New Intex above ground owner - Psuedomonas?

The OTO kit you need is available at the Tullahoma store: www.walmart.com/ip/17126394

I think you're wasting your time, coming onto the forum, since you really aren't taking our advice.

I've often noted over the years that pools aren't that hard, but they aren't forgiving, either. That's doubly true of Intex pools. Their filters are just barely big enough to manage if you do everything right. Once something has gone wrong, clearing the water again tends to take weeks, not days.

You don't probably don't need the polyquat. You don't need an algaecide. (Chlorine is the best algaecide.) If you have the Robelle pH Rise (washing soda, available in the Walmart detergent section for 1/2 to 1/3 the price), you don't need the borax. It's just a better way to raise the pH, but washing soda will work.

You DO need a reliable way to test, which you don't have. The SSR handles CYA levels for about 2 months by 'dead reckoning', but you're probably too late for that. So you need some form of the Taylor CYA test.

I understand the whole, "I already blew my budget" thing. But the problem is, a single episode of algae can cost as much as a month of normal pool care. The algae could care less what your budget is -- it just wants to grow, and will do so if your chlorine gets low. It sounds like your chlorine has been low. Pseudomonas is possible, if not entirely likely, in a pool that's operated for 3 weeks with intermittently low chlorine. If you DO have Pseudomonas, to get rid of it, you need SUSTAINED high levels of chlorine. It's capable of growing when the chlorine is low, and protecting itself with slime when it's high. (Mustard algae does the same.)

FWIW, if you're trying to diagnose yourself, Psuedomonas characteristically is more likely to appear in areas (a) covered by a swimsuit (trapping the bacteria against the skin) and/or (b) areas exposed to pressurized flow for a period of time. But that's not an absolute thing.

Good luck!

Thank you, I actually have that OTO Test kit, along with the strips. I still plan on ordering the Taylor 2006 kit on Friday though.

I am trying to take your advice..since I will be ordering the test kit and am willing to try to use the BBB method if I have to, but I was asking if it would be a good idea to use the Dichlor another time or two to help not only get my Chlorine levels up, but also get my CYA up some more too so it can help my Chlorine levels stay up in the future. I'm doing everything I can at the moment.

The pool was actually filled a little under two weeks ago, but I don't know if the makes my situation any better.

So I hope I don't sound like a broken record, but should I use the Dichlor another time or two or just switch to bleach even though my CYA is still low?

I went to the pool store and had another test done hoping to get a better idea about the CYA and these are the results:
Free Available Chlorine 0.19
Total Chlorine 0.7
Combined Chlorine 0.51
Ph 7.4
Total Alkalinity 0
Calcium Hardness 64
Cyanuric Acid 16
Copper 0
Iron 0.1
Saturation Index -1.1

They recommended I shock the pool tonight. Should I be concerned about the high Combined Chlorine? Also it says my Saturation Index is corrosive?


I wasn't sure what to do about tonight, but since I knew I probably needed to get some chlorine in there, but also wasn't sure if I should start using the bleach or how much..I went ahead and added a bag of the Dichlor. I'll test using my OTO kit in the morning.

Also, I was wondering if since the area of my rash is not located where my bathing suit is covered if it could be a reaction to chloramines caused by the higher combined chlorine? I know I have not seen a doctor, the rash seems to be getting better, still visible, not near as itchy, but improving...should try getting in the pool tomorrow once my chlorine levels are raised from the shock and see how things go? It may not be pool related, but I was suspicious since getting a new pool is really the only change I've made recently. I'm still planning on going to a doctor if it doesn't clear up soon or if it comes back in a different place, but I'm skeptical that they will properly diagnose it right away anyways. From what I've read a lot of times it gets diagnosed as eczema.

I'll post my test results with the OTO tomorrow

High combined chlorine *can* be very irritating, depending on WHICH combined chlorines you have (there are many!). I'd wait to enter till the pool is better.

BUT the problem is you can't trust those test results: I can tell that some of the numbers you posted are bogus, simply because of what some of the other numbers are.

Add 1 full gallon of 8% store-brand bleach every EVENING, late. Test with OTO the following evening. Skip the dose if the test shows dark or orange tinted yellow (off scale), but continue doing this for at least a week.

. . . you really need a K2006, if you want to be able to tell when things are 'right'.

Ok, I'll postpone entering the pool today. I wondered about the test results. I tested with my OTO yesterday morning(didn't make it to the pool store till around 3:30 in the afternoon) and although I'm not 100% certain I am reading the OTO tests correctly, the water definitely had some yellow. It looked to be around 1.5, BUT I guess it is possible all that burned off by the afternoon which would have given the pool store a low reading?

I tested around 10:30 this morning with the OTO kit and it was pretty dark yellow. It looked like it was around 5, maybe 3 at the LEAST. Ph looked to be somewhere between 7.2-7.4. I followed with the strips just to see what they would say(though I know they can't totally be relied upon) and it was showing FC of 5.

I will start adding a gallon of bleach tonight, I'm guessing I should leave the Dichlor completely alone for now? Also, is it a good idea to keep the tablets in the floater during the next 7 days? I keep them in during the day, but always take them out when shocking the pool or adding other chemicals just to be safe.... If bleach is all I need that's fine, but I wanted to check first.

Also is there a way to know you are reading the OTO test results correctly? I try to read them in my kitchen, lights on, backlit from a window with the shades open and outside with the sun to my back, but sometimes I'm not sure my eyes are picking up the right shade of yellow and red.

Anyways thank you all for all of your help, I REALLY appreciate it!!! :-)

It's better to wait on the dichlor, till you can hold chlorine overnight.

There's not too much you can to do make the OTO test more precise: it's very reliable, and covers a broad range, but it's not very precise.

Ok, will do! Should I leave the trichlor tablets alone in the meantime for the rest of the week too? And should I wait the whole week before getting back in?

Sorry for all the questions...thanks for the help!

I can't remember what trichlor you have, and I don't have time to re-read the thread now. If you have trichlor floaters, that's fine.

Just the regular Aqua Chme 3" ones. I put the bleach in tonight I'll throw the floater back in in the morning. Thanks again! :-)

Check and make sure they don't contain copper.

I'll have to check, or possibly call them and see. I've tried to find that stuff on the box before, but could not locate it. I did an OTO test tonight and it was dark yellow, definitely 5 if not higher, no orange tint that I could tell. The test strip I followed with showed the darkest purple(10). I will skip tonight since the yellow was dark and check again tomorrow night. Thanks!