starting up after winter

[Watermom]

How much Borax are you adding at a time? You have a small volume pool. Do smaller additions instead of big ones on Borax so you don't overshoot.

4.26 gallons of bleach should take your chlorine up to approximately 29ppm. I wouldn't suggest going that high.

[costo]

I haven't been adding borax because my ph has been fluctuating so much. I lowered it with the muriatic acid. It then appeared fine but since has been between 6.8-8.2. Guess I was adding too much. I need to recalculate next time I add. My shock level should be between 15-20, right??

[Watermom]

Shock level is based on CYA level. (See the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.)

[costo]

I am unable to check my cya at this time

[PoolDoc]

Chlorine: orange, ph was high, around 8.2. Looks as though the ph is fluctuating based on chlorine.

When your chlorine is that high, your phenol red test results are meaningless, because the phenol red indicator is converted chemically to a DIFFERENT indicated, chlorphenol red.

[costo]

So should I trust the ph results when the chlorine is at lower range of 5-10 or not even worry about the ph until I get the algae killed

[Watermom]

You can trust it when your chlorine is below 5ppm.

[PoolDoc]

With a Taylor kit -- K2006, K1000, or HTH 6-way -- you can trust the pH test up to 10 ppm. As far as we know, that ONLY applies to Taylor kits.

[costo]

Tests this am. ph: 6.8-7.0 chlorine: ~1-2....this after i shocked it to 29 based on ppm calculations. I cant believe it dropped that low overnight. I did add about 1 cup or less of borax and 11.375 quarts bleach. I brushed the pool after adding the bleach and borax. I do have some cya ordered to test that but I feel like I am wasting so much chlorine!!! I did finally break down and buy the taylor 2006a kit you have linked to. It does seem to be doing better although I just hate wasting all the chlorine!!!! Once again thanks for the info!!

[PoolDoc]

You're not wasting the chlorine -- short of draining the water, there's no other way we know of to remove the ammonia or urea. This fall, though, you want to make a decision to EITHER maintain the water all winter (pretty easy once it cools -- you just can't forget!) OR to drain, store, and refill next year.

At this point, even though you aren't "wasting" chlorine, you are getting to the point where it would have been cheaper to drain and refill. On the other hand, if you were to buy the Intex salt system (Intex 54601EG Krystal Clear Saltwater System) @ Amazon. . . you probably are getting close to the point, where you wouldn't have to add salt, since all that used up chlorine, turns into salt.

Add some more borax, though. You don't want your pH that low, while you are cleaning up that mess.