kjh9835's pool

[kjh9835]

Last night FC 12, pH 8.2 Water hazy. I brushed the edges and bottom but did not get in to vacuum as it was cold. I can def. see the difference in the "mist" when I stir the water, not nearly as bad. I added more bleach and tested before bed. Pump running 24 hours, filter was a bit dirty but took little time to hose off.

This morning FC 10, pH 8.2, added more bleach. Rinsed filter (again not bad).

Looking much better.

Kathy

[Watermom]

Keep adding bleach as often as you can. Also are you testing your pH while the chlorine is high? If so, it can give a falsely high pH reading. Test the pH before the next addition of bleach. Note the cl reading at the time of the pH test and post it here. Glad it is looking better. Stay at it!

[kjh9835]

FC 12 (really same as this morning, three of us agreed just now it's closer to 12 than 10)
pH 7.8

Water clear, again not as much "mist" on the bottom while swishing the water around, I can live with it. Filter barely had anything on it. Put in more bleach just now.

Question about surface skimmer......it has a partial black ring where the water hits/sits on the top edge. Rubs off but "greasy/smeared", I cleaned it off with 100% bleach on a paper towel. Algae starting? Mildew?
It was there this morning too but I forget to post about it. Water still pretty cold but I'm getting in after supper to stir up the water some more.

Will I need this new bottle of metal control stuff I bought?
Kathy

[Watermom]

Everyone's skimmer gets that way. Just wipe it off. Maybe use some baking soda on a cloth. Not a big deal.

I just rescanned this thread. (We help so many people every day, it is hard to keep each person and their pool straight.) I see that you filled from a well, but unless I missed it, you aren't having issues with greenish water suspect of having metal contamination. Right? If that is right, then you probably won't need that metal control.

[aylad]

That's what I was looking for, too....if you have not added any metal control up to this point, odds are really good that you won't need it.
Do you use the same well water for your house? Are the insides of your toilet tank stained orange or green?

Janet

[kjh9835]

Haven't used it yet but it was recommended by the chemical company (of course) since I use chlorine pucks in the floater. The water hasn't been green this year or last. Yes, it's the same well, toilet tank is fine so I'll just return it along with the rest of the stuff I bought and haven't used (nor will I now that I've found this site).

Kathy

[Watermom]

I would not use the pucks in a floater. Your CYA is already at 40 which is just about perfect as far as I am concerned. Those pucks are trichlor and they are stabilized which means that they have CYA in them. Just use bleach for your chlorine instead of the pucks. Many people get into trouble with trichor pucks. They keep using them and using them unaware that their CYA is climbing but they don't realize that the more CYA you have, the higher your chlorine level has to be to avoid an algae bloom. Then they come on the forum and post about how they cannot get rid of algae. We see it all the time. Stick with bleach.

[kjh9835]

Good to know, I did not realize they were anything but chlorine but did not read the bucket either. Good thing I haven't bought any new this year but I did put two in the pool tonight along with the bleach so I'll get rid of them. Learn something new every day.

Kathy

[kjh9835]

Did not test this morning, off for college visit all day. My husband did vacuum the bottom today and cleaned the skimmer while I was gone. I tested this evening, FC 10 and pH 7.8. I put in more bleach just as it started sprinkling. Has not been very warm last few days with rain on and off. Took the floater out too.

How long should I keep the FC over 10? I'm satisfied with the water condition being just a bit hazy so don't think I'll mess with the step by step method of getting the alk. level down.

Kathy

[Watermom]

If you have no CC and also can go from sundown to sunup without losing more than 1ppm of cl overnight, then you can let the chlorine drift down and keep it between 3-6 all the time. If you drop below 3, you risk an algae bloom. However, if both conditions in my first sentence are not true, then you need to keep the cl high for another day.

Of course, it is your pool but, I would advise going ahead and working on lowering the alk. It is a gradual process, won't get there overnight. You can just work on it a little at a time in the coming weeks.