First pool, might be our LAST...name says it all!

[swamp mistress]

ok, kept pool at 12ppm all day yesterday, only needed to add a little bleach last night to keep it there for overnight (2 cups), flushed filter & ran pump all night.

7am today (6-way hth test, 15'x42" Intex)
CL: 12
Ph: 7.2
I didn't test for CYA yet, the sock still had a little product, I squished the last of it out and will give it an hour or so to disperse, then test.

Water looks GREAT, very clear, so clear I can see the DESSERT DIRT that settled on the bottom. High winds blew the cover right off yesterday and dirt right IN, tried putting a coffee filter in the bag (tied to the long handled skimmer/brush included with the pool), but that didn't help much, it collected bugs but not dirt. I put in a new pump filter since the waters so clear, I thought I could see if dirt is EVEN being sucked into the filter at all. I'm hoping getting in it later today (yeah!..happy dance ) the dirt will get moving around so it CAN be filtered.

[aylad]

Congratulations!!
Now let your chlorine drop to the 3-5 range and enjoy your pool!!! Come back and let us know how the CYA level is doing.....and keep an eye on your pH. Remember that if your pH starts to climb, you could be letting yourself in for brown water again. Keep it below 7.6, but never below 7.0 .

Great job!

Janet

[swamp mistress]

1pm tested CYA (hth 6-way)

still not making the black dot disapear. I'm assuming I should add more, but I'll wait for your instructions.

Test kit didn't come with much CYA regeant, I might have just enough to test again in evening hours, if that makes a difference, located nearest pool supply store (gasp!) and will pick some up tomorrow for sure.

I'm otta here...got two kids & a pool that need a christening!!!!

[aylad]

Don't worry too much right now about the CYA--just concentrate on keeping your chlorine where it needs to be. Testing this evening isn't going to make much of a difference. Give it a couple of days, time to replace your reagent, and then test it again. If it's still low, then you can add a little more. You need to target around 30-40 ppm.

Janet

[swamp mistress]

Hi, although I haven't posted in a couple days (I have been reading) just wanted you to know I've been keeping up on pool maintainence. Friday I tested CYA levels with my remaining reagent, the black dot still does not disapear, since I read it can take a week to register levels, I'll recheck again when my order arrives, I couldn't find it locally.

So I went into a pool supply store to find the only person working was getting an ear-full from a customer, she was complaining she'd already spent over $200 and still had nasty pool water, she was not a happy camper! I heard the guy say, "that's the problem, people go to Walmart, buy the cheap blow-up pools, then expect US to FIX THEM!" I just smiled, left and went home to order my reagent that he was out of.

Our water went through a slight change, from clear to green & then started to turn slight brownish color so I just reversed my steps, added a little metal sequestrant, little algecide, keeping chlorine at good levels and today the water is "pristine" looking again. ( I had added some hose water when skimming the bottom so will need to add sequestrant each time I do that, I guess.)

I found the pole/skimmer that came with the pool to be useless...that is, until I made my own "skimmer bag." I took two cut up knee-highs, and one thicker nylon style sock with the cheese-cloth bag over the top, tied the whole thing onto the unit...boy! did I clean up the bottom! Only dust gets through now!

I'll check back when I have something to report.

[aylad]

Awesome!! Sounds like you've got it under control--ain't it great?

If it's been 3 or 4 days since the last of your CYA dissolved from the sock, and you're still not registering CYA, then go ahead and add a little more. I don't remember offhand how much you put in, but you want to target 30-40 ppm in the pool, so go ahead and add the remainder of the dose. Give it 2-3 days after the last has dissolved, and then test for it again and see what you get.

When you top off the pool with well water, you might want to put a trichlor puck (just not one that contains copper--read the ingredient labels!!!) into the skimmer and add it there, so that you can drop as much of the iron out onto your filter as possible before it gets into the pool, sort of like you were doing when you first started to clear it up. That might cut down on the amount of metal sequestrant you're having to use, and make it easier to keep your chlorine up without browning of the water. You also might want to consider a pre-filter of some sort so that most of the iron can be filtered out before it ever gets to the pool....just an idea, but one worth thinking about if you plan to run the pool from well water for the duration.

Going to the pool store is a real adventure after you learn about pool care, huh? I have a really hard time keeping my mouth shut when I hear the conversations of the people in front of me......then I wait for the sales people to walk away, and give the customers the link to this site. Too bad they're the only ones in town that don't have copper in the trichlor and stock parts for my Polaris, otherwise I'd never even have to go in!!

Janet

[swamp mistress]

Janet, I'm ahead of ya! I put in about another 1/4 cup of Sanitizer in the sock this morning. According to the size of pool, I should be getting close (but not going over) to the recommended dosage so I won't add any MORE until I'm able to test again. I started low so I could add gradually.

Yeah! I'm so thankful I found this forum BEFORE going to the Pool Store...I've already warned hubby I'll be getting the Taylor test kit for next year! Just can't spring for it with all the improvements we've made AROUND the pool...but the better test kit and some sort of pre-filtering device for sure!