three weeks and still fighting

[chuckerman]

opened my 30' AG sand filter pool three weeks ago. no winter cover on so to say swampy is understatement. have been adding 6-7 gal 6% bleach daily, not always able to test water in the a.m. just made nightly check and FC 1.0 CC 1.0 PH 7.4 TA 330? took 33 drops to turn test sample shade of 7.6 ph color red CYA 40 water is blueish CLOUDY I have been vac the pool every other day and then backwashing. It is now getting hot outside and pool is needed. First question am I on the right track (patience, patience, patience) or need to do something else also? Secondly is it safe to swim now without the family getting SICK?

[aylad]

With a CYA of 40, you need to at least be able to maintain your chlorine at or above 3 ppm. You can probably swim now without getting sick--but keep in mind that in cloudy water someone underwater in trouble is not always easy to see, so please be diligent about watching swimmers!
Janet

[Reefdiver]

I know people have their methods and I don't want to interfere, but this is my fourth season using Omni Synergy! The stuff is incredible. I do absolutely nothing to the pool and it is sparkling clear. I never have any problems what so ever. You have to use the system the correct way and you will do nothing! I add about 12lbs of initiator when I open the pool and after that I add the 10 tabs a week and a half of bottle of clear and that is it! I also add a little shock and a little algae preventer about 2 oz of that a week and that is it. I don't even check levels, I do that about once a week, if that. This is the third year in a row that I opened the pool and every level was dead on! I shocked the pool added the initiator and the tabs and we were swimming two days later! I only keep my pool open from about May to November. The only problem I have ever had was a little algae problem and the reason I had that was because I left solarcover on during the real hot weather. Other than that, nothing!

[PoolDoc]

It's not that we're against Omni Synergy . . . it's just that we ALREADY recommend all the parts, but without the fancy labels & prices:

+ Omni Synergy Clear => borax
+ Omni Synergy Initiator => dichlor
+ Omni Synergy Tabs => 92% trichlor + ~6% borax

As long as your stabilizer (CYA) doesn't get too high, it's fine. But, you can get the same results using bleach + stabilizer + 20 Mule Team Borax OR dichlor + 20 Mule Team OR trichlor + 20 Mule Team.

Oh, and it's not the "20 Mule Team" brand either. If you have access to the 3 Elephant brand of borax I used to buy in 100# bags, that's fine, too.

BioLab / Chemtura (Omni, Aqua-Chem, Hydrotech, GLB, etc) is the KING of selling the ordinary at high prices through obfuscation and bright shiny labels. Actually, there's one aspect of that that's very positive. As an EDUCATIONAL or COMMUNICATION tactic, those labels and names DO help people remember what to do.

Ben

PS. If you are not sure I'm right, I have the Omni MSDS sheets and can post them.

[Reefdiver]

It's not that we're against Omni Synergy . . . it's just that we ALREADY recommend all the parts, but without the fancy labels & prices:

+ Omni Synergy Clear => borax
+ Omni Synergy Initiator => dichlor
+ Omni Synergy Tabs => 92% trichlor + ~6% borax

Yes I have read all about BBB before and I was ready to do it, but I am happy doing with what I am doing, it works and really the cost factor is not that bad considering that I have a 21' round ABG, I only spend about $200 a season if that! I know I could buy all this stuff at the grocery store and save, but I am bad at testing water daily and adding little bits here and there daily is also another thing I don't feel like doing. You don't have to post the MSDS sheets, I believe you. Like I said I have my system down and it works and I am happy!

[PoolDoc]

Nothing wrong with that.

Ben