post the tap water tests tomorrow. I've never completely drained the pool. I used to take it down a couple of inches 2 or 3 times a season to clean the filter but with the cost of water out here, I've learned to clean the filter out using much less water. # years ago, I had a bad leak, Turned out a tree root under the deck had cracked a pipe and it was fixed. Before that though, I was losing an inch a day for a while. At one point it was down 18-24" and I let it go because i was out of work and money was tight. That was a bad decision because the plaster below the tile line flaked off in some areas so I need to re-plaster at some point, in the off season so I'm not crazy about the idea of changing water out now.

Should I continue with the borax? If I can get the pH up will the CYA come down on it's own eventually? I've read that there are Pool RO services out here where water is expensive. Guess I should look into that cost, though if I have to re-plaster I will need to drain it at some point.

With TA=180 and CH=900, do NOT raise the pH!

It would be very, very easy on your pool to precipitate a cloud of calcium carbonate (lime dust) and turn your pool into 'milk'.