New to BBB. Need help getting my Arizona pool chemistry right.

[Mirandy]

Dear Pool Doc,

First of all a big thank you for getting back to me I was thrilled to hear from you.

Yes, the address I provided is my home. No I don't have a spa. I think what you see is a planter (looks like a spa inside the pool but is a planter with an Ocotillo cactus.

I tested my water today and here are my readings before adding the 2 gallons of bleach today. I did add 1 gallon last night.

Free Chlorine: 4.2 ppm
Combined .4 ppm
PH 7.8 (is up by a lot, I added a bunch of borax last night before I received your email)
TA/alkalinity 160 ppm
50 ppm CH/calcium
CYA 100 -actually a little below that even (I did the 1/4 pool water, 3/4 tap water and the reading was much better than a couple nights ago. At least I'm less worried now.

I'm going out to add the 2 gallons of bleach now and will test the chlorine levels in the morning and get back to you.

Thank you-thank you for your time. And yes, I'm giving away my pool chems asap! Should I give away my PhosFree and Clarifier too?

MFB

[PoolDoc]

1. Don't give away the PhosFree. Instead, order a Hach / AquaCheck Phosphate Test Kit from Amazon. Once you get it, start adding PhosFree doses VIA THE SKIMMER every 2 - 3 days. Test your water a day AFTER adding the PhosFree. Keep going till you show no phosphates. Doing so will make it MUCH easier to get rid of the 'green'. (You can order the kit, and the tape measure at the same time. I'll post a diagram of what to measure, later today.)

2. If your first phosphate test shows levels above 1000 ppb (1.0 ppm), let me know.

3. Keep your chlorine around 10 ppm, till the 'green' is gone.

4. Otherwise, your chem levels look good.

[PoolDoc]

Upgraded membership and moved thread to the Chemistry Problem section. You may need to log out and back in to see everything.

PS.You can search use Google to search multiple pool sites, using Google's 'advanced search operators" to limit your search to specific sites. This page of mine will create the search links for you. Google knows my site -- and all the others -- much better than those sites internal search functions! And, if you need to post pictures -- of your pool, filter, pump, piping, what-not -- there are instructions on this page

Please note: the Super Search page does NOT search directly; it only CREATES special Google links, that enable a FOCUSED Google search!

[Mirandy]

Ok...the next day (yesterday) after adding the 2 gallons of bleach pool went to 13ppm free chlorine. Pool was sparkling clear. Had people over to swim last night.

This morning:

5.0 free chlorine
.5 combined chlorine

Pool was surprisingly cloudy.

Just added 2 gallons bleach again.

[PoolDoc]

Having a bunch of people swim can cloud your pool multiple different ways, some of which do NOT indicate any problem. For example, heavy use of sunscreen will do it for sure.

But, one of the problems that result from the use VS pumps is that they are almost ALWAYS too big for the filters they are paired with and can CAUSE poor filtration!

With sand filters, this has 3 major effects:

1. If you backwash on high speed . . . or even fairly high speed . . . you will blow sand out of your filter every time you backwash. If your filter is 24" or less, this has likely already been happening. AND, reduced sand = poorer filtration.
2. Also, if you don't match flow to filter, your BIG pump will force dirt THROUGH your little filter.
3. Finally, people often think INCREASING pump speed will IMPROVE filtration, and sometimes do this after heavy bather loads. But the OPPOSITE is true, per #2 above!