I know NOTHING! Where do I start?

[aylad]

I agree with Watermom--if you haven't added any stabilizer to the water, then there is none in the water. If you've added the shock and swim though, that may be where it came from. Do yourself a favor and get a drop-based kit so that you know you have accurate numbers.

Anyway, from looking at what you have posted here, there are no reasons why you can't swim, if the water is clear....the hardness is high, so you want to avoid using cal-hypo as a chlorinating source, because high calcium in a vinyl pool can lead to milky water. Your pH is high and your stabilizer could stand to come up, so using the dichlor that you have is an okay option for now--but not until you have a way to accurately measure pH. Dichlor will raise stabilizer levels and lower pH, so you need to be testing as you use it to make sure that your pH stays above 7.0 and that your stabilizer (you're right, same as CYA) stays under 40 ppm or so.

Your alk is fine where it is. Just be aware that, as your stabilizer rises, so will the amount of chlorine you need to keep in the pool to keep it clean. See the sticky thread called "Best Guess Table" in the chlorine forum.

Janet

[CarlD]

I think you said you had HTH Super Shock and Swim #3.

If so, that's Cal-Hypo and with your calcium level you shouldn't use it. If it was Di-Chlor it would be, in this situation, a good choice. So would Tri-chlor pucks but not those "double-acting" ones laden with copper.

So you'll need to get some CYA/Stabilizer powder. You can use the Muriatic acid to lower your pH for now. I'd start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup--no more. Mix it into a 5 gallon bucket of pool water first, then add it. Safer that way.

[lbmoore]

Nope, we havnt added anything other than the Walmart brand (6%) bleach, 1/2 gallon last night and then the other half this am.

I don't know why both the pool supply company that tested our water and the test strips I have are showing cya.

The hth super shock n swim is a 1 lb bag. The active ingredient listed is calcium hypochlorite 52.0%
Other ingredients 48%

Since we have not used any of the hth products that were bought, I would rather just return them.

If I need to buy a stabilizer, I will. Then I have borax, baking soda, muriatic acid and of course bleach on hand.

[aylad]

Since the shock and swim is cal-hypo, then you'd be better off returning it and getting a small container of stabilizer (also labeled conditioner, balancer, etc...but the active ingredient is cyanuric or isocyanuric acid). Somewhere in my mind I thought you said it was dichlor--must have confused you with another poster. Sorry!

Janet

[CarlD]

No, that was me ASKING if it was Cal-Hypo or Di-Chlor, and what could be done if it was Di-Chlor. Easy mistake to make.

[lbmoore]

Thank you everyone for your input. I have to go into the city tomorrow and will get some stabilizer and a better test kit.

It was close to 90 today (pool is in full sun all day) and by tonight @ 9:30pm we are back to zero on the chlorine due to no stabilizer, am I right about that? (I hope I'm learning )

Is there any certain stabilizer that should or should not be used?

[Watermom]

It is sometimes labeled as stabilizer or maybe conditioner. Check the label. If it says cyanuric or isocyanuric acid, that is the right stuff.

If you buy a kit, make sure you get something that has a FAS-DPD test in it. If they don't have something like a Taylor K-2006, consider order it through Amazon.com at this link because by doing so, the Pool Forum will get a donation. Take a look at this link:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=10006

[lbmoore]

Good Morning!

Here's my update:
Intex 15'x48" 4400 gallons

Bought stabilizer. According to pool store's analysis our cya was 17. So hubby added 8oz to raise 10ppm through skimmer. (Wish I had seen the sock method before hand) We decided to start here, but really not sure if that will be enough due to pool being in full sun 12-13 hours a day and temps here are around 90 everyday.

Ph continues to be 7.6 according to our new "dunk" test kit.

Chlorine continues to dissolve/evaporate. I add 1/2 gallon bleach in am and another in pm.

Here's my questions to be sure I understand right.

I will need to continue to add the bleach twice a day until stabilizer dissolves, correct?

How long will it take stabilizer to dissolve and how will I know? (by my chlorine levels starting to stay up?)

The new "dunk" kit we bought only has enough to do cya test twice. So my thoughts were to use these stress strips, I mean test strips () to monitor a CHANGE in cya, once there is a change I would say the cya has dissolved and we can use the "dunk" test or take another sample to pool store to get actual cya numbers.

Once the cya dissolves how often do you typically have to add chlorine in hot humid weather to maintain?

How often do you recommend checking the ph and cya? The bottle of cya says to test cya once a week. I've not found anything regarding the ph.

I think thats all the newbie questions I have for now.

I want to thank watermom, Carl, aylad and everyone else who has taken the time to help us. It's greatly appreciated.