Somebody please tell me this is worth it....

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Originally Posted by JenLM

I'm about to pull my hair out trying to turn this pool from a swamp to something our family can enjoy before fall gets here.... It's such a slow process as I wait for my test kit to get here. I want to see some glimmer of hope that it will get better.

I'm being a drama llama today, but I lost my both leaf eater bag and a part of my vacuum head in the abyss today so forgive me as I have moment of pool owner remorse. ;)

I would love to hear a few success stories from former swamp owners. How long did it take for your algae to go away as well as the cloud that lingered behind??? :)

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From your sig, you have the same story as I do. In 95 I bought a house with a pool similar to yours. The owners were in a hurry to get down to Florida so the pool became an afterthought. We looked at the house in April and moved in June. The pool went from a glittering April diamond to a June black hole. I remember my nephew diving in and coming up with branches and leaves.
I called the previous owner who came by for a look see. I was a nervous wreck but he was so calm. He tested the water and said the PH was low. He recommend I take a sample to Leslie's and follow their instructions. In a very short time the pool was back to it's crystal clear glory. It took a lot of vacuuming and back flushing but it did come back.
So don't despair it will get better.
Nothing with pools happens quickly. :)

Thanks everybody! I could only find 10% chlorine at Lowes so we stuck with the 6 % chlorine until we find the other.

We can finally see the bottom of the shallow end of the pool. Yippeee! We may get to swim this year afterall!

JenLM: Sometimes the higher concentrations can be a good value; not for me.

I have a wal-mart on the corner that sells 1.5 Gallons of bleach for $2.00. I think it's 6%, but I know it's no less than 5%.
Lowe's, across the street from Wal-mart, occasionally sells 1 Gallon of 10% LC for $4.99, which given the concentration, is actually more expensive than Wal-Mart bleach.
So I've found that, in my case, though I have to carry more bottles, plain ol' generic store-brand 5-6% laundry bleach is just the best value.
The 5Gal 12% carboys that CarlD mentions are available in my area, but they're miles away. And $4.00 per gallon for gas adds to the equation. And they're heavy, too, at 40 pounds each... :)
A definite intangible upside to the carboys is that they're re-used. My 1.5 Gallon plastic jugs spend 3 minutes in my car, get dumped in, then a pool water rinse, then into the recycle bin.