Help a newbie?

[GlenKlein]

Hi all,

I'm desperately digging through these threads trying to learn as much as I can, but am hoping that "just asking" will get me started?

We just put up our first AG vinyl pool - 16' dia. x 4' deep = 5060 gallons. It has a flitration pump and surface skimmer.

We live in SW Michigan, and are on well water. I filled my pool this weekend, and the water is greenish... is this because of the minerals in our water?

I also spent $100 on this granular stuff that is supposed to control a bunch of stuff at once... I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head (I'm at work), but it was white granular stuff in a 5 gallon bucket from SAM's club.

How can I correct the green water?
How much bleach do I add?
I saw something about a calculator in another thread - where can I find it?
Are there special considerations for well-water?
Is there a good website for newbies?

Please help - I'm confused and wasn't expecting all this when we bought the pool (duh!)

Thanks - Glen

[JohnT]

Step 1: Get a $15 test kit at Walmart.
Step 2: Post the results here.
Step 3: You will get the best advice you can get from the folks here.

[waterbear]

This is probably the BEST site for a newbie who wants to learn how to take care of their pool; have safe, clear, sparkling water; save money in the process; and make a bunch of great, new friends!

Fist, get a drop based test kit. Walmart has one for about $15 that will get you started but you really should invest in a better kit such as the one sold on the sister website www.poolsolutions.com or a kit from Taylor (the K-2006 is a good choice but the kit on poolsolutions is a better 'bang for the buck'!)

mwsmith2's bleach calculator can be found on the link at the bottom of each of his posts but I will post it here to make it easy for you
Get BleachCalc 2.6.2 here: http://www.hal-pc.org/~mwsmith2/BleachCalc262.exe

The BleachCalc program will let you determine how much bleach and other chemicals you need to add based on your pool and your test results. Most of us on here use it.

Go to www.poolsolutions.com and read EVERYTHING on it that you can! It has just about all you need to know to get started! Then read all the 'sticky threads' and FAQ's in this forum. Don't worry if you don't understand some (or even most) of what you read right now. You soon will!

Post a full set of test results including Free Chlorine, Total Chloine, pH, Total Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness, CYA (stabilizer or cyanuric acid) and, if possible iron and copper since you are using well water. Most pool stores can test for these things until you get a kit. Well water might or might not have metals present or might or might not have very high hardness or alkalinity. This is why test results are SO important.

Post the name of the product you bought at Sam's Club and the ingredients in it if they are listed.

With the above info posted the good people on this forum can then help you get your pool where it needs to be and keep it there. Don't be afraid to ask questions. We were all newbies once!

One more thing for now....Welcome to the forum!!

[GlenKlein]

Hi all,

Thanks for your quick replies... I went out and got the kit and will post numbers tonight.

In the meantime, I got the name of the 70# bucket from Sam's Club:

ProCare Granular Chlorinator
99% Sodium Dichloro-S-Traizinetrione Dihydrate

I'll get back to you with the numbers and thanks for all the help!

Glen

[waterbear]

Hi all,

Thanks for your quick replies... I went out and got the kit and will post numbers tonight.

In the meantime, I got the name of the 70# bucket from Sam's Club:

ProCare Granular Chlorinator
99% Sodium Dichloro-S-Traizinetrione Dihydrate

I'll get back to you with the numbers and thanks for all the help!

Glen

That is what we usually just call dichlor. It is a fast dissovling stabilized chlorine that has minimal impact on pH. It is fine to use for both regular sanitation and shocking until your CYA levels get too high (if you use it to shock this can happen quickly, you might want to use bleach to shock so you can get the maximun use out of the dichlor). IF you use it until your CYA gets to about 30-50 ppm and then switch to bleach you should be fine. This way you don't have to add stabilizer as a separate chemical. It was actually a good choice for a newbie with a new vinyl pool! You still have to get your water balanced so get those test numbers posted ASAP!

[GlenKlein]

ok... ran my Walmart test kit.

Please note - on Sunday I put 2 cups of the ProCare stuff in.

Chlorine/Bromine test = ORANGE (off the chart - the chart ended at yellow - my color was almost like a peach orange)

Alkalinity = 330ppm total alklinity as calcium carbonate
pH = 7.5
Hardness = my water didn't turn red as the test said it should.
CYA = 30ppm - the solution never got cloudy enough to hide the black dot.

Hope that tells you guys something - cuz it means nothing to me right now.

Thanks for your help!