help with adjusting please

[CarlD]

Even Chem_Geek loses his head from time to time!

Waterbear is ABSOLUTELY correct: Phosphates can be/should be ignored UNLESS all corrective measures for algae-killing fail. 99 out of 100 pool store guys will sell you a phosphate-remover (expensive) that you don't need, but Evan won't.

I'm a super-minimalist: I don't like adding anything that's not needed. Only Polyquat 60%.

[poolhelp101]

thanks to everyone for responding.
i do still have some brown stains and i will get the vitamin c and try that as soon as i can. also the pool is not cloudy to the point i can't see the bottom, it's more a hazy look.
this evening we have had a hard rain, cl 5.0, ph 6.8, ta 150, cya 50 and i cannot get a reading for the hardness. i do have a sand filter, vinyl liner.
i'm a little confused, so please help me, i'm not sure what you are telling me to do..
1. i do have ph increaser, do i add that and how much or do i need to go buy borax? if i am to add any, how much
2. do i add any more bleach and how much?
3. and no more pool magnet plus, is that correct?
4. anything else i should do.
you guys are great in helping, i'm sorry i'm confused and need to ask more questions. but i certainly appreciate your guiding me again and helping me. Thanks!

[Watermom]

Marie (mbar) popped back in to the forum today. She had been AWOL during the winter like many people. She knows a lot about staining and metals. I'm gonna ask her to look at your thread and see if she has any advice for you.

[poolhelp101]

thank you so much for doing that
but in the meantime, do i need to go ahead and increase the ph?
if so is it okay to us ph increaser? i haven't added anything for the ph yet. or do i aerate as one instructed. this is probably dumb question, but how do i aerate it? i was waiting for you all to advise on that. thanks!

[mbar]

First of all take a deep breath and know that your pool will be cleared up soon. You have to know that the best thing to clear a pool is POP which is pool owners patience. Now I will try to address what I think is going on with your pool.

If there are metals in the water and you shock a pool, it could cause the metals to fall out of the water and land on the surface of the pool. If you get some stains the best thing to do is to lower the ph to 7.0 add sequesterant (most of them are good) and let the filter run 24/7. Somethimes the low ph along with the sequesterant is enough to lift the stains back into solution which the sequestering agent will then bind with the metals and keep them suspended. Your water probably got cloudy because the metals were lifted off and this is in the water now - it will take a while to clear. You can add a chlorine puck to the skimmer since you have a sand filter. You can turn your return jets up to bubble on top of water so that your alkalinity(which is high) will lower while raising the ph. When the ph gets back to 7.4, add some acid to lower back down to 7.0 and keep the jets facing up. This is how you lower alkalinity. As your alkalinity is lowered, your ph will go up. If after a few days you still see some stains let me know, you can then get some ascorbic acid to remove the remainder of the stains and I will give you the directions on how to do that if you need to.

One of the ways metals fall out of the water is with high ph and high chlorine. So you may want to keep your ph at the low end for a while, and make sure you keep a constant level of chlorine in the water so that you don't have to shock.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask - once you get your water balanced it will be easier to keep the stains away. Always keep a sequestering agent in the water - so if you add a lot of water make sure you add enough sequestering agent. I also find that using regular bleach is easier when you have metals in the water, because you can add the bleach slowly with more control. It is also a good idea to put a puck in the skimmer while getting rid of stains, because the water will hit the chlorine puck and if the metals fall out they will fall out onto the filter before they hit the pool. Just make sure you don't pour the bleach on the puck Add the bleach in by the return jets. Let me know how it goes

[waterbear]

Marie,
Good to see you back again!
Poolhelp101, listen to her, she won't steer you wrong! (and PoolMagnet is fine to use. Chemgeek just lost his head for a moment in a fit of passion! There is truth in what he said about many sequeserants causing phosphate levels to rise but it is NOTHING to be concerned about. Also, don't use pH up. It will mess up your TA. Use borax when you need to raise pH!)

[poolhelp101]

THANK YOU SO MUCH for responding and guiding me.
i think i understand now what to do and i will begin this process as soon as i return from work this evening and let you know how i progress. i do have a question about the puck. i haven't used anything in the skimmer since i found this forum, but i do have left over HTH brand 3' chlornating tablets, is that okay to use in the skimmer for the puck or do i need to go by something else? just please let me know what to do on that. sorry for all the questions, but i have found that doing nothing until hearing from you guys on how to proceed on does steer me in the right way and gets my pool clear!
Thank you again!!! Thank you!

[mbar]

Yes, you can use what you have left over - I only use them when I have to shock my pool, and it is ok to put them in the skimmer on occasion. I wouldn't do it all the time, but if you deal with staining it is a good idea because the water that goes over the puck in the skimmer goes into the filter before it goes back in the pool, therefore if the metals are ready to fall out of solution they will land on the sand in the filter instead of the pool surface. It is part of some instructions that Pool Doc gave me when trying to get the metals "out" of the water. Keep us informed on your progress, it is how we all learn!

Thanks for the kind words Waterbear! It's great that it's pool time again here in the northeast! Well almost It's great to hear from everyone again!

[poolhelp101]

i put more of the pool magnet plus in this morning hoping to help the stains, which i probably messed up and read you wrong and shouldn't have done that. but i thought that was to do and should do that while the ph was low, but anyway that's what i done and the pool is completely cloudy now and i can't see the bottom at all. so have i messed up?
ch 3, ph 6.8, ta 140. i havent' put the tablet in yet, should i still do that?
do i add bleach now? and aerate now?
thanks for helping and please tell me what to do now?
i'll eventually get it right!

[mbar]

It is ok that you put more pool magnet in. It will just take some time to clear up - it will clear. You can put the puck in - just make sure you keep the filter running 24/7. Turn your return jets up - it will raise your ph while lowering your alkalinity. Remember POP. Let the pump run for at least 48 hours. If after 48 hours the water is still cloudy, take out the puck, turn the pump off over night and let the water settle so that the percipitate can drop, then vacuum to waste. You can also put a skimmer sock on the skimmer basket (the puck goes under the sock), this will catch smaller particles. You can cut off the top of panty hose and use this instead of a skimmer sock if you don't have one. Do this during the 48 hours you keep the pump running. Keep me informed