New User First Test - Help

[psteward]

I thought I was clear on what I wanted untill I read some other posts. What I think I need from an expert to get me started is more of what your first reply did for me.
I think what you said was to shoch with 9 gals and get it up to 15.
If it is 13 in the morning, let it drift down to 3 or 4.
Then??
Add bleach nightly to keep it there?
When to shock again? Or how often to shock
Should I run a higher Ph and stabilizer to help keep the pool balanced.

As you see I don't know very mush yet. Thanks for your help

[duraleigh]

P,

I believe everything to be fine in your pool except for Chlorine. It's a consumable (pH, Alk, Ch, and CYA generally are not). It is consumed by organics in your water or sunlight....you can't do anything about the sunlight...(you're CYA level helps protect it from the Sun but it still gets some of it.)

Your goal is to get the organics sterilized and out of your pool. A high Cl level (shock value) will do that for you.

So, bringing your Cl up into the 15 range is "shock" level. You should try to keep it there until your water clears. To protect from loss of the Sun (to an extent) it is most effective to add Cl after dark....saving some bucks. However, the most effective idea, would be to add it during the day as well....speeding up the process but perhaps wasting some money.


So, if you bring your Cl up to 15ppm at dusk, check it again before you go to bed if you can and add enough to bring it back up to 15pp. Next morning, test again and add enough to bring it right back to 15ppm. You are not only killing bugs, but you are ridding your pool of the CC's that showed up when you tested....another indicator of "bugs" in the water.

Do this 'til your water looks really good....vacuuming and filtering the whole time. Once your water is satisfactory, let your Cl drift down on it's own (may take a few days) and then simply add enough every now and then to keep it in the 3-6ppm range. You will soon discover how frequently you need to do this (Ben says, "Listen to your pool") and you probably will stop testing daily 'cause you know what it's going to be.

You'll need the "powder test for Cl over the next few days cause you're testing for high levels of Cl and looking for CC.

When your water is nice, you can drop back to using the Cl test combined with the pH test (it's the S-200) because it's easier, quicker and you need to keep a close watch on your pH (7.2 - 7.8)

Lastly, leave all your other results right where they are....you're fine. Focus on your Cl and you'll have great water before you know it.

Put a tight lid on those "Smart Sticks" and put 'em up. They may help you when you go on vacation. More on that after your water is where you want it.

That's the longest post I think I've ever made....hope you get something out of it.

[psteward]

Thanks for all the help. The water looks great.
I'm now steady Ph - 7.2, cya - 40, alk - 90.
cl went 10 - 5.5 - 2.5 - 1.5 - 1.5 in the last 5 days with 0 fc.
The last 2 days I've added .75 gals and 1.5 gals to try and get the cl to 3.
Should I shock again, or keep increasing the dose to raise the cl to 3

[duraleigh]

As long as your water looks good, simply maintain your Cl level around 3-6ppm. You will soon find that you may use a gallon a day or so of Cl to keep that range. Don't let it slip.

Only need to shock the rest of the summer is if you smell a lot of Cl around your pool....that'll indicate the presence of CC's and the shocking will get them out.

Nice work!

[psteward]

My message wasn't very clear.
More specifiaclly:
My cl has been at 1.5 for two days.
I've been tring to raise it to three by adding bleach. First .75 gal then 1.5 gal the next night. (The cl remains at 1.5)
Do I need to reshock, or should I increase the number of gallons I add to raise it to 3.

[duraleigh]

Increase the number of gallons to raise it to three. However, it won't stay there.

Raise it to 5, let it drift down to three, then raise it to five again