Help! Big Time!

[ChuckD]

You really should get both that I listed. The FAS-DPD will be needed because it measures the chlorine in your pool in a way the other doesn't. Reread what I said about it before. Expect the FAS-DPD to last at least one season, mine lasted two but my pool gets light use.

The 7 way has various chems in it which can be replaced individually as needed. They're usually 6 or 7 bucks each. Most likely you'll have to replace the CYA test before the end of the season. The others will likely last an entire season.

And like Watermom sez, read, and read thru this site. There are lots of people with smaller pools than your and even less pool knowledge. And then there are some here who can talk chemistry and pool water science and pool construction with the best. That's what makes this site so valuable. No one's here to sell you anything except the cheapest way to maintain your pool.

Take a look in the "Off Topic and General Interest forum". The first four discussion areas are where everyone posts pictures of their pools. You'll get a good idea of the range of people who come here and the range of pools they own.

And notice how clear their water is too.

C.

[Ohm_Boy]

At least your math should be easy.
An 18'x4' above ground round pool should be approx. 6000 gallons. 1 gallon of 6% strength bleach should add 10 ppm of chlorine, if I'm mentally moving decimal points correctly.
So if you need to achieve a 25ppm rise in chlorine, it would take 2 1/2 gallons of bleach, etc.

[CarlD]

PoolKid:
Sorry I haven't jumped in sooner. Yes, read the stickies. They were written by some UTTERLY BRILLIANT moderators (J/K! -- Bet that made you laugh) . Seriously, we tried to make them clear and simple.

There are two other test kits on the market I know of that are pretty similar to Ben's kit and will cost between $60 and $90--and last for several years. Refills of the chemicals are available so they last basically indefinitely.

This is one place you cannot afford to skimp. What they will save you in Advil / Tylenol alone makes them pay for themselves.

Besides Ben's kit, there's the Taylor 2006 kit, which is also a FAS-DPD kit. Then Leslie's has an on-line store that sells a FAS-DPD Chlorine Service Test Kit (I think that's what it's called). This is made for Leslie's by Taylor and is basically the same as the 2006 but in a Leslie's box. Taylor sells refills of ALL its test chemicals, and Leslie's sells them on-line as well. Either of these kits will serve as well as Ben's--they aren't as nicely optimized as Ben's and you'll need refills sooner, but otherwise you'll get equally good results.

There are some other cheaper kits that are pretty good, but only for keeping your pool clean when it's already clean. They are much trickier to use (if you can use them at all) when you have a problem, like you do. One is the WalMart HTH 5-way drop test kit. If they have it, it's a bargain--but you'll need to research the Shot Gl*** method to measure chlorine levels above 5ppm (use the search function).

You are going to need to kill your algae first and that's going to take lots of chlorine--bleach is the best way to add it. Forget that algaecide. The only one to use is polyquat 60%. Brand doesn't matter. If the container says "Poly...<something>.... 60%" and the rest is inert ingredients, that's the stuff. If there's anything else in it, don't waste your money.

But the algaecide is for PREVENTING, not killing algae. Use bleach.

I'm going to tell you not to skimp on what you need, like test kits and algaecide because if you follow our guidance you'll save it all back and more on the junk you don't need that pool stores try to sell you.

Most of what you need for pool care is at the grocery store or hardware stores. But the test kit is what makes it all nicely possible. And you must use it regularly during the season.

I use Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda from the grocery store, Muriatic Acid from Home Depot (which I rarely use--I rarely need to add acid), and polyquat and stabilizer from the pool store. I rarely, if ever, use anything else. I NEVER use clarifiers, flocculants, metal removers, phosphate removers or anything labeled as "shock". All the pool store garbage. My water is clean, clear, sweet and sanitary all the time.

[PoolKid]

Okay thanks for all the info!

All see what i can do with the test kit,

Question

Pool Turned really green today lol, anyway i can add bleach now w/o the filter? If so will it bleach the liner? and how much (2.5 gallons)? Just to make the pool not so green so it buys me a little time to get the test kit? and how would i add.

[PoolKid]

Filter came just now, let me know if i can do anything to make it not so green while i try to get the water test kit.

[RavenNS]

Yes,
start adding the bleach now!
It takes a few days for things to clear up, so the sooner you start adding, the sooner you can swim.

remember to add slowly... if you don't have a skimmer that you can pour through, try diluting in buckets of pool water.

sidenote:
regarding test kits... everyone here seems to use them & I do believe Ben when he says that the test strips aren't accurate enough... however, that being said, I have a couple of test kits sitting around & I haven't been able to use them... ( One was a professional kit that the recreation dept director gave us - no directions, the other other two have directions which seem to be conflicting, so I haven't figured out how to use these)..
I use "guess" strips ( as they are referred to on this forum).
I have several types of them & usually use at least two types per test for a "best guess".
So far ( for three years) these have been accurate enough for me. I do also bring my water in for FREE in-store testing as well ( occassionally at two different stores for a comparrison when results seemed a little off from expected... like being told to add 40KG of calcium!)
My regular (choice) of strips does chlorine up to 10ppm, however we often have our chlorine that high ( I use a feeder with pucks), so I also use a strip that measures bromine up to 20ppm...
( btw, my family doesn't mind the cl @ 10ppm... no sore eyes, no health problems & no the liner isn't bleaching... cya is 30 & no the pucks don't seem to make my cya rise... I don't know why my results aren't the "typical" mentioned on this forum)
now I'm guessing that waterbear will argue that these strips should not be interchangeable, however, Observable results are that they are.
chlorine & bromine are from the same family and I have discovered that testing materials for either sanitizer yields the correct results for both... ( mostly using varieties of Aquachem brand test strips).
If pool chlorine is 10ppm it will show that on chlorine guess strip & bromine guess strip... two pool stores confirm results ( one uses drops, the other is computerized testing system).
-- so I guess what I'm saying is that if you can't afford the kit right now before the end of the season ( assuming that you live northernly & are closing the pool within a month or so), you can get some guess strips that will hold you over for the several times a day testings that you need to do right now... however, if you live anywhere near a pool or hot tub store, they usually do free water tests, so please be sure to confirm your results frequently :-)


Good Luck & Happy swimming
(please pm me if you have additional questions)

[aylad]

The only way you're going to be able to make it "not so green" is to shock it, using bleach, but the only way to know how much bleach you need to add to shock it but at the same time not bleach your liner, is to know what your CYA level is...that's why they're all telling you to get a test kit. An alternative would be to take a water sample to a pool store and have them give you readings for pH, alk, CYA. Make sure they're using a drop-based kit, not strips. When you get those numbers, post them here and we can tell you where to go from there.

Janet

[PoolKid]

This is the worst situation i have ever gotten my self into with the pool,

FK ill see what i can do about the kit, i dont know when ill be able to get it.