Help a newbie?

[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!

[waterbear]

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)
That means your chlorine levels are high. That is where you want it if your water is green from algae. You can extend the scale of your kit by diluting the pool water sample with distilled water. If you dilute 1:1 multiply the test results by 2, 1:2 (1 part pool water to two parts distilled) multiply by 3, 1:3 multiply by 4 and 1:4 mulitply by 5. I would not try to dilute any more thant 1 part pool water to 4 parts distilled water but you have just increased the range of this test up to 25 ppm TC with a slight loss in accuracy!
Don't try and use this test for FC readings. It really doesn't work. OTO reagent only accurately measures TC!

Alkalinity = 330ppm total alklinity as calcium carbonate
This will need to be lowered once you get rid of the green water! When you are ready post a thread on how to lower the TA in the appropriate colomn and read the FAQ on the subject in that forum.

pH = 7.5
Perfect, you want to stay between 7.2 and 7.6

Hardness = my water didn't turn red as the test said it should.
This test in this kit has some problems, it might be the high chlorine levels interfering. At any rate you have a vinyl pool so this parameter is not important for you

CYA = 30ppm - the solution never got cloudy enough to hide the black dot.
Your CYA is below 30 ppm. As you continue to use the dichlor this will rise. Stop using the dichlor and switch to bleach when it hits about 50 ppm and you will be fine.

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

Thanks for your help!

The other thing you might want to do is take a sample of water to a pool store and get it tested for metals since you are using well water. If you have metals in the water using a sequestering agent is a good idea. Copper can make the water clear green. I assume your green is from algae but it can be hard to tell without tests for metals and FC. If it is algae then your FC won't be holding and the pool might be cloudy green and have a slimy feel. If it is copper the water can be light green to emerald green. Iron can color the water yellow and if your liner is blue it can make the water look green.

The treatments for these two problems are different and the algae treatment can make the water look worse if it is caused by metals.

If the green is from algae (water might be cloudy and pool will feel slimy) you need to get your chlorine levels to about 10-12 ppm and KEEP THEM THERE until the pool clears while running the pump 23/7 and cleaning the filter as often as necessary. Once the algae dies the pool might have a cloudy look to it from the dead algae. Your filter will take care of it but you might need to be patient.

If the green is from metals (water is very clear but has a color to it, pool has no slimy feel) a treament with a sequestering agent such as Jack's Magic or Proteam Melal Magic will take care of the problem. This is not a 'one time fix' and maintenence doses of the sequesterant will probably be needed on a regular basis and every time you add water so the problem doesn't return.

Next step is to get a sample to the pool store and let them test it for metals but DO NOT BUY ANY PRODUCTS FROM THEM until you post the results!

[GlenKlein]

Thanks Evan - I also forgot to mention:

I noticed an orange residue on my skimmer basket - it almost looks like my skimmer basket is rusting! I tried to wipe it off and it was pretty stubborn (if that tells you anything else).

I'll get to studying your notes!! Thanks so much for your help!

And BTW - the water is clear... emarald green was a good call. There is no slimy feel to it at all, and my inner liner is mostly white with a blue pattern. Also, the water's only been in the pool for 3 days now and it was emerald green as soon as it was full (the first morning). Doesn't algae take a while to form?