Newbie needs help with numbers please!!

[baseballmom]

Hi! I am new to this site and have been reading as much as I can but think I am getting a bit overwhelmed. I have a 16x48 Intex pool, 6500 gallons. We filled it up and I have added regular bleach but nothing else. I bought the 6 way test kit from Wal-Mart before reading on this site about Ben's kit. Would love to have his kit but this one will have to do for now. Here are my numbers:

CL: 0.6
PH: 7.8
TA: 280
stabilizer: 0

Can someone please direct me in the right direction? I know I need more chlorine and my pH is a bit too high and my alkalinity is way high and I need some stabilizer but what kind do I need to purchase? Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thank you!!!!

[CToon]

Hi baseballmom ,

You can get stablizer at walmart , lowes, or a local store . all that matters is its cyanuric acid .

With alkalinty that high already , I can only guess you live where the water is really alkaline . My thought is I would live with it like that as long as its not causing scaling or some such. In a vinyl pool with no heater , its not super critical..but if you want to knock it down , there are directions in a sticky post here.

[baseballmom]

Thank you, Ctoon!

If I wanted to try to lower the alk, would you try to lower the pH or would you try to get the alkalinity down first? From what I read the two work together, right?

Thank you for your help)

[CToon]

The directions are in the Alkalinity section of the forum. Theres also a FAQ that might help too.

ph is easy to knock down , heck , I can do it without even tryin .ALk on the other hand is lil more complicated...kinda why I say I might just live with the high alkalinity

[medvampire]

Baseballmom

You do need to add cyanuric acid to protect your chlorine to a level of around 30. I would down load bleachcalc to get the amount you need.
You can also use the software to calculate need amounts of other chems you add to the pool.
The best method for dropping the alk can be found here.
I am not shure of your testing methods but I would also recomend getting a good test kit. You need one that uses liquid drops and test for free, and total chlorine. Ben the owner of this forum sells one I would recomend here.
You can drop your ph by useing muratic acid. You can find it at Lowes. It is used for cleaning concrete.
I would also raise your chlorine useing straight bleach from the super market.
I would take the time to visit the sister site and read every thing there.
Be patent and studdy every thing here ask questions. The pros here are more than happy to answer your quesions and will not point you in the wrong direction.
Steve

[baseballmom]

Thank you so much Medvampire!! Everyone's help is greatly appreciated!!!