Brand new pool owner = new to BBB method

[stslimited84]

It's a plaster pool, so excess chlorine won't hurt anything. 30K pool, so 1 gallon of plain 6% bleach = 2 ppm.

Do this:

#1 - Buy 4 gallons of bleach for EVERY day you'll be gone, plus 8 more gallons.
#2 - Have your family add 4 gallons each day, preferably in the late evening. Don't bother with testing.
#3 - YOU add 4 gallons each day, the first 2 days you're back, because you probably won't have time to pay attention to the pool.
#4 - Caution your family that that they need to purchase AND ADD 1/2 gallon for each person who swims each day.
#5 - Tell them that the chlorine levels may (or may not) be VERY high - if they swim, and add the extra bleach, it will be fine. BUT they should wear old swim suits or swim without them, since the chlorine levels won't hurt people but may hurt the swim suits. (That said, very high chlorine can dry or 'chap' your skin.)

Will do. I'll need to stock up on additional bleach from Walmart. Should the pump be on 24/7 next week?

Update on today's testing results:

7am: approx. 1.5 ppm. --> added about 4-5 gallons of bleach (cant remember now bc i forget the piece of paper i wrote the levels/amounts down on and its been a long day of renovating)

1pm: approx. 10 ppm --> added 1.42 gals (1 walmart sized bottle of bleach)
3pm: approx. 10 ppm --> added 1.42 gals (1 walmart sized bottle of bleach)
5pm: approx. 12 - 15 ppm --> added 3 quarts

Other stuff:

8am: added one box of borax. tested Ph and it went up to 7.4 from 7.0 -- a second test later in the day also showed 7.4

2pm: added approx. two pounds of CYA via sock method as suggested and squeezed the sock several times today


The FC measurements i posted are approximates due to the terrible color matching system of the current kit i have...eagerly awaiting the k-2006 arrival

also, i have a pool guy coming tomorrow to go over the workings of the plumbing and filter system (a d.e. filter). From the brief reading ive done on these filters, would cleaning it/backwashing (i forget if thats the correct terminology) be harmful to the current shock process?

[aylad]

From the brief reading ive done on these filters, would cleaning it/backwashing (i forget if thats the correct terminology) be harmful to the current shock process?

The only "harm" it would do is to cause you to lose "shocked" water, so if you have to refill to top your water level off again, you'll need to add more bleach to get back up to shock level.

[stslimited84]

found my note paper with the test results. Here are the results i wrote down today:

7am: approx. 1.5 ppm. --> added about 4-5 gallons of bleach (neglected to write this amount down)

1pm: approx. 10 ppm --> 7am: approx. 1.5 ppm. --> added about 4-5 gallons of bleach (cant remember now bc i forget the piece of paper i wrote the levels/amounts down on and its been a long day of renovating)

1pm: approx. 10 ppm -->added 3 quarts
3pm: approx. 10 ppm --> added 1.42 gals (1 walmart sized bottle of bleach)
5pm: holding steady at 15 ppm

-------------------------------------


Tested the water around 845pm tonight and got a reading of 7.5 ppm, but Im skeptical of it b/c of having to use the diluted water method for color matching...it may very well be higher. To be safe I added 3 gals of bleach to bring it up to 15 ppm. Will test again in the morning.

Should I leave the pump on 24/7 through next week? Anything else I need to be doing at this point?

Tomorrow Ill be returning that crappy test kit to leslie's and monitoring the pool throughout the day while renovating.

[Watermom]

You can leave the pump on if you don't have a lot of debris that could fill your skimmer basket and block water flow to your pump. Another option would be to put the pump on a timer or just ask your family to turn it on and off at a certain time each day. You do want to make sure that the pump runs for at least an hour after additions of bleach.

[stslimited84]

You can leave the pump on if you don't have a lot of debris that could fill your skimmer basket and block water flow to your pump. Another option would be to put the pump on a timer or just ask your family to turn it on and off at a certain time each day. You do want to make sure that the pump runs for at least an hour after additions of bleach.

The pump does have a timer. What time interval should i set it at?

The pool came with a vacuum that runs off of water pressure from the pump...seems to do an ok job. Any recommendations on pool vacuums? (i know im getting ahead of myself, but figured i'd ask )

[Watermom]

Maybe two 5 hour sessions. Just make sure they are going to add the bleach when the pump will still be on for at least another hour afterwards.

Ask your vacuum question in the pool equipment section of the forum instead of here in one of the chemistry section.

[stslimited84]

Maybe two 5 hour sessions. Just make sure they are going to add the bleach when the pump will still be on for at least another hour afterwards.

Ask your vacuum question in the pool equipment section of the forum instead of here in one of the chemistry section.

the timer only has one on/off setting so I'll set it for a ten hour run at night to cover when they add the bleach. Ill post additional test results tomorrow. here's to hoping i come back to a clear pool!

thanks watermom!