New to Pool Care, Need Advice, and a quick hello!

[PoolN00b]

Hello All,

My husband and I moved into my fathers house about 2 years ago and inherited an above-ground pool that had not been used or cared for in quite some time.
This year, after about 4 years of being dormant, we decided to see if we could get the pool useable again in time for summer!
It is a Doughboy pool, above-ground, holds about 15,000 gal (I know it's 4 feet tall, circular, not sure about diameter) and has an exterior DE filter.
We recently replaced the liner and filled the pool using our well, little bits at a time so as not to drain it.
After filling, my husband tested the water and found that is is acidic (pH was less than 7), and the chlorine level was 0 (as it was brand new well water).
He added chlorine via a few pucks in the floating plastic holder and now the chlorine is "too high" he says, according to test results.
We had been running the filter for several days consistently since the pool was filled, but the pressure on the filter always rises up to 15-20 PSI within a short time, which is worrying.
Recently, the pool turned green and we are unsure what to do about this. My father, who owned the pool previously, said to add shock and algaecide, which we did. This made little difference. For what it's worth, the water is pretty clear and not cloudy.

So, I suppose my questions to you seasoned folks are:
* How can I effectively and safely raise my pool's pH?
* How much chlorine should we add, and how often?
* How can I rid the "green" from my pool? I had previously read something about "backwashing" the filter, but am unsure how to do this.

We are total beginners, so any help or advice you all can offer would be spectacular.
Thank you so much, we are eager to get to swimmin'!

[Watermom]

If it is green and clear and not green and cloudy, it makes us wonder about metals in the water.

You can use some 20 Mule Team Borax to raise the pH which you can find in the laundry aisle at Walmart. Add a half a box at a time slowly to the skimmer. After a couple of hours, retest. Aim to just get it above 7.0 and not too much higher until we find out whether you could have a metals issue.

Likewise, we don't want you to take the chlorine too high just yet. Shocking a pool that has metals in it can cause some issues.

You are going to need a good kit. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 and is only available online. See the test kit link in my signature below. Go ahead and order because it will take a bit to get it. I assume from reading what you wrote that you probably have test strips? Until you get the good kit, go to Walmart and see if they have an HTH 6-Way kit (not test strips) or at the very least, an OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops.) Also, pick up several jugs of plain, unscented bleach. Generic is fine.

Test and repost with some numbers and then somebody here can help you go from there. Don't add anything else to the pool at this point except the Borax. Once we see your chlorine test numbers, someone can advise you what to do to raise it if needed.

Welcome to the Pool Forum, by the way!

[BigDave]

You can do this - you're starting from a deficit but you can. People here can teach you how. If you want to use this forum and learn how to manage your pool yourself (freedom), you'll need to avoid pool-store advice.
That said,
#1)Test kits - you must know what's in your water to clear it. If the wall marts near you sell the HTH 6-way drops based test kit, get one today! If not, pick up an OTO/pH ket (red and yellow drops) to get started.
#2)Test Kits - Get a Taylor K-2006 or K-2006C larger reagent bottles. This is only available online - no substitutions. You can buy this through the links in the moderstirs signatures - you'll get a good deal and the forum gets a couple scheckels.
#3)See #1 and #2.
#4)While at wall mart , buy a few boxes of Borax (20 mule team - laundry aisle) and as many bottles of plain unscented bleach as you're willing to buy (at least 6).
#5)Put 2-1/2 gallons bleach in the pool when you get home - pump running.
That's the got-to-do-it-now! list.
Can you bypass your filter so the pump recirculates? If yes, do so now.
Do you know that you need te replace DE every time you backwash or clean the filter?
Can your father show you pool equipment operations? How to backwash etc?
Do you have metals in your well water? What does the inside of your toilet tank look like (assuming it's the same water as in your pool)?

This is not complete. Check back after you get a test kit, test the water, then put the 2-1/2 gal bleach in (in that order). Tell us your test numbers and everything you can about your pool and equipment.

[PoolDoc]

member status updated. -ben