Necessary Chemicals for Maintaining Intex-Style Pool?

[aylad]

There should be a place for a pressure gauge--you shouldn't have to do any modifications to make it work. Do you still have the directions for the pump/filter?

You'll be able to follow the links in the sigs right now by logging out and then accessing them from a post either Watermom, Ben, or I have made in any thread. Once Ben upgrades your registration, though, you'll be able to follow them without logging out. It's a temporary inconvenience, but part of a system Ben has put in place to discourage spammers/hackers from the forum. We're trying to keep this as safe a place as possible.

Did you try the bucket testing on your water to see about removing the calcium?

Janet

[dchannes]

My line of work for many years was housing construction. Everything from the foundation on up including electrical and plumbing. I also has worked as a sales clerk in a couple different plumbing supply stores. I wish I could post a picture link to show you the pump. My dear wife has misplaced the directions for the pump. However, I have closely inspected the unit and there is no visible threaded port to accept a pressure gauge. That said, I DO think I can find the parts necessary to install on inline on outflow side of the pump.

Mdw said she remembers reading that the pump is rated at 1000 gal/min.

I vacuumed the pool today and had to rinse the filter about 6 times. That's the first good vacuuming it's had. The water was almost totally clear when I started but in the process stuff got stirred up and it's cloudy again. I put a cleaned filter in and have the pump running.

I've have the chlorine level today at (according to the 6-way hth), between the 3/6 and 5/10. I super shocked it yesterday with the hth cal-hypo and put 4 1'' tablets in the filter basket. I added 2 1" tabs an hour ago the others were gone. I'm letting the kids get in later to keep things stirred up and will clean the filter after. I plan to then let the pump run til bed time and in the morning vacuum again.

You guys have given me hope about this 4600 gals of water. I don't have the borax yet. We live 12 miles from Walmart and don't get to town everyday.

The pH is hovering at 7.2 But the hardness is 350. I checked the water right out of the tap and it was 310. I thought that was strange. I read this was ok for vinyl pools.

My thought was to keep the TC high until I get the pool clean then back off. You think that's okay?

My house is campaign headquarters right now for a friend who is running for Congress and it's crazy here.
Thanks for the help.

David

[aylad]

The cal-hypo is probably what raised your hardness. With it that high, I wouldn't use any more cal-hypo, because of the milky water problms it can cause. The tabs will eventually add CYA, but it's going to take a long time--you might want to consider adding CYA (stabilizer) separately so that your chlorine will be better protected from the sun. (WalMart sells it in the spa section--check the ingredient label--you're looking for cyanuric or isocyanuric acid).

A pH of 7.2 is okay for now, just make sure the trichlor doesn't drive it down. You're not using a lot of it, though, so I don't think it'll be a problem for you. If this were my pool, I would pick up a few gallons of plain, unscented ultra bleach while you're at WalMart and use that for shocking, rather than the Cal-hypo. Your plan to keep the TC high for now is good.

What is your TA? Sometimes, if the milkiness is due to calcium, bringing the TA down a bit will help, if it's high....

Janet

[dchannes]

Dern. I didn't check the TA today but on a whim, my instincts told to put 1/2 cup of muriatic in the water... so I did. I will stop the cal-hypo. Tomorrow I will to town and get the CYA and 20 mule team borax. Thanks, Janet. I can't imagine how tedious this must be for you. This is an art form apparently!

[Watermom]

You can either use Photobucket, Picasa, Flickr, or the like to post a picture or email them to poolforum@gmail.com and reference the URL of this thread.

[PoolDoc]

membership upgraded AND thread moved so you can post again. (Sorry!) -ben

[dchannes]

Thanks Ben! Can you point me in the right direction for lowering my TA? I know you said it was a pain in the "patoot".

[dchannes]

where's my last post and Ben's post? It was here yesterday.

[aylad]

Look in the right hand corner just above your post, and you'll see the links for pages 1-3--I think the missing posts you're looking for were probably on the bottom of page 2?

Janet

[dchannes]

Hi there! I think my pool water is finally getting under control. I have been very diligent about vacuuming, not using cal-hypo but keeping the trichlor level high. My readings this evening are:
TC: 2-4, pH:7.2 and steady for 5 days, TA: down to 230, TH: 350, CYA: still less than 30(There's some cloudiness which tells me it's coming up). Due to what though?

The water is clear.

Now, I took Ben's advice regarding jetting the water to help bring the alkalinity down. It's working! I had a submersible pump. I put it in the pool and attached a short hose to it and tied it to the ladder pointing it at the water of the pool about 8" off the surface. It created a lot of bubbles. I ran it all day today. It brought the TA down quite a bit! I down remember what the numbers were but over 300, and now it's at 230? Wow.

Plus, I stopped a lady at Walmart from buying cal-hypo shock for her pool today. I told her to just use unscented bleach, she'd be better off and to join this forum.

Thanks