Help! Big Time!

[PoolKid]

Alright, The only problem is that i dont really have a test kit that test to 20ppm. So dose anyone have a way to do a best guess of the ppm level?

I got strips that test to 10ppm.

Im waiting till tommorow morning to put it in the pool. since its 10pm now.

[aylad]

It would be better to put it in tonight, since the sun will consume some of the chlorine. You want to put it in initially after sundown so as much as possible stays in the pool to work on the algae. Then retest tomorrow and add more to get back up to 20. You're not going to be able to clear up the algae problem without risking bleaching your liner if you don't have a test kit that will accurately measure up to 20, so I highly advise you to at least get one of the OTO test kits that tests for pH and Cl. An even better buy for the money would be to go to WalMart and buy the $14 5-way drop-based kit.

If you have one of the cheap OTO test kits, you can measure up to 5 ppm with it--you just dilute your pool water 1:1 with distilled water, test as usual, the multiply your result x 2 to read to 10 ppm. To test to 20, you would need to dilute it 1:3 and multiply by 4.

You also need to get your pH up to at least 7.0, because a pH at 6.0 is very acidic and can start to damage your liner. Your alk should be in the 80-120 range, as well. you can raise both at the same time by adding Borax washing soda or soda ash.

Janet