Need help and encouragement, please

[mylissia]

We bought a house in April with an inground pool- 18X36 oval, vinyl liner. The pool had not been covered or maintained, and was
DISGUSTING
- really a pond. We had literally hundreds of frogs and thousands of tadpoles, a few dozen turtles, and at least two snakes living in it.

We were advised not to drain, although in retrospect, that would have been easier. We swept and netted, and set up an additional filter with a submerged pump and an older sand filter, used algaecide, and spent a small fortune shocking. The pool store guy said this would eventually work, we just needed to keep at it.

We have killed off or relocated all of the critters, except for an occasional suicidal frog in the skimmer. The water is now greenish blue, and very cloudy. You can see maybe two inches deep. We have made no progress in two weeks.

Then I found you guys. Turns out, the pool store guy wasn't advising us to use nearly enough shock. I tested for chlorine yesterday, and got 0. I made a midnight trip to Wal-Mart last night, and added three gallons of bleach. Tested again this morning- 0. Added three more gallons of bleach, and headed to town for a test kit that tests more than just chlorine.

The best I could do was a strip kit- I obviously need to order one- but here is what we have:

TH- around 100
TC- 1
FC- between .5 and 1
pH- between 6.2 and 6.8
TA- about 40
CYA- Midway between low and 30

I apologize for the suckiness of the test- I bought the kit at Leslie's, was going to ask the clerk about a better one, but he asked me to describe the problem and proceeded to inform me that it was likely that my pool was infested with a "super chlorine eating bacteria" which would require massive amounts of special shock solution administered at precisely timed intervals.

I left with the strip kit, headed to BigLots for two cases of bleach, and came home and added four more gallons. I purchased baking soda and borax. I obviously need to do something about the pH and Alk, but wonder if I shouldn't get the chlorine in the right range first. Any suggestions would be deeply appreciated.

[duraleigh]

Mylissia,

As you know and have already said, test strip accuracy is usually not good enough but we'll assume they're close enough to give you some advice. At the least, you would do well to get a drops based OTO chlorine and pH tester and post the results of the pH... lets double-check against the strips.

1. We need to know the gallons in your pool. Post back if you don't know and well help you figure it out.

2. If the pH tests low with the drops based kit, raise the pH in your pool to the 7.2 - 7.6 range...sooner rather than later.........like tomorrow! We'll also move the Alk up along with the pH.

3. I'm gonna' suggest a pretty big dose of Clorox for your pool tomorrow evening but I need that gallonage first. Let's solve that issue, post it up, and we'll all help get your pool nice and sparkling....sans critters!

[mylissia]

Geez. Sorry. The pool is about 27,000 gallons, if I am calculating correctly. It is about 8.5 feet deep in the deep end, and 4 in the shallow, but there is very little shallow-less than a fourth of the pool, then it drops off pretty sharp.

I do have the HTH OTO and pH kit- Chlorine is between 1 and 2, and pH just slightly lighter than the 6.8 color- the lowest number on the kit.

I have a few pounds of baking soda, four pounds of borax, and eight gallons of bleach. It's dark, and I'm wearing sunglasses. Hit it.

[aylad]

Okay, here we go.........

First of all, stay away from the pool store's advice--I wouldn't buy anything at all from them unless it's a drop-based test kit. Some people here use the Taylor kit, most of us use the kit that Ben sells on this forum (the PS234--click on the Poolsolutions logo at the top of the pate). At the very least, go to Walmart and get the hth 5-way kit that sells for around $15. It'll be enough to get you started!

You need to raise your chlorine to 12-15 ppm, and KEEP IT THERE for several days. I suggest you use plain, generic, unscented bleach, because it's cheap, easy to get in large quantities , and won't create some of the other problems with your water that the other forms of chlorine will. For your pool size according to mwsmith's bleach calculator (you can download it from his sig in any of his posts), each quart of 6% bleach should raise your Cl by about 1 ppm, so your initial dose should be about 3 gallons. You can add it slowly through your skimmer, or slowly in front of a return, or dribble it around the perimeter of the pool, stirring as you go, whatever works for you. You need to have your pump/filter running 24/7, then you're going to need to test your Cl levels 2-3 times daily, and add whatever amount it takes to get back up to the 10-12 ppm mark. The more often you test and add, the quicker it's going to clear up. Right now, low CYA and large amounts of gunk in the pool are going to consume your Cl pretty quickly, but it won't be long before you'll start seeing some Cl residual, and some improvement in your water.

You also need to get your pH up ASAP (like now!) before the acidic condition starts breaking down your liner. I'd start with about 1/2 the box of Borax, pouring slowly into the skimmer, breaking up any clumps. Give it 3-4 hours to circulate, then retest and add as needed. Your pH needs to be 7.2-7.8. It also won't hurt to go ahead and add about a pound of baking soda via the skimmer to raise your TA some. These initial additions probably won't get to the target numbers, but it's better to "sneak up" on your target numbers than to overshoot.

Everything else can wait for now. Welcome to the forum, and good luck!

Janet

[duraleigh]

Janet, Mylissia,

I think Janet entered a wrong number in bleachcalc. I get almost 7 gallons to raise Cl to 15ppm.

[aylad]

Thanks Dave, for catching that mistake--I entered 17K instead of 27K. 7 gallons it is!

Janet

[mylissia]

Okay.
Seven gallons of bleach in this evening- about three hours ago- and I appear to have a chlorine level somewhere between 10 and 20- Not real confident in my proficiency with the shot glass method yet, but pretty comfortable that it is in the 15ppm range.

I added half of the box of borax and four pounds of baking soda this afternoon- oops. I don't know what made me think that was a one pound box. . . . My pH is now around 7, alk between 40 and 80.

I had Leslie's test for me earlier today (before I added anything), and they came up with results consistent with those I posted last night, except the CYA, which they said is 40.

The pool does look somewhat better today, I thought I could even see the bottom, but I may have been imagining things.

Thanks for your help so far. Any further advice? How much of a setback will my oopsy on the baking soda be?

Mylissia

[mylissia]

Arrrgh!!!!
After all that yesterday, I am back to square one, apparently.

This morning's results:
Chlorine: 1
Free Chlorine .5
pH 7
Alk Between 40 and 80
CYA 40 ish.

More Borax, baking soda and bleach? I'm off to town to replenish supplies, will check back here before I do anything. . . .

Mylissia

[CarlD]

No.
7.0 is a low pH, but won't hurt your liner and the chlroine will be more effective with the lower pH.

Now, what you need to do is just hammer that pool with bleach--keeping it between 12 and 15ppm. Check your water 3x/day for bleach levels and add when below 12. Just watch the pH but don't do anything unless it fall below 7. The you should add 1/2 box of Borax.

The other numbers are OK--fine-tuning isn't necessary to solve your problem. Lots and lots of bleach....

Plus do the usuals: run your filter 24/7, brush daily, vacuum to waste daily.

I KNOW you don't feel like it, but you ARE actually making good progress.

[mylissia]

Thanks for the help. I will continue to pour in the bleach, and will keep an eye on the pH.

Stay tuned for updates.


Mylissia