Please help.

[jstephens]

Just opened pool. Initially was a green swamp. ph 7.2, fc 0, alkalinity 40, cya 0, hardness 0. Needless to say I cant get my chlorine up no matter how much bleach I put in. What should I do first. Its not really dark green anymore just cloudy green. I have put in probably over 20 gal of bleach over the past 2 days, added stabilizer. I have a 30,000 gal inground with vinyl liner. Thanks for any and all help. I do not have a good test kit by the way just a wal mart special. I also bought some 6 way hth test strips since I already checked my cya twice and couldnt check it again with my other test kit.

[daisy11]

I'm no expert, but I've been through the green-swamp-to-clear-water process before. Is that a current test, or is that what you had at opening? From the water color, it sounds like you are on the right track. Keep testing and adding CL to keep it at shock levels until it clears up and the CL holds overnight. The more frequently you test and add CL, the sooner you will get there. If you let the CL level yo-yo up and down, it will take longer. It's a full time job for a while....been there, done that....but it will eventually clear up. *I* wouldn't worry about anything but CL until you get the CL to hold overnight. Then let the CL drop to normal levels and test everything again and then adjust as necessary. Since you have a vinyl liner, you don't need to worry about hardness unless you have a heater.

When did you add the stabilizer, and how did you add it? What kind of filter do you have? It takes several days for the stabilizer to dissolve, so testing any sooner than 3 days after adding it is pretty pointless. If you dumped it in the skimmer and you have a sand or DE filter, you probably lost most of the stabilizer when you backwashed. Don't worry about the stabilizer right now, at this point the algae is consuming the CL far more quickly than the sun!

I'm sure people who know more than me will chime in and give you more help. In the meantime, keep testing and adding CL to keep it at shock level and try to be patient.

[Poconos]

With little or no CYA sunlight will kill chlorine very quickly. Until you get a CYA reading chlorine does its job best at night so once the sun is low, blast the chlorine and keep circulating. Daisy is right about the CYA and backwashing but one other note...go slow with CYA addition so you don't overshoot. Easy to raise, difficult to lower.
Al

[jstephens]

Thanks for all of your help. I am now having trouble getting my ph up. I have been adding ph+ like crazy. Should I use more borax instead? My total alkalinity is fine now??

[Watermom]

What is your TA reading?