help with adjusting please

[waterbear]

i don't know what my calcium level is. when i try to test for it, the test water does not change colors at all. i plan on getting to the pool store soon to see what results they get(i live 40 miles away from a pool store that tests water).

What test kit are you using and what color does it turn when you put in the indicator. If it turns pink you do have calcium present. If it turns blue you have non. If it turns any other color your chlorine levels are probably bleaching out the indicator.

[poolhelp101]

i use an aqua chem test kit. when i put the first solution in, it might turn just a hint of, a very little hint of yellow. then when you add the second solution it remains the same. my readings this morning are cl 5.0 ph 6.8 and ta still 150. it may take a while to get a water fountain, do i still just continue trying to aerate with the one jet or try to increase the ph another way? also, the pool has cleared quite alot, however it is still hazy. please advise and thank you

[mbar]

I would add a small amount of borax. Borax will raise your ph without raising the alk much. Just put a cup in and wait about 2 hours and test. You just want to take your ph to 7.0 - 7.2 no higher, so put a cup in at a time and wait at least 2 hours in between tests.

[poolhelp101]

i will get borax and do that right away.
new problem....this morning the pool was hazy...i began to vacuum the crap out of the bottom, slowly, but now the pool is completely clouded over again. cannot see the bottom. it didn't appear that anything was coming back thru the jets, but apparently it was??? should i shut the filter off and see if it will settle down and try vacuuming again or do i need to continue to run my filter 24/7? help!!!

[mbar]

One thing I don't like to recommend too often is to use a clarifier or a floc. If you use a flocculant, then you would add it to the pool, let it circulate for about 1 hour or two, or what is says on the bottle, and then turn the filter off for 24 hours. This will let everything fall to the bottom and then can be vacuumed to waste. The reason your pool probably clouded up is that the particles were so small that they just floated back into the water. Once the floc binds with the particles they get heavy and fall to the bottom of the pool. I like to vacuum to waste, cause then they are out of there, but you can vacuum to the filter and then backwash if water is expensive. Another thing that helps it to put a skimmer sock, or a cut pair of pantyhose on the skimmer basket to catch the fine particles before they go into the filter. THe first time I was dealing with metals, and using a pool store, my water was so messed up - too much calcium, too many chemicals they had me add, that it was just a mess. I drained 1/3 of the pool, refilled, added floc, let it sit for 48 hours, and vacuumed to waste. So after much money and many headaches I started to find out about pool chemicals and found this site. Since then I have stayed away from pool stores and my pool has never looked better. The philosophy is to put as little as you can in your water and keep it clean with Bleach. That is one of the reasons I would only use the floc when the water is not clearing and you have put some other chems in the pool. Now I add sequesterant (I have a well), bleach, borax, and baking soda if necessary. I add a little calcium to the pool (fiberglass pools seem to need some calcium to keep thier warranty). I try to keep to the philosophy of this forum - less is better when it comes to chemicals, and a good test kit is key so that you can take control of your own water.

[poolhelp101]

i quit the pool store in mid seaon last year after finding this forum. and this season i haven't added anything except the bleach until i had the metal problem, then i added the pool magnet plus. i don't understand what i'm doing wrong but apparently something. so do i now not add the borax until after i use the floc and try to get that cleared up first? sorry for yet another question. thanks

[mbar]

No, put in the borax now, you want to have your ph back at 7.0, to 7.2 for now. I just looked up pool magent plus and it lists it's ingreadient as "sodium hydrochlorite" which I looked up and said it was basically bleach here are the two links:
http://www.bioguard.com/msds/docs/1261041.PDF

http://www.answers.com/topic/sodium-hypochlorite

So I don't know why it says it will lift metal stains - it should lift any organic stains. It also says that if can cause cloudiness in the pool water. So I don't think you did anything wrong. I would stick to Jack's Magic the pink or purple stuff, or metal free, or metal magic - these are the ones I have tried and they all work. I will try to do some more research.

As for your main question - I would add the borax to get your ph up, and then do the flocculant. This way while the water is standing still it is not acidic. If after the water clears and you still have stains, then I will help you get rid of them. Don't worry, your pool will be fine soon

[waterbear]

i use an aqua chem test kit. when i put the first solution in, it might turn just a hint of, a very little hint of yellow. then when you add the second solution it remains the same. my readings this morning are cl 5.0 ph 6.8 and ta still 150. it may take a while to get a water fountain, do i still just continue trying to aerate with the one jet or try to increase the ph another way? also, the pool has cleared quite alot, however it is still hazy. please advise and thank you

There is a documented problem with the hardness test in this kit. I believe the indicator is being bleached by high chlorine levels because if you add a drop or two of the thiosufate reagent from the total alkalinity test (the first reagent for that test) the hardness test develops the proper color. This test only seems to work properly if the chlorine is 3 ppm or less. Also this is NOT a calcium hardness test but a total (calcium and magnesium) hardness test so it really isn't that useful.