1st time pool owner

[Watermom]

Can you net any of the debris off the bottom? The more you can get out of there, the faster it will clear. You are doing the right things. You just need what we refer to around here as POP --- pool owner patience. It has only been a few days. You'll get there. How high are you taking the chlorine when you shock? How many times a day are you testing and adding more bleach? How much chlorine are you losing overnight?

[hamiltonmike]

i have been out there all weekend brusing and netting as mush as possible! there is still the odd leaf here and there. for the most part it is particulate debris which the net wont get so i will have to vacuum it up.

a buddy of mine had a few pieces from various test kits, so he gave me the vile part, and the chlorine reads up to 10.

i was testing 3 times daily during the weekend .

since the tester reads up to 10 , that is what i have been shooting for , for consistancy reasons( i realize you said 12ppm)

this morning the chlorine was 4-5, so i am losing roughly 5-6 ppm?

i have been adding chlorine at about 9 am about an hour before the sun hits it, and roughly 9 pm once the sun is gone.


tomorrow i will be back to work so that will change a bit.



i spent a good 40 days (embarrassing i know) last season trying to get this up and running and it was a sad day when i had to put the cover on it, and i still couldnt see the bottom

but my POP has not run out just yet, as long as we are making progress

[Watermom]

Try and take your chlorine a little higher. And, although I know it may be inconvenient, you really gotta at least test and hit it with bleach no less than twice a day or you're never gonna get this pool clear. You always lose some of your chlorine to UV rays during the day. So, chlorine loss at night is a tell-tale sign that you are still killing algae.

As a side note to anybody reading this thread: Even when you are not fighting an algae bloom, this is why we recommend adding bleach at night instead of during the day just for routine maintenance, so all the chlorine can go towards sanitation of the pool and is not lost to UV.

The good news, Mike, is that you are not going to spend 40 days clearing this pool this year. You'll see. A few more days and it is going to sparkle!

[hamiltonmike]

well that is good news!!

i am, and will continue to shock it twice a day and even 3 times when i am around to do it.

the alkalinity is staying consitant at 80 for the most part and the ph is at 7.2 or a little bit above.


i have another question

the pool is more cloudy than green now. is the cloudiness due have something to do with the algea, or is more to do with the chemical balances changing??



thanks again

ps. since i joined this forum 2 people have suggested adding algeacide, but luckily i have read a few horror stories here and knew better!
i was also told it was to be shocked once a week along with the algeacide.
(im not questioning the advice given on this forum, just passing on what ive been told)

[chem geek]

The cloudiness is most likely dead algae. See the following thread (sorry about no link, but it looks like the ability to add links has been taken away):

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1180

where you can see that the pool goes from green to cloudy fairly quickly, but then takes longer to clear. Shock levels of chlorine, regular brushing, and constant filtration are key. Removing large debris is also important, but it sounds like you've mostly done that. If in the event that you get to a point where you are stuck and there is no visible improvement and there is no chlorine loss (<= 0.5 ppm FC drop) overnight, then you could consider using a clarifier or flocculant, but you aren't there yet and usually this is not necessary.

[hamiltonmike]

wow, that is quite the tranformation!! i wake up every morning and walk out to the pool with hopes of a crystal clear pool lol i'll settle for cloudy because just seeing the bottom is a step forward for a noob like me.

i have been doing alot of reading lately and now i see that last years attempt consisted of shocking twice a week as per the "pros"
i wish i would of taken pictures last year, it was pretty bad, and there were some crazy bugs ......

i can;t beleive i didn;t think of finding a pool forum sooner, as i am a member of numerous reptile and fishing forums, and the best place for info!!!

[AnnaK]

Keep doing what you're doing. Your last post was fun to read. We love the beginnings of visible success!

[CarlD]

Now if you are having troubles getting it clear now that it's very blue, just cloudy, here are a couple of things you can tryl--it's spring so you may have pollen, too.

1) "Skimmer Socks". There are several brands of products similar to the one called this, but it doesn't matter. You put this thing in your skimmer basket with the elastic around the edge and you won't BELIEVE how much junk it pulls out! I rinse 'em out and one usually lasts me about a month, but they are pretty cheap--4- 6 in a pack and less than $10

2) DE powder in your sand filter. Sounds crazy but many members and Poconos and I do it all the time. I think Watermom does too. aylad doesn't because she uses Zeosand. Buy the smallest box of DE you can--10lbs or less. Just after you backwash, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup through your skimmer (take out the skimmer sock first!). Wait 10-20 minutes and see if your pump pressure increases--you want it to rise around 1 lb. Much more and your flow will decrease. If you put in too much, just back wash. The DE will significantly improve a sand filter's filtering and it's really cheap! My last box cost $8 and I've been using it since last season. The box before lasted about 3 seasons, too.

3) Add some Polyquat algaecide--the ONLY one we recommend. It's better for prevention than curing algae. You'll recognize it no matter what the pool store calls it because it will be the ONLY ingredient and say "Poly....<something-something> 60%. Sometimes it's called Black Algaecide, sometimes Mustard Algaecide, I never know! I go by the ingredient. What's great about Polyquat is it doubles as ANOTHER chemical (so you don't have to buy that, too) called a "flocculent". Floc helps cloudy suspensions clump so you can vacuum them and so the filter catches them. I avoid 30% and never pay more than $20/quart.

These are easy and simple and they usually work!