Help!! We're Doing The Doggy Paddle And Our Arms Are Tired

[peggles0224]

Okay .... we have been at this for a week now and can't get any further. We bought the house with the pool and have no experience with this pool stuff

AG Pool
8,500 gallons
Sand Filter (have been running the filter ever since we started... 24/7)
Bought 6 way HTH at WalMart

First attempt at our pool early this week was to shock it. We added 1/2 gallon of algeacide and 4 gallons of Mega Shock. Mega Shock ingredients is 12.5% Sodium Hypochlorite and 87.5% Inert Ingredients. I have a feeling that I paid $2.49 for the name Mega Shock when we should of just bought bleach, but didn't know it at the time.

This first attempt turned pool from mossy green to "normal", so it did something, but water was cloudy.

Second attempt was Friday when we added 4 more gallons of the Mega Shock. On the same day we vaccum the pool. There were all kinds of leaves and sticks at the bottom of the pool, which we really can't see that were so much that it clogged up our pump. At this point, although we are not positive, we got most of what was at the bottom. It is still cloudy, although cleared somewhat. How we measure the cloudiness is by putting the skimmer net in the water and see how long it takes not to see it. We also have been backwashing.

Last attempt was yesterday where we added another 4 more gallons and it slight cleared up the cloudiness. But it's still cloudy and we don't feel like we are getting much of anywhere. We can see, just be color, that the skimmer net is at the bottom of the pool.

I used the 6 way test yesterday, just before adding the last 4 gallons. The CL on it was not a yellow that showed on the fill chart. it was much brighter. I suspect that I was probably having CL level double the 5 or more, but don't know.

So what should we do now? Are we on the right track, but need more Mega Shock? Can we convert our Mega Shock Brand to Bleach?

We are getting disgusted. We don't think we will ever get to swim in our pool.

[Watermom]

Yes, you can just switch to bleach. Post a full set of current water testing results. To make your chlorine test read higher than 5 which is the limit on your kit, dilute your sample. Mix one part pool water and one part distilled water, test as usual, then multiply the result by 2. If that doesn't take it high enough, mix one part pool water and two parts distilled water and multiply results by 3, etc.

[CarlD]

You instincts are excellent. If "Megashock" is $2.49 a gallon, buy me 10 cases!!! In my area 12.5 liquid chlorine (that's what it is) runs $4 gallon. 1 gallon is the equal of 2 gallons of Ultra Bleach--at $1.75 per gallon is pretty good. Actually, 12.5% breaks down to lower strength quickly so you want to get it "fresh" and use it up, or store it in a cool, dark, dry place.

Don't be disgusted--you are making excellent progress because you are doing the right thing (other than the algaecide)--lots and lots of chlorine and clearing the sludge out of the pool.

You noticed that the heavy dosing really killed a lot of algae--that's what you need.

You need more of what you got: Chlorine, Patience and Persistence!

[slclick]

Isn't 4 gallons of 12.5% an awful lot for 8500 gallons? BleachCalc seems to show it would raise the chlorine level 59 PPM!

[duraleigh]

Good catch, SL!

[CarlD]

Yeah, but if it's a science experiment swamp it won't stay there long! I think they've got a mess they are working on.

[peggles0224]

I did the CL with my walmart 6 way, which is the one we're most interested in now, right? I did a normal CL and then I did a diluted 1/3 with diluted water and both came up with Orange colors (obviously one deeper in color than the other). Just to add, the PH was not on the charts either at a purple versus pink.

Last night we added 6 5.25% bleach and didn't get anymore clarity than before the 6 gallons.

So we have a total of 12 megashock 12.5% and 6 5.25% bleach so far.