New Member, yucky pool

[PoolDoc]

Do I really have to do the bucket thing again?

It's your pool; you don't have to do ANYTHING you don't want to do!

But, you've got some very difficult water to work with, for which there are no chemical 'magic wands'. Of course, the pool store will be HAPPY to sell you a wheel barrow load of possible magic wands, and let you test for a small $$$$ fee to see if they really work.

[Old Bat]

NO, I don't want to do anything the pool store way ever again! I just don't know what to do. It just seems like those numbers are really crazy to me. I followed the directions carefully.

I'll do the bucket thing, but what do I do?

[Old Bat]

Well the green has disappeared. The water looks good. I have a sock of CYA in front of return.

I just don't want to end up with this scale on the liner again. And such high levels of alk have me worried about future problems. Not sure how to proceed.

I haven't added anything other than bleach and CYA this year.

[BigDave]

Hold tight, Ben will get back to you. He's working on a method for you that none of the rest of us can help with.

[sunlove]

Sounds like you will need to soften your water but that is something I know very little about because I don't have hardness. Think that is why PoolDoc suggested you purchase the washing soda...I am sure he is onto something.

[Old Bat]

Thank you for your replies.

Could somebody tell me how much CYA to add? I've had it in a sock for days and days. Did the test today and the sample is clear all the way up the tube. I'm new to this, sorry. So I think I should put a startup dose of it in. What do you recommend for 5K gallons?

I only have the yellow chlorine test and keeping it up but have to keep adding chlorine so feel I should put some more CYA.

We had some hard rain since startup. PH is 7.2 now. Haven't retested for ALK or hardness yet.

[Watermom]

How much stabilizer did you put in the sock and how much of it would you guess is still in there? [And, where did you locate the sock? Is it in FRONT of the place where water comes back into the pool? PoolDoc ]

How often are you adding chlorine and how much are you adding at a time? Are you using bleach for your source of chlorine?

[PoolDoc]

Please record any new test results with the form below:

Pool History Entry Form for old bat
Pool History Results for old bat

Also, if you'd enter your pool information here:

Pool Chart Entry Form
Pool Chart Results

Those extreme alkalinity and calcium levels will be hard to work with. We can probably work out a process to clean them up, but it will take a little bit of doing -- and some good info.

Please do all these things:

+ List, by exact brand and product name, the chemicals you have on hand.
+ Complete the pool info chart (second set of links). Your actual pool gallons are about 4,900 & PF=24
+ Tell me if you have access to Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, at Walmart of where-ever.
+ Don't worry too much about stabilizer right now.
+ Keep your pool from getting slimed by adding 1/4 gallon each EVENING.

[Old Bat]

Hello,

Well I'm using that HTH purple cap stabilizer. And I only put in 9oz. per the cap measure. Didn't want to put too much. Today I was kind of milking the sock to get more into the water. I am so confused all the time. The more I read the worse it seems to get!

And so far we are just using plain store bleach 6%. I've added about 3 1/2 gals. No, wait those are only 96oz. bottles. I started with 1 1/2 gals and add about 1/2 gal every couple days. I still have a lot of shock left from last year, but don't know if I should use some of that or not. I think Ben said to just use the bleach.