1st time pool owner

[CarlD]

If it's still green, then a 10L jug of liquid chlorine is a good idea. What is its concentration--6%, 10% or 12%?

I estimate your pool volume at closer to 65,000 liters, assuming a 4' depth. Even if the water if 5' deep your volume is 81-82000 liters.

Still the chlorine rule of thumb works for liters just as well as gallons:

1 liter of chlorine at 5.25% will add 5.25ppm to 10,000 liters of water. If you have 65,000 liters, you need 6.5 liters of chlorine to get the same level.

If your chlorine is 12%, 6.5 liters of chlorine will give you 12 ppm and 3 liters will give you 5.5ppm.

I suggest you do your main reading here and not at commercial sites. The chemical and pool store sites will give you erroneous information.

You really need to learn about the B-B-B method of pool maintenance, which stands for Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda--3 chemicals you do NOT need to buy in a pool store. Combined with Muriatic Acid (from hardware stores) the only chemicals you buy from a pool store are stabilizer and PolyQuat-type algaecide (never use any other algaecide).

It's actually all very simple. You are going to aim to keep your chlorine levels as a sanitary level, and your pH in the 7.2-7.8 range. Every other chemical is to help do that.

As for filling your vacuum hose: Hold it to the return opening from the pump that's in the pool rather than a garden hose. It has a much higher pressure and volume and will blow the air out of the hose--and will already be in the pool and under water. You'll SEE the air come out and the hose will sink!

[hamiltonmike]

ok, so i went and got a pressure guage for the filter and it is running at 10psi pretty consistantly

i took a water sample to be tested and the results were as follows

chlorine 3

ph 6.8

alkalinity 100

stabalizer 20

she said that because my water is pretty cold(55) that the reading may be a little off

she said i would be ok adding another jug of chlorine


this girl told me not to add anything other chemicals other than the chlorine until it is clear.


i looked at their testing kits and they are either really cheap (10-20$) or really expensive(100-200$) so i didnt pick one up. i will go to a few different shops tomorrow and see what they have .

[Watermom]

Yes, go ahead and add more chlorine.

Also, your ph is too low. Any readings below 7.0 are acidic and can damage your pool. Since most testers only register down to 6.8, your ph could actually be much lower than that. Add some 20 Mule Team Borax (from laundry aisle at Walmart) slowly into the skimmer, breaking up any clumps. This will raise your ph. I would probably start with 1/3 of the box. Then, wait 3 or 4 hours, and retest ph. Then, if it is still below 7.2, add some more. It may take several doses of Borax to bring you into range. (Anywhere between 7.2-7.8 is good, but while you are fighting algae, on the lower end of the range is best.)

Ignore the advice to not do anything but chlorine right now. It is CRITICAL that you get that ph level up ASAP. It is ok to add Borax and also chlorine now. But, don't add anything but those two things for now.
By the way, if the pool store tests your water until you get a good kit, that is ok, but don't buy anything unless you have advice from here that you need it. Pool stores often sell you stuff you don't need -- cuz they are trying to make money, of course!

Keep us posted how things are going.

[hamiltonmike]

well i added 10 litres of chlorine(10.3%) once the sun went down. ok, so borax is the equivelant of the chem i have called ph^ i will assume. right now i have quite a bit of ph^ left so first thing tomorrow i will go and buy a proper water testing kit and add ph^ until i reach 7.2-7.8(lower the better )

will i add the ph^ into the skimmer as well?
i was told by the "pro" to slowly pour it in front of the jet as i would chlorine?
the 6.8 reading should be correct as i took the water to the pool shoppe to be tested before i posted.

i can post a few pictures if that will help at all

i really REALLY appreciate the help


mike

[Watermom]

You can either pour it in the skimmer or in front of a return jet. The pool store may or may not have a system that has a ph scale that differentiates between 6.8 or lower. Many don't go lower than that. Hopefully, it is 6.8 and not lower.

The key to getting rid of algae is to sustain the high chlorine levels and not let it yo-yo up and down. It is best if you can test it at least twice a day and three times is even better and each time dose it back up with chlorine. Since you say that your cya level is around 20, you'll want to try and keep your chlorine at about 12ppm.

Glad to help. Keep us posted how it is going.

[CarlD]

pH Up (I assume that's what you mean by pH^) is sodium carbonate and will raise BOTH your pH and your total alkalinity.

Watermom suggested 20 Mule Team Borax because this will raise pH but not Total Alk.

BTW, when the pool store sells you the pH^ for some insane price, it's hard to believe it's the same chemical as Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (Not baking soda, but Washing Soda--in the yellow, not orange box)

And Total Alkalinity raiser is nothing but very, VERY expensive baking soda.

You will find that if one of the moderators contradicts another, that the contradictor is ALWAYS correct and saw something the contradictee missed or didn't know.

Edit: Let me be really clear about this: We mods trust each other completely, so when Watermom (Lisa) corrected me, my immediate response was "Oh! Lisa saw something I missed. Great! HamiltonMike will get the best advice that way!"

[hamiltonmike]

well i checked 2 walmarts and they only 2 way testers so i went to pioneer pools and bought what i thout was a 5 way tester but when i got home noticed it was 5 chemicals but only 4 tests; chlorine,ph,alk,acidity.

will this do for the time being while i order a proper kit or should i go and buy the 2006c for 119.99 :O

i got borax and bleach but couldnt find laundry soda at walmarts or sobeys grocery store


i tested the water this morning and got

chlorine 3+(test only goes to 3)

alk 80

ph just a shade lighter than 7.2 but darker than 6.8(if that makes sense)

so i added roughly a 1/4 of the box of borax to the skimmer

pool isnt looking much different than the past few days. the only time i noticed a change was after the initial shock(10l) but ive got a few more weeks until the temps are swimmable so hopefully it will be good to go by then