Newbie here... DOH

Hi guys,

Well I dont really have major problems, but Ive been trying to read up on stuff here in past threads and Im now even more confused.

Ok I have a 15` x 48" intex metal frame pool, with the intex SWG? (salt water generator) the thing that turns salt into chlorine.

I also have a solar cover which i keep on all the time.

Ok my questions are.

I seem to be having a bit of trouble with the PH, but I think ive got that sorted now.

My main questions are:

The instructions say I should run the chlorinator for 2 hours per day, which I have been doing without fail, but over the last few days I started getting large amounts of green algae (I assume) I have hoovered the bottom and cleaned the sides with a brush.

I assumed before I came on the forum that the chlorine level is not high enough, which the test stick does hold out, but only slightly low.

Should I be removing the solar cover for a cpl of hours each day???

Is running the chlroinator for longer going to help my algae problem??

OR what shall I do??? as the water is no longer nice and clear, its gone a little bit murky...

read in other threads that a person should uncover for at least 2 hours a day. i haven't uncovered mine in going on 3 days of 30 degree plus heat. i will when i get home, but i poked my head under it last night and i didn't see any issues, yet. i run my pump in 2 6 hour shifts per day and my chlorine is running between 6 and 9, all other chem levels are good. if i understand what you are saying, you are running only 2 hours per day..never mind whether it's hot or not, unless you've calculate and found your pump can do that quick a turnover, i can see the issue:) i run mine based on 2 turnovers per day for my pool size, pump capacity, filter etc. 2 per day seems to be pretty common.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by B@rney

Hi guys,

Well I dont really have major problems, but Ive been trying to read up on stuff here in past threads and Im now even more confused.

Ok I have a 15` x 48" intex metal frame pool, with the intex SWG? (salt water generator) the thing that turns salt into chlorine.

I also have a solar cover which i keep on all the time.

Ok my questions are.

I seem to be having a bit of trouble with the PH, but I think ive got that sorted now.

My main questions are:

The instructions say I should run the chlorinator for 2 hours per day, which I have been doing without fail, but over the last few days I started getting large amounts of green algae (I assume) I have hoovered the bottom and cleaned the sides with a brush.


Welcome to the forum.

You may want to check with the SWCG vendor, but running the SWCG for only two hours does not let cell regenerate itself properly. What I mean by that is that the cell receives a reverse polariity to allow any scale buildup on the cell to be removed. Most cells are set up with a reverse polarity change every 4 hours, so you would have to run at least 8 hours a day to get the maximum benefit of the cell. The vendor should tell you what the default reverse polarity is set at, so you can judge accordingly.

I assumed before I came on the forum that the chlorine level is not high enough, which the test stick does hold out, but only slightly low.

You should be getting 3 - 4 ppm.

Should I be removing the solar cover for a cpl of hours each day???

I would remove it for whatever time you set up for the SWCG to run.

Is running the chlroinator for longer going to help my algae problem??

Yes it will, but I would add extra bleach to help.

OR what shall I do??? as the water is no longer nice and clear, its gone a little bit murky...

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You are going to have to add more bleach, rather than increase the SWCG setting, as this uses up cell life. You may well have to run 24/7 with the pump, and bring the chlorine up to 15 ppm with bleach to get rid of the problem.

Pat

Thanks for your replies.

I have now taken the cover off for a few hours.

The filter is a horible green colour after my cleaning last night

however im a bit confused about the chlorine levels..

the instructions and everything inthe box says do not even think about geting in the pool if its over 3ppm

and you suggest 15ppm??

Am i missing something?

Thanks again

Good catch.

The answer is simple: Intex is wrong. Intex is basing its recommendation on old government warnings which were nothing more than a bad guess on the Fed's part.

At the same time they were saying you shouldn't swim in water that was higher than 3ppm (of chlorine), they were saying you shouldn't DRINK water higher than 4ppm. See what I mean?

You have a serious algae bloom and you need to kill the algae. Getting your chlorine level to 15ppm and keeping it there is the only thing that will kill it.

You do NOT want to swim in an algae-laden pool. Seriously. If there's algae, all the chlorine is being consumed fighting it. That means there's none left to fight bacteria, viruses, or the traces of fecal matter than EVERY person leaves in the pool. (I know this sounds gross and disgusting, but it's true--chlorine neutralizes that stuff and makes is safe and clean).

Algae itself is not dangerous to you (to the best of my knowledge) but if it's growing, ALL your chlorine is spent on it and the water is now ripe for contamination.

Once the algae is dead, the chlorine will sanitize everything else.

mm ok.

well everything is looking better as the day goes on. Had to add more salt this morning, and ive chucked a load more ph minus in and finally got the water to what the box says is a reasonable level.

Generator is now running too and making the chlorine stuff so will see how it goes. Lots of dead looking brown stuff floating on the bottom that I will hoover up a bit later. plus water looks a whole lot cleaner already. not even a bit cloudy now.

So fingers crossed.

:)

Update.....Update....update...

Ok by the end of the day I was happy with how things were looking, the extra salt it had asked for had dissolved so I turned decided I would clean the filters, screens and check the plates in the chlorinator.

Ok note to self check plates much more regularly. They were completely covered in limescale!!!!!

So blast with hose, no effect, soak for cpl hours in vinegar solution, blast with hose.. lovely and clean.

Re connect all back up........ now too much salt!!!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Drained a foot of water from pool, and now in process of re-filling. so by lunch time today I should be able to turn everything back on and find out if I have watered down the salt level by enough. If not im afraid I might have to scream just a little bit.

On the plus side my PH is now right....