Help! Big Time!

Does anyone know for sure what the kit Chuck posted about tests? It says 7 way, but lists FC, Alk, CYA, PH and Calcium Hardness. I'm curious what the other 2 things are.

What Simmons99 said and...

The reason you need the FAS-DPD test is:

1. because you will initially need to 'shock' your pool, or super-chlorinate, your water to kill the algae. This means over chlorinating to some high level, and keeping that level for a couple days. That level depends on how much water you have in your pool and the amount of CYA that may be present. CYA (cyanuric acid or stabilizer) acts to lock up the chlorine so it doesn't burn off so fast. Shock levels of chlorine can't be measured accurately with the OTO you mention.

2. FAS-DPD will give you the two components of you need to know about, 'free chlorine' (FC) and 'combined chlorimines' (CC). The OTO kit will only give you the FC but you also need to know CC as this tells you if your chlorine is actually killing something (if there's still algae present).

After the shock phase is complete and your water's clear (usually 3 to 5 days), you'll let your chlorine level drop to swimmable levels and only need to add some bleach once or twice a week to maintain.

Get Mike Smith's BleachCalc program to help you with calculations (it's free and no installation necessary):
http://home.earthlink.net/~mwsmith70/data/BleachCalc262.exe


Since your pump/filter aren't due till Friday, why not mail order the test kit(s)? Believe me it'll be worth it and make helping you much easier.

(edit: Do Not add any of those chems you list in another post here. especially the chlorine tabs. They contain CYA, AKA stabilizer. CYA is good and necessary, but once it's there, it ain't easy to get out so if you overdo it, you end up having to dump some of your pool water and refilling to dilute it. And since the more CYA in your water, the more chlorine you need to add, you want to have some control (by testing) over how much you CYA you add. We can figure this all out once we know what the present condition of your water is)

C.

Okay, well i never ever spent $20 on water testing kit, :(

But i guess i have to, question how long dose this kit last?

another question how much is it going to cost to get the pool clean after i get the kit? i have no shock or anything just chlorine tabs, i cant get shock anywhere cause they charge to much at the pool store for it and my pool has a liner in it and looks like this pool http://aaabestbuy.com/ebay/pools/56951_large.jpg . give an estamite price .

I am talking about the 7 way test kit.

You don't need to buy shock. You can just use plain, ordinary, unscented laundry bleach instead. That is what most of us here on the forum use for our source of chlorine. Much cheaper than buying pool store chemicals. It would also be helpful for you if you go to the sister site to this forum at www.poolsolutions.com. There you will learn much about taking care of your pool inexpensively. Also, read through a lot of the old posts here on the forum.

OKay, Well ill wait till i get the test kit befor anything, but how long dose the test kit last?

You really should get both that I listed. The FAS-DPD will be needed because it measures the chlorine in your pool in a way the other doesn't. Reread what I said about it before. Expect the FAS-DPD to last at least one season, mine lasted two but my pool gets light use.

The 7 way has various chems in it which can be replaced individually as needed. They're usually 6 or 7 bucks each. Most likely you'll have to replace the CYA test before the end of the season. The others will likely last an entire season.

And like Watermom sez, read, and read thru this site. There are lots of people with smaller pools than your and even less pool knowledge. And then there are some here who can talk chemistry and pool water science and pool construction with the best. That's what makes this site so valuable. No one's here to sell you anything except the cheapest way to maintain your pool.

Take a look in the "Off Topic and General Interest forum". The first four discussion areas are where everyone posts pictures of their pools. You'll get a good idea of the range of people who come here and the range of pools they own.

And notice how clear their water is too.

C.

At least your math should be easy.
An 18'x4' above ground round pool should be approx. 6000 gallons. 1 gallon of 6% strength bleach should add 10 ppm of chlorine, if I'm mentally moving decimal points correctly.
So if you need to achieve a 25ppm rise in chlorine, it would take 2 1/2 gallons of bleach, etc.

PoolKid:
Sorry I haven't jumped in sooner. Yes, read the stickies. They were written by some UTTERLY BRILLIANT moderators (J/K! ;) -- Bet that made you laugh) . Seriously, we tried to make them clear and simple.

There are two other test kits on the market I know of that are pretty similar to Ben's kit and will cost between $60 and $90--and last for several years. Refills of the chemicals are available so they last basically indefinitely.

This is one place you cannot afford to skimp. What they will save you in Advil / Tylenol alone makes them pay for themselves.

Besides Ben's kit, there's the Taylor 2006 kit, which is also a FAS-DPD kit. Then Leslie's has an on-line store that sells a FAS-DPD Chlorine Service Test Kit (I think that's what it's called). This is made for Leslie's by Taylor and is basically the same as the 2006 but in a Leslie's box. Taylor sells refills of ALL its test chemicals, and Leslie's sells them on-line as well. Either of these kits will serve as well as Ben's--they aren't as nicely optimized as Ben's and you'll need refills sooner, but otherwise you'll get equally good results.

There are some other cheaper kits that are pretty good, but only for keeping your pool clean when it's already clean. They are much trickier to use (if you can use them at all) when you have a problem, like you do. One is the WalMart HTH 5-way drop test kit. If they have it, it's a bargain--but you'll need to research the Shot Gl*** method to measure chlorine levels above 5ppm (use the search function).

You are going to need to kill your algae first and that's going to take lots of chlorine--bleach is the best way to add it. Forget that algaecide. The only one to use is polyquat 60%. Brand doesn't matter. If the container says "Poly...<something>.... 60%" and the rest is inert ingredients, that's the stuff. If there's anything else in it, don't waste your money.

But the algaecide is for PREVENTING, not killing algae. Use bleach.

I'm going to tell you not to skimp on what you need, like test kits and algaecide because if you follow our guidance you'll save it all back and more on the junk you don't need that pool stores try to sell you.

Most of what you need for pool care is at the grocery store or hardware stores. But the test kit is what makes it all nicely possible. And you must use it regularly during the season.

I use Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda from the grocery store, Muriatic Acid from Home Depot (which I rarely use--I rarely need to add acid), and polyquat and stabilizer from the pool store. I rarely, if ever, use anything else. I NEVER use clarifiers, flocculants, metal removers, phosphate removers or anything labeled as "shock". All the pool store garbage. My water is clean, clear, sweet and sanitary all the time.

Okay thanks for all the info!

All see what i can do with the test kit,

Question

Pool Turned really green today lol, anyway i can add bleach now w/o the filter? If so will it bleach the liner? and how much (2.5 gallons)? Just to make the pool not so green so it buys me a little time to get the test kit? and how would i add.

Filter came just now, let me know if i can do anything to make it not so green while i try to get the water test kit.