HELPppppppppppp

[raptureready1953]

Hi Everyone

Well I learned how to open my pump tonight with DH help. I washed the filter out really well, and its up and running. Added more clorox, hope morning time will give me a nice clear pool.

Now, once it is clear, how do I keep it that way? Do I let the chlorine level drop back to 5 to 10? My cya is still between 30 and 50.

Thanks again so much for all the help I have recieved. I went and read the stickies, and a lot of other stuff too. Thanks for this site.

[Spensar]

Once it's clear, with that level of CYA, chlorine at 3 to 5 ppm will do the trick. The #1 thing to keep a clear pool is to not let the chlorine level down. Other things like PH and alk should be balance but if they go out of range it isn't a disaster like letting the chlorine go low for a few days.

[raptureready1953]

Thanks again. Went out this morn to check and its still so cloudy. At least not green. More of a grey blue?

Today I just stuck a strip in, results
total Hardness 250 ok
tot. chlorine 10 high
free chlorine 10 high
ph 8.4 very high
tot alkalinity 120 ok low
stablizer(color is between)50-100

[raptureready1953]

another question...could my pool be still cloudy from too much chlorine? Its not clear yet.

[aylad]

Your pool isn't going to be cloudy from too much chlorine, if you're using bleach. Your pool is cloudy because it's still full of dead algae that is suspended in the water. The chlorine does the killing, the filter does the removing. It may take several days for it to all filter out. That's why running your pump 24/7 and very frequent brushing are recommended when killing off an algae bloom.

Don't worry about your pH being high for now--with your chlorine that high, it sometimes gives false high pH readings. Wait until you're ready to let your chlorine start dropping and retest your pH before trying to treat it.

Janet

[BlueBlobTX]

Chemical folks, please correct me if I'm giving wrong advice here!

If you have an Intex pool, whose life expectancy isn't more than a few years, I would not worry at all about high PH or ALK. You might have to use a little more chlorine, but that's about it. Low PH is a problem, obviously, but high PH as far as I know only poses a risk of scaling, which shouldn't be an issue with a disposable pool.

Sounds like you are dealing with dead algae. If you search the forums, you'll find some posts on how to vacuum to waste with an Intex. I've never tried it... we can't afford to lose that much water in the drought we're in down here. But you're going to have to get the dead stuff out at some point. Run the filter and change the filter often. They don't clean real well and at under $10 a piece at Wally World, I just stock up on them. You should be seeing a bunch of brownish gunk on the filter by now. Time to replace, else it will end up back in the pool. Hopefully you're Intex came with the vac that runs off the skimmer and pump... it should be able to pick up the leftover dead algae. I don't have that and had to buy a Pool Buster to get it up, but once it's gone, it's gone.

After this, just follow the advice on this website and keep your chlorine levels up, using liquid bleach as directed and it should be smooth sailing.

Lori

[raptureready1953]

Help. I dont have a skimmer, and the vacuum is this brush thing that you hook a hose to . I do not have any more money for filters or clorox. My whole monthly budget went to what I have done already. I am so upset I could cry. And have. All because dh would not add clorox while I was gone to help with the baby. UGH UGH UGH. My pool is still cloudy, but chlorine level is high. I have swept and vacuumed and no change. AT ALL. Dont want to refill because lack of rain, but I do not know what else to do. Maybe just dump it and wait till spring. Oh, I do have a little over 12 qts left of clorox. I feel like dumping them all in the pool at once later this eve. Would that work?

Oh and our nice walmart said they are not selling those filters next yr or the pumps. I said well thats nice, why sell the pool then .. Where can I get replacement parts if I need them? And He said. Go on line and buy them from the company. Wow. How bout that!!! I live in a booney town, and no pool store either unless I go to Dothan, about an hr and half away. Thanks again for all the help.

[chem geek]

Chemical folks, please correct me if I'm giving wrong advice here!

If you have an Intex pool, whose life expectancy isn't more than a few years, I would not worry at all about high PH or ALK. You might have to use a little more chlorine, but that's about it. Low PH is a problem, obviously, but high PH as far as I know only poses a risk of scaling, which shouldn't be an issue with a disposable pool.

Lori,

Yes you are correct, especially about the ALK (TA). However, high pH has other issues in addition to increasing the risk for scaling (you may notice cloudiness first). These issues include the following:

1) Greater likelihood of precipitating metals in the water. This can be avoided with a sequestering agent, if there are any metals in the water at all.

2) Greater likelihood for irritation of the eyes. Both high and low pH can irritate the eyes.

3) Lower effectiveness of chlorine, though this isn't as extreme in the presence of CYA. With a CYA of 50, TA of 120, FC of 10, going from a pH of 7.5 to a pH of 8.4 reduces chlorine effectiveness by about 20% so you would use Ben's chart with increased FC levels accordingly.

raptureready1953,

With your 8.4 pH, 250 CH, 120 TA, 50-100 CYA, your pool is quite a bit out of chemical balance with a relatively strong tendency to scale (the LSI or CSI is over 0.9). Normally, we tell people not to worry about the saturation index because you generally have a lot of leeway with it, but I've seen reports on this forum that cloudiness occurs at around 0.75 or 1.0 so this may very well be the source of your cloudiness. Since the high pH has other problems (see above), I would suggest you lower the pH to get closer to 7.5 by adding the appropriate amount of Muriatic Acid. [EDIT] Note the post from Simmons99 below since high Chlorine can cause a false high pH reading (I wish I remembered that the first time!). [END-EDIT]

It may be very true that you are still clearing out algae, but you might as well deal with your pH while your filter is collecting your algae.

Richard

[raptureready1953]

Richard

Thanks for the information. Will check on it after the sun comes up!!

[Simmons99]

Again the high PH reading could be caused by the high chlorine levels - stop using the strips- they can be very inaccurate.

GET distilled water and dilute the water for the chlorine test (the yellow drops test) as was posted earlier in this thread and add chorine based on the test results - don't just add all the bleach you have.