Murky pool, tadpoles, and an inexperienced owner!

[JV1980]

very helpful!

I was able to rather easily get the pH up. 2 boxes of borax (over a few hrs) got me to about 7.8.

the Cl was a different story.

Took 6 jugs to get me above 5ppm. Guessing b/c there's so much 'life' in there to gobble it up...

either way, I feel like I made progress.

I will keep with the filtration and Cl testing and report back soon.

Tx watermom, I see a light at the end of this murky, tadpole filled tunnel!

[Watermom]

You need to get the chlorine up to shock level or you are just wasting bleach. With algae you are either killing it or it is multiplying. There is no in between. Did you look at the color chart I linked above? Based on that, what chlorine level do you think you are at? How much bleach did you add at one time?

Test the chlorine this evening when the sun is off the pool. Based on the reference doses I gave you up in post #4 above, add enough bleach to take your chlorine back up to around 12ish or so. Otherwise, you aren't really making headway.

[JV1980]

I used up all the bleach I had on hand last night and was able to get the number up around 7 or 8 I'd guess (per chart you recommended).

At work now but will buy out all the bleach at Walmart this afternoon and get at it again. Is that unusual that after 9 jugs of bleach it only moved the ppm to 7 or 8?

Is mine a particularly challenging case?

Tx watermom, I'll report back tomorrow.

[Watermom]

Sorry. For some reason, I didn't see your post til now.

How much bleach did you add at one time?
Do you have readings from this evening?
How does the water look now?

[JV1980]

You were right, I checked this afternoon and my ppm had gone way down. I just added another 5 jugs of bleach and think I finally got it. Reading was a very very dark yellow (off the charts for my test kit).

Also added some baking soda to try to increase the alk.

Pool water is yellowish brown. Still can't see to the bottom but looks better/lighter. I suspect there are still a ton of leaves on the bottom that I didn't scoop and couldn't see.

Pump is running now and I'll test again in a few hrs to make sure my reading wasn't misleadingly high since I had just added the bleach.

I think I have cleared my local walmart of their entire bleach supply!

[Watermom]

http://pool9.net/oto-chart/

When you test chlorine again in a bit, go ahead and add more bleach to get back up to shock level. The more consistently you can keep the chlorine high, the faster it will clear.

If you think you still have debris on the bottom of the pool, try and scoop it out if you can. Otherwise, part of your bleach is going to be wasted on the organics in the pool instead of fighting the algae.

[JV1980]

Just tested. Level after a few hrs is still high. North of 13ppm I'd guess. I'll try to scoop more leaves but it's really a guessing game as to where they are since I still can't see to the bottom. Thx for all your help. I'll report back tomorrow. Probably should buy some more bleach huh?!?
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