Well, I've got questions, before I have suggestions.
Here's the problem: at this point, you've got such a witch's brew of pool goo in there, that any clean up process is unpredictable. It might take a week; it might take a month.
The alternative is, to make a plan based on your pool gear and fill water, prepare by getting the test kit and chemicals you need, and then draining and refilling . . . but NOT till you are READY to carry out your plan.
Frankly, if you want be be sure of swimming before September, draining and refilling is much more of a sure thing.
Regardless, I can tell you that what I'd want you to do is:
1. Get a good test kit, learn to use it, and then test your fill water.
2. Complete the pool chart, with the details of your pool info.
3. Get a NEW Unicel cartridge for your filter -- if both cartridges are actually good, then you'll have an optimum situation for filter cleaning. If your current cartridge is toast (as I suspect), you'll have at least one good cartridge.
4. Get some dichlor for start up, to add both chlorine and stabilizer.
5. Get whatever else is needed, based on your fill water characteristics.
The links you need to get started are below; meanwhile, think about whether you want save your water, but risk a 3 - 4 week clean up period, or whether you want to cut your losses, and start over, minus the witch's brew!
Best wishes,
Ben
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+ It's much easier to answer your questions, when we have the details about your pool in one place. We often 'waste' the first few posts back and forth collecting information. So, please complete our new Pool Chart form -- it takes about 30 seconds, but will save much more than that.Pool Chart Entry Form+ Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) / phenol test kit, or if available at YOUR Walmart (check availability), get the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit, which is compatible with the Taylor K2006. Test the pool as soon and you can, and post the results. If you get the 6-way kit, ALSO test the water you FILL the pool with, especially if it's a well, and post THOSE results as well. (The HTH is the best available kit you're likely to find locally, but it's not the K-2006. It can only provide rough measurements chlorine levels above 5 ppm, and it measures "TOTAL" hardness, rather than "CALCIUM" hardness, which is not ideal.)
+ Having a good test kit makes pool care easier for EVERYONE. A good test kit means a kit that can test chlorine from 0 - 25 ppm, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer with reasonable accuracy. Test strips (AKA 'guess-strips' ) do NOT meet this standard. Some pool store testing is accurate; most is not. The ONLY way you'll know whether your pool store is accurate or bogus, is by testing accurately your own self. On the other hand, pool store 'computer' dosing recommendations are NEVER trustworthy -- ignore them. They are designed to sell more chemicals than you need, and WILL cause many pool problems.
+ We recommend the Taylor K-2006 test kit, which meets the requirements above, for many reasons. The HTH 6-way drops kit is a great starter kit, and is compatible with the K2006 (it's made by Taylor). There are a few alternatives; for example Lamotte makes an FAS-DPD kit that's OK -- but it costs 3x as much. But, we're not aware of any test that is better, and since we are all familiar with the K-2006 (and can help you with it) we recommend it exclusively ( Test kit info page )
One caution for the 2012 season: Amazon does not stock the kits directly. So when buying at Amazon, Amato is our current preferred seller. However, they often don't list enough stock to last the whole day, so try order mid-morning. You should expect a delivered cost under $60 for the K2006A and under $95 for the K2006C. If you can't find that, wait a day.
+ Here are links to the kits we recommend (you can check local availability on the HTH kit, using the Walmart link):HTH 6-Way Test Kit @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) @ Amazon
+ If you need stabilizer, and have access to a Sams Club, buy their 24 pack of 1# bags of dichlor shock. Each bag will add about 7 ppm of chlorine, and about 6 ppm of stabilizer, per 10K gallons of water. Otherwise, order dichlor from Amazon:Kem-Tek Dichlor 22 lbsWe do NOT recommend buying dichlor locally, otherwise, at least until you are an EXPERT reader of chemical labels. The chlorinating pool chemicals sold at Walmart, Kmart, Costco, and most other local stores are diluted blends, sometimes with copper and other products with bad side-effects.
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