oxy clean

[johnlanciloti]

is it a good or a bad idea to throw some oxy clean in the mix . 27 ft 4ft high 17,200 gallon pool. I have been shocking with run of the mill laundry bleach and using sodium bicarbonate to bring the ph up . but i was just wondering what oxy clean would do ...if anything to my pool.

[Watermom]

Bad idea! Do not throw any oxy clean in the pool. It would probably be a good idea if you posted some current water testing results taken with a drops-based kit. Also, tell us what kind of filter you have and exactly what all you have added to the pool, meaning ingredients and not just "shock." Then, we'll try and help you out. Tell us how the water looks and any problems you are having.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[johnlanciloti]

fc- 5.0 which is as high as my kit goes, tc is the same, ph is 7.4 to 7.5 but then ten minutes later the color changed i think thats just from the red solution being from last year, alk is at 130ppm, brom is 6.5 to 11.0 and stabilzer seems to be 15? i dont care for this shot in the dark test kit. aqua chem kit! I have a hayward 1.5 hp pump and what looks to be about your average 200lb sand filter. Ive only been using liquid bleach i assume its about 5.25% concentrate and household baking soda. other than that i tried "shock" when i first started this over 3 weeks ago but it did much of nothing and some chlorine tabs which ive now done away with and a bottle of algaecide 50. The water is a light green color you can see down about 18". The brown on the side of the inside of the pool seems to be coming off. I thought i was making headway with the water lightening up in color but today i went out and found a nice pile of decaying leaves in the middle of the pool so i scooped what i could up with the pool rake.

We bought this house a couple months ago and just really got moved in then i started up with the pool. It problably wouldve been a better idea to take my shotgun out back and see how many holes i could blow in it with bird shot lol. seems like a big waste of time and money! sorry to be gloomy but this is ridiculous to me the only reason im still going is because of all the time and money ive put in already. Ive got a kids birthday next weekend and was trying to get it going for that but im just real unsure thats gonna happen, oh well theres always the sprinkler and hose kids!

[Watermom]

You can get this cleaned up. We'll help.

In your pool, each quart of 6% bleach will add just a tad under 1ppm of chlorine and each gallon (4 quarts) will add about 3.5ppm. Test as many times per day as you can and each time, add enough bleach to get the cl back up to 10-12ppm. If you will sustain this high reading consistently, it will help clear the pool.

You really need a good test kit. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (same kit, larger bottle of some reagents). If you buy it through the Amazon link in my signature, the Pool Forum makes a little money on the sale which helps us keep this form online. Only buy if the seller is Amato Industries, however. Some other sellers are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want. If Amato isn't listed, wait a day or two and try again. They seem to restock pretty quickly when they sell out.

In the meantime, you can force your kit to read higher than 5 on the chlorine scale by using a dilution method described here: Testing Without a Good Kit

Scoop out as much organic debris as you can and run the pump 24/7. Backwash the filter whenever the pressure rises 8-10psi over the clean filter pressure.

Your pH and alk look fine. Your CYA (stabilizer) is low. (I don't know how you came up with a reading of 15 as the lowest kits can usually differentiate is 30ppm.) You want to bump the CYA up to about 40. Put about 3 lbs. of stabilizer in an old sock and hang it in front of a return jet. Give it a squeeze once in awhile to help it dissolve faster.

Keep us posted of how it is going and if you have any other questions, ask. We're glad to help. And, just maybe, the birthday pool party can still take place!

BTW -- You don't have any bromine. This is a chlorine pool. Just ignore that side of the testing scale.