Help - brown stinky dark murky pool

[waterbear]

Muriatic acid is more efficient and less costly than dry acid but it is not as nice to work with. It's biggest plus is that it is only adding chloride ions to the pool while dry acid (sodium bisulfate) will add sulfate ions to the pool. There has been some indication in some quarters that sulfates can possibly damage plaster but the jury seems to still be out on that and many people have used dry acid for years with no problems.

IMHO, put as little extra stuff in your water that you can and use the most efficient and economical product to get the job done. For lowering pH that would be muriatic acid.l

[pairadocs]

Muriatic acid is more efficient and less costly than dry acid but it is not as nice to work with. It's biggest plus is that it is only adding chloride ions to the pool while dry acid (sodium bisulfate) will add sulfate ions to the pool. There has been some indication in some quarters that sulfates can possibly damage plaster but the jury seems to still be out on that and many people have used dry acid for years with no problems.

IMHO, put as little extra stuff in your water that you can and use the most efficient and economical product to get the job done. For lowering pH that would be muriatic acid.l

Thank you for the kind, simple, and informative answer. It's nice to know there are forum members like you that newbs can rely on.



My plan is to test the water tomorrow morning, but these questions are just driving me nuts. Really, the brown mudhole of a pool is driving me nuts.

Carl - I did what you said, and added 9 gallons of regular household bleach, and have added sodium bisulfate acid to lower pH from 8 to hopefully a better range.

I'm still left wondering the following:

Why should I remove the pucks? How troublesome is it to leave them in - I take it they may cause trouble with balancing and calculations, right?

When to put the pucks back in? - Is the answer to that not until pool is clear and balanced?

Is the brown pool most likely due to 'green' algae?

If this is algae, is polyquat not effective enough since it is more algaestatic than algaecidal?

Is the best algae killer chlorine and proper pH? Or should I search out a better algae killer specific product?

Can't wait for the sun to come up sunday and continue my pursuit of a clear pool