New Owner - Need Help-- Please

[CarlD]

No,
it really isn't that hard. Once everything is in balance, you'll probably need to add some bleach every other day--probably between a quart and a gallon, but how much, I cannot say.

It all seems SO confusing but it's not. There's two things that matter: Chlorine to sanitize your water, and pH to ensure it's neutral and not too acidic and not too basic.

All total alkalinity is for (and the name is misleading to the laity) is it's a buffer for the pH--it keeps pH stable and from bouncing. You need it, but too much is a problem

CYA/Stabilizer's job is similar, but for chlorine. It's a buffer that keeps chlorine from breaking down too fast, especially when exposed to sunshine (without which summer isn't summer). You need CYA, but too much is a problem

Calcium is for concrete pools, not vinyl ones. It saturates the water with enough calcium to prevent it from leeching out of the concrete or plaster. Not an issue with vinyl. It's only a problem if it's too high.

Other stuff: Most if it you should NEVER need if you follow the procedures discussed here.

There's algaecide--most are copper or ammonia-based or foam and we recommend you NEVER use them. The only algaecide we recommend (and only as a preventative) is Polyquat 60%.

There's clarifier and yellow-out and flocculant--(Polyquat
acts like the last but otherwise most of us NEVER use these)--and pool stores push them.

There's sequestering agents--this is only if you have problems with metals--maybe one in 100 of our members EVER need this--if that many.

There's phosphates and phosphate removers. This is the pool store biz's latest scare tactic to sell you very expensive removers. Forget about it! Unless EVERYTHING we suggest here doesn't work, AND you have very high phosphate levels, that may be your answer--I can think of maybe 2 or 3 cases where it WAS necessary in the last 7 years.

Finally, there's the chemicals you use. You can keep your pool indefinitely sweet and clean using the BBB's--Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda. Add to that Muriatic Acid and CYA(stabilizer) and that's IT!!!!!!

But there's a catch--you have to have a good test kit, and use it regularly. Anything from the cheapee WalMart HTH 5-way test kit (THE bargain in test kits) to PoolDoc's PS-234 (the best home-owner's kit--and still very reasonable in price) will, if used properly keep you with sweet, safe, clean, BEAUTIFUL water.

Go to PoolSolutions.Com and start reading. Read EVERYTHING--then read it again...I went from totally lost 7 years ago to always having a "happy" pool. I was confident enough to go from a 4,000 gallon Intex 15' round donut (which doesn't owe us a dime from all the fun we had in it) to a 20,000 gallon 40x16 custom FantaSea with built-in, "invisible" solar heating. I credit PoolSolutions.com and this forum for my education.

[michladny]

Ok - THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INFO---- I FEEL A LITTLE BETTER!!!

As far as the kit, I am going to get one today!!!

My levels look ok but as of right now I can take the tabs outta the floater and start testing to use bleach...correct? I will test daily so I can learn what I will need to keep my levels in check

Adding the bleach should go in front of return and not in through the skimmer?

I am on my way to Walmart (bleach, baking soda, and Borax) and then I am going to stop and get a Taylor test kit from the pool store (unless I can find one at Walmart or Target).

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!

Michelle

[mbar]

Carl,
Thanks for the post, I am printing it out to give to a friend of mine who just filled his pool, and has the dreaded test strips! You explained everything in a concise, complete way - You should put it as a sticky somewhere!

[michladny]

I took the water to get tested and here is what I got:

Sat Index 0.26
Total Dissolved Solids 0
Free Chlorine 2.4
Total Chlorine 2.5
Combined Chlorine 0.1
pH 7.9
CYA 53
Copper 0
Iron 0
Total Alk 100
Adjusted total Alk 81
Calcium Hardness 10 (they said it was 0 but put 10 in for the computer)
Temp 75

They wanted me to raise the Alk w/ 4 lbs of Alk increaser and add 25 lbs of Calcium to the pool

Now one place told me (where I bought the pool that I do not need Calcium for an above ground pool) and this place (reccomended by MANY, MANY people said I do need some calcium) WHICH IS CORRECT?????????? I thought my Alk was fine at 100????

[CarlD]

I took the water to get tested and here is what I got:

Sat Index 0.26
Total Dissolved Solids 0
Free Chlorine 2.4
Total Chlorine 2.5
Combined Chlorine 0.1
pH 7.9
CYA 53
Copper 0
Iron 0
Total Alk 100
Adjusted total Alk 81
Calcium Hardness 10 (they said it was 0 but put 10 in for the computer)
Temp 75

They wanted me to raise the Alk w/ 4 lbs of Alk increaser and add 25 lbs of Calcium to the pool

Now one place told me (where I bought the pool that I do not need Calcium for an above ground pool) and this place (reccomended by MANY, MANY people said I do need some calcium) WHICH IS CORRECT?????????? I thought my Alk was fine at 100????

No! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!!

That advice is completely and totally wrong, it will not help your problems, it will only cause more! They are just trying to sell you expensive chemicals....
"Total Alkalinity Raiser" 4 lbs--$10. Ingredient: Sodium Bicarbonate 100%

Arm&Hammer Baking Soda, 1 lb $.89 Ingredient: Sodium Bicarbonate 100%

Same stuff. But your Total Alk is 100ppm WHICH IS PERFECT!!!!!

Sure, they want to sell you calcium--it's expensive and it gives them lots of profit. It does NOTHING for a vinyl pool. I don't care if the pool store clerk says he swears on his saintly mother's head you need it. If he says if you don't need it, he'll commit Hari-Kari, then hand him a short samurai sword and tell him to go ahead. YOU DON'T NEED IT!!!!!

Calcium is SOLELY to prevent concrete and plaster pools from leeching calcium out of the walls, weakening them, into the water. By saturating the water sufficiently with calcium you prevent this. But Vinyl doesn't contain calcium and it doesn't leech it into the water, so you DON'T need calcium. I find, when I know EXACTLY what a chemical does, NOBODY can talk me into putting it in if I don't have the problem it addresses. So now you know why vinyl doesn't require calcium levels and even if a million people recommend this store, they are still WRONG.

Your pH is a bit high, but you don't need much acid to lower it--and you can leave it if you want and it will be OK.

I'd raise chlorine levels, but you can use bleach for that. If you pool is clear, you are probably OK. But if it's green, you need to go into algae-fighting mode, and there are thousands of posts on that.

Boy! I really HATE these pool store folks who mislead decent people with this garbage!

[michladny]

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! MY POOL WATER IS BEAUTIFULLY CLEAR and I feel fine in there.

I am going to go buy my $40.00 test kit and do this all myself


THANKS SO MUCH for the reassurance !!!!


Michelle

[CarlD]

You are very welcome!

You can do this.

It's really not that hard but we find ourselves fighting the forces of ignorance and confusion. This mumbo-jumbo and secret handshake nonsense is all to separate you from your money. It's a racket.

[CarlD]

Carl,
Thanks for the post, I am printing it out to give to a friend of mine who just filled his pool, and has the dreaded test strips! You explained everything in a concise, complete way - You should put it as a sticky somewhere!

That's very flattering of you to say. There already was a sticky in the Chlorine and Chlorinating forum that I had done and Watermom put up, but I added this one to that so if one isn't clear to newbies, maybe the other is...cuz I'm too lazy to actually sit down and rewrite them as one...