New Pool Owner with ?s

[one4irish]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I got the hth shock n swim (active ingredients: calcuim hypochlorite 47.6%, other ingred 52.4% - not alot of info on package) and says it is for pop up pools. When I tested this am the PH had gone up from 7.5 to 7.8 and the CL was looked like it had gone down alittle. The test is the one where you add the drops and the water changes colors. The CL/BR was a strong 2/4 yesterday and this morning the color seemed to me to be inbetween the 2/4 and 1/2. We got the pool filled late Sunday and everything in the normal range by Tues. The kids have swam in it yesterday and today. (the water is still too cold for me 78-80 degrees) We have noticed the water starting to look alittle cloudy and I am sure because of sunscreen. So I was thinking of shocking it tonight unless there is something else I should do.

Thanks again

[Watermom]

Cal-hypo is not stabilized meaning it does not have cya in it. You can buy a small container of cya (cyanuric or isocyanuric acid, also called stabilizer or sometimes conditioner) and add a small amount. Aim for an initial reading of around 30. Probably the best way for you to add it is to put it in an old tube sock and hang it in front of a return jet. It will take several days for all of it to dissolve. After about a week, test your cya level. You don't want it too high. The only way to get rid of too much of it is to do a partial drain and refill so go slow towards your goal. Anywhere between 30-50 is good.

Until that time, you may need to add chlorine a couple of times a day because pool water without cya does not hold on to the chlorine very long. About a week after you add the cya, you can probably start just adding chlorine in the evenings. The level of chlorine needed in a pool is based on the cya level. Take a look at the "Best Guess CYA Chart" near the top of the chlorinating chemicals section of the forum to see the correlation. If you don't stay within the required cl range, you risk and algae bloom. Sometimes the first sign of one is cloudy water.

Have you tested the alk yet? Why don't you do that and post your reading. By the way, what all have you put in your pool so far?

[one4irish]

I tested for alk on Monday and it was at 180. I have not tested for it since. The only things I have added to the pool are PH- (total of about 13 oz) and gran chlorine (4 oz). We have a floater with chlorine tablets (put 2 in on Monday and just added 2 more today).

Is it ok to swim with the tube sock of stabilizer in the pool?

I have 7yr old triplets that will be very upset if I tell them they can not swim for a week!

And should I shock the pool or not to get rid of the cloudy look or would the stabilizer help with that too?

[Watermom]

Yes, you can swim with the sock of stabilizer in there but in this post you mention that you are using chlorine tablets. Those are trichlor and they ARE stabilized -- meaning have cya in them. So, if you are going to use trichlor tabs all summer, you might want to nix the idea of cya in a sock or you may end up with too high of a cya level building up. Another option is to only add a little stabilizer to get to maybe a level of 20 and then use the tabs for awhile but monitor your cya level weekly. When it gets to about 40, you'll need to stop using the tabs and switch to bleach or liquid chlorine which won't increase the cya further.

You can shock to help with the cloudy water. Stabilizer won't do anything about cloudy water.

BTW - do NOT let the kids play with the chlorine tab floater.

[aylad]

It never hurts to shock a pool. With no stabilizer in the pool, it's easy to let the chlorine drop to zero and not realize it, which invites algae to grow. There are many reasons for cloudy water, but impending algae bloom is one of the biggies. Shocking the pool will stop that. You might also consider increasing your filter/pump run time a little and see if that helps--if it is sunscreen, then your filter needs to be running long enough to get it out of the water. I have no idea why they told you not to run the pump with people in the pool--people never get in my pool except when the pump is running!!

Janet