Need instructions on opening a pool

[littleHeidi]

22,000 gal IG Alk 55. I just added 8 lbs. of Baking Soda and 2 gallons of bleach. Will test in 2 hours or so and post back IF there's any change. Water is still green but most of it settled in the bottom. Too cloudy to see TO the bottom but I can make up where it starts to slope down. (Lighter shaded area than the dark green areas.) I also brushed it down again. Now I guess I just have to keep the Cl at 3 until the water clears up and vacuum out the algae. Do I have this correct so far?

[waterbear]

don't rush the Alk. wait 24 hours and then retest!. You are probably in the ballpark of where you need to be right now...What is the target alkalinity you are shooting for?
For vinyl 80-100 is fine.
IF the pool is green you need to get the Cl up to about 15 ppm and keep it there until it holds. test that every couple of hours

[littleHeidi]

don't rush the Alk. wait 24 hours and then retest!. You are probably in the ballpark of where you need to be right now...What is the target alkalinity you are shooting for?
For vinyl 80-100 is fine.
IF the pool is green you need to get the Cl up to about 15 ppm and keep it there until it holds. test that every couple of hours

I already added the baking soda per Janet's instructions. She's never let me down yet. I only added half of what the calculator told me to, just in case. I thought the target alk was 120 because of the post rom our dear Ben on lowering alk.



22,000 vinyl inground Greensboro, NC

[waterbear]

I already added the baking soda per Janet's instructions. She's never let me down yet. I only added half of what the calculator told me to, just in case. I thought the target alk was 120 because of the post rom our dear Ben on lowering alk.



22,000 vinyl inground Greensboro, NC

that was right on the money!. I think you will find that if you give it 24 hours and retest you will be in the ballpark like I said before

[littleHeidi]

Yay! I think I'm getting the hang of this. I hate that I almost had a handle on it last year and now have forgotten it all. Isn't there a chart somewhere on what the different chems. do? for example:

Borax- raises alk along with pH
Bak Soda- raises JUST the pH
Muriatic Acid- lowers alk and pH etc, etc. Did I get that right?

[waterbear]

Check out the sister website http://www.poolsolutions.com
Lots of info on there. read everthing on it that you can access!

[littleHeidi]

When I got up this morning the pool looked like it had quite a few patches of light foam. I emptied the skimmer basket and backwashed. The water's still too cloudy to see to the bottom. (How long will it take until THAT clears up?) I tested the cl and it's FINALLY high enough to kill of the algae!!! The pH is still a little high too but I'm guessing that's because of the bleach I put in last night. My alk is now at 110!!! YAY!!!! Thankfully, it's supposed to be cloudy today so I don't have to worry too much about the sun eating up all my cl while I'm gone. As soon as we get back, I"m going to test again to see if I need my bleach and keep an eye on the pH. Thanks so much to all of you for helping me!