New pool new problems -- algae and iron!

[Watermom]

Tap water has no CYA in it.

Which Taylor kit do you have, the K2005 or the K2006?

You need to get some chlorine in there ASAP! Since your chlorine has dropped down to 0 and your pool is cloudy, you need to shock your pool. Shock levels and needed maintenance chlorine levels are dependent on your CYA reading. With a CYA of 80, you need to shock the pool up to 20ppm. Your CYA is already kinda high at 80 so you don't want to use anymore stabilized forms of chlorine such as dichlor powder or triclor pucks. Take your chlorine up to around 20ppm and keep your pump running 24/7 while you are working to clear the pool.

Keep your chlorine high until you meet three criteria:
1. You lose no more than 1ppm of chlorine from sundown one evening to within one hour of sunrise the next morning. AND
2. You have no greater than 0.5ppm of CC AND
3. Your water is clear.

Add a little Borax and bump your pH up some. It's getting kind of low. You never want it to drop below 7.0.

By the way, read the chart at this link. It explains the relationship between CYA and chlorine. http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

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[rebber4]

I have a k2005 kit. Where do I get borax? And what ratio or quantity do I use? I have 78% sodium hypo and 6 containers of 8% bleach 121oz. I have always used pool store for everything except baking soda.

[Watermom]

Your K2005 kit cannot measure high enough chlorine levels. It will only measure to 5ppm and with a CYA of 80, you'll have to run chlorine levels higher than that to keep algae out of your pool. (Did you get a chance to look at the chart I linked above?)

However, if you will pick up the add on kit called the Taylor K1515, it will give you the one test that your K2005 is missing that will allow you to test chlorine levels higher than 5ppm. You can get it through this link:> http://pool9.net/tk/

I don't think you have 78% sodium hypochlorite. Check the label again. Sodium hypo is usually either 10 or 12.5%. Bleach is the same stuff but just at a lower concentration.

You can buy 20 Mule Team Borax in the laundry aisle at Walmart. Add a half a box at a time slowly to the skimmer and break up any clumps. Do this while the pump is running. After 2 or 3 hours, you can retest and redose as needed. One caution. If you test your pH when the chlorine is over 10ppm with a Taylor kit, you'll get falsely high pH readings. So, if it is over 10ppm when you test, dilute your sample first so that the chlorine is diluted. To do so, you can mix 1/4 cup of pool water with 1/4 cup of distilled water and then test the pH with that mixture as normal.

What is the volume of your pool, by the way?

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[rebber4]

You are right. I meant to say calcium hypo. I will order the add-on tester tonight. Thanks so much for your responses and help. My pool is 20x40 so around 35k gallons. Im sure ill be asking more questions. Im tired of being so dependent on the store.

[Watermom]

We'll be here!

[rebber4]

Ok so I got home and added 3 lbs of 78% calc hypo and before my eyes the water is turning green. How can that happen? I retested every thing first. Chlorine 0 , ph 7.2 , alk 120, calc 210, cya tested below 30.

[Watermom]

Water turning green when chlorine is added usually means there are metals in the water. Did you ever add that copper algaecide that you said you had earlier in the thread? (If not, don't!)