High Phosphates > 1,000 & High Nitrates 90ppm

[applepar]

Wow! Believe it or not, no one put it as simply as you just did. I was just on my way to the store to buy bleach to shock the pool. I've spent all day researching and trying to figure out how much bleach I needed and what level is considered shock. I found a calculator on Trouble Free Pool that indicated I needed a level of 24-28 requiring 13 gallons of bleach.

I have ordered the add on testing kit as recommended.

So - what I'm hearing/reading is: I have algae that I can't see but is there and it is the cause of my chlorine disappearing. Once I get rid of the algae (by shocking) and keep my chlorine level up I should be ok. Won't I still need to keep the chlorine very high to keep algae from coming back?

What about the borate post?

Looks like I still have a problem with the SWCG. I contacted Jandy/Zodiac about the SWCG and this is what they said: Thank you for contacting Zodiac. Typical life span of the cell is 3-5 years. It sounds like the cell is reaching the end of its life span. You have a 5 year prorated warranty on the cell and can purchase a new one at a discounted rate from a dealer. Try increasing production until you can get a new cell put in.

By-the-way: The stores actually were not trying to sell the phosphate remover, because they said the nitrates were so extreme.

[CarlD]

Actually some good questions:
"Shock" level is to kill the algae in your pool. That's the 20ppm you need--or higher.
But "Maintenance" level is what you need to KEEP your water sanitary. With a working SWCG, the level of chlorine should be NO LOWER than 5% of your CYA level. So if your CYA is 60, you need to keep at least 3ppm of chlorine for maintenance.

Here's a silly analogy: Say you have flying bugs in your house. You need to "bomb" the house to get rid of them. But once they are gone all you need to do is make sure your screens are well-fitted and not left open.

Borates is a whole different story. I wouldn't worry about them for now. Later, when you are comfortable with the basics, you can look into that. Some don't bother with borates (like me). Others do. There's no "right" answer just choices. You are OK without them for now.

The pool calculator works great but you can estimate too.
1 gallon of 6% bleach add 6ppm of free chlorine to 10,000 gallons of water. So, for your 26000 gallons (and it's probably really 25K) you need to use 2.5 gallons of 6% chlorine to get the same 6ppm. 5 gallons gets you to 12ppm. 10 gallons gets you to 24ppm (That's why I like Liquid Chlorine at 12.5%--you get the same effect from 5 gallons of LC 12.5% as you do from 10 gallons of 6% bleach.)

Carl

[applepar]

Thank you -
1. I haven't found 12.5% bleach anywhere - suggestions on where to find it?
2. Just went to Walmart & Lowe's looking for the recommended HtH Algaecide, but the HtH they have does not have the 60% Polyquat, so I didn't buy it. Sounds like you think I don't really need this? (Getting ready to try Leslie's or Anthony Sylvan.)

[PoolDoc]

For now, just use plain 6% household bleach (no flavors, scents or gels, PLEASE). Just use 2x as much as you would pool bleach.

Regarding Walmart pool chemicals -- I hadn't checked them out for several years, till just the other day. Long story short: Walmart has gone over to the 'Dark Side' with their pool chemicals, and is totally a BioGuard / Chemtura mind-slave.

You can still buy 'bleach, borax and baking soda' there, and they now are selling "washing soda" = pH Up. But their algaecides and sanitizers are AWFUL.

I need to write a post about this, but I just haven't gotten around to it.