intex 22' x 52' round

You would be doing yourself a favor to leave the SWCG off for now, get the water balanced, and THEN turn it back on and use it for maintenance. They are much more efficient at maintaining chlorine than they are at clearing up water issues. The problem right now is that we are just guessing at your water parameters with strips, which isn't going to get us/you anywhere. Try going to WalMart and see if they have the hth 6-way drop kit that sells for around $20. If they have it, get it, run a set of tests, and post your results here. If they don't have it, then get the cheapie ($6 or so) OTO kit (it uses red and yellow drops for pH and chlorine) and test with that and let us know the results. If all of those aren't possible, then take a water sample to a reputable pool store and have them test your water, give you a printout of the results, and then come post those here. Resist the list of stuff they're going to tell you you have to buy--just smile and tell them that you already have it at home. Once we have a set of water test results to look at, then we can give you helpful advice. (Make sure they actually give you numbers for your test results--not just "good", or "low", or "high".

In the meantime, you need to keep some chlorine in the pool. How much to keep is really dependent on your CYA level, which is why it's crucial to know what it is--but at least try to keep 4-6 ppm of chlorine in there until we have some definitive answers. I calculate your pool's volume to be around 13,500 gallons. In that amount of water, each 1/2 gallon of 6% bleach you add will raise your FC by just over 2 ppm. So..I would add a gallon of bleach every evening until you get test results, and then we can help you go from there.

ok thanks, i will go to walmart today and try to find a kit. but, about that pool volume thing, if my pool holds 10,500 gallons of water, wouldn't your 13,500 be over? i do infact have a
22'x52" round intex pool. it holds 10,500 gallons of water.

and i feel like a real duh moment here, the pool CAME with a cover. so i can stop looking for that now. geeez, sometimes i wonder about me. LOL

alright i just tested using the hth 6 way kit. i have never done this before so i am not sure if i did it right. but here goes for my results.

total chlorine/total bromine test: i added 5 drops of the yellow. results, nothing. no color change at all.
ph test: added 5 drops of the red. it looks darker than or very close to the 8.2
total alkalinity test: added 5 drops of the first bottle, then ended up adding 25 drops of the other bottle. so from green to red it took 25 drops. it says to multiply that by 10. so 250
total harness test: added 5 drops of the first bottle, then added 23 drops of the second bottle. so from red to blue it took 23 drops. it says to multiply that by 10, so 230
cya: this water after adding the drops was suppose to turn cloudy? it did not. i was suppose to add this cloudy water to the view tube til i could not see the black dot. well i poured the whole amount and could still see the black dot.

so those are my results.

If you fill a 22' pool to 3.9 ft, you'll have 11,080 gallons . . . so your 10,500 is likely about right. I think Janet may have used the overflow depth (52") which gives 12,800 gallons.

Yeah, I missed the stated volume in one of the earlier posts in this thread...sorry. Too many similar threads makes my head spin!! :)

Anyway...

Your test results tell me that your pH is too high (needs to be brought down to the 7.4-7.6 range by using muriatic or dry acid, which will drop your TA at the same time). You can find the method to lower your alk using muriatic acid "stickied" at the top of the "Dealing with alkalinity and calcium" subforum from the Poolforum home page.

Your test results also indicate that you have zero chlorine and zero CYA, which are both not good. You need to keep at least 1-3 ppm of chlorine in the pool at all times until you get your CYA (stabilizer) levels up to where your SWCG manual says they need to be. As your CYA levels rise, so must your chlorine levels (see the best guess chlorine chart link in my sig for more info there and the chart). In the meantime, in a 10,500 gallon pool, each 1/2 gallon of 6% bleach you add will raise your chlorine by 2.9 ppm, so you can use that as a guide to figure out how much you need to add at any given time.

If the pool is still cloudy from the previous algae killing, keep the pump/filter running, and clean the filter as your pressure indicates. It will just take patience to filter it all out. But don't let your chlorine levels fall to zero, or you'll have a new algae bloom to deal with.

thanks aylad, but i don't see a sig for your post to find the best guess chlorine chart. i will search around and see if there is a sticky for that or another thread.

but just a real quick: you say i need 1-3 ppm in the pool. 1/2 gal 6% will raise by 2.9ppm. does this mean i only need one(1) half gallon? or is this per gallon of water. i am so confused and sucked at math. lol

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ok i just read and reread all the stuff about the acids and the best guess chart for chlorine. please help! i have no idea what i just read. LOL yes its been a long day and a hot one. i am confused as to how much bleach to add. i have 6 bottles i think sitting outside. just not sure how much to add. i don't want to waste it by not adding enough, but i don't want to add too much.

now about that acid stuff to lower my ph, can i just buy that ph minus from walmart? the acid kind of scares me.

thanks so much for the help. once i get the hang of this i will be good (i think), or at least not as dumb as i am right now.

1/2 gallon of bleach will raise your pool's FC level about 3 ppm.

+ I'm assuming you won't see this till Sunday AM. Add 1 gallon in the AM, and 2 gallons in the late evening tomorrow.
+ Run your pump 24/7
+ Continue to add 2 gallons of bleach each evening, but only 1/2 gallon each AM . . . till your pool is clear.
+ Do NOT worry about your other figures just yet.
+ Get some dichlor, which will add BOTH chlorine AND stabilizer:

24 lbs PoolBrand bagged shock @ Sams Club
Kem-Tek Dichlor 22 lbs @ Amazon

+ Read the Intex recipe sticky, here: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?17055

thanks again. yes i did not get this til sunday morning.
i took a guess last night and threw 3 bottles in the pool. i should have maybe measured better, because these bottles are more than a gallon. this morning my pool is now cloudy and the clorine test results well, they are really, really high. it a bright orange. no where near the yellow as shown on the kit. so i can't even give a number to this.
i am guessing that right now i don't need to add any more chlorine. or do i, since you mention to continue adding til the cloudy water is clear?

Don't add any more chlorine right now while the test is orange, but test it again this evening--I suspect it will be low enough to register on your test, and may even be low enough that you have to add a little more. Keep your pump/filter running to help clear up the cloudiness.

Janet

when should i connect my saltwater system back up? and when should i add the salt to this?