Andrew61987

The algae coincided with a whole bunch of dirt that went into the pool from some construction being done next door. Does that make sense? Do you anticipate the foaming and bad smells from algaecide to disapear? Local pool store says my CYA is 35 but I don't necessarily trust them. Having lots of trouble finding a stand alone CYA test kit.

Been having problems with my pool recently. pH was 6.8, ALK was ~120, and the pool was green with algae all over the sides, even though I cleaned it all off just a couple days before. Chlorine stays at 5+ ppm always. Dichlor. I added 4 boxes of Borax to bring pH at about 7.2 and 4 ounces of Super Algae Stop (which is algaecide w/o copper). Algae was gone after 12 hours, but now the water is bluish white, I would almost call it "milky" although I can still see the bottom. The algaecide made the water smell rather bad and taste funny too. Will this go away soon? It's been a couple days. It also has a foaming problem now too when I kick around in the water. Is this the algaecide or Borax? 20,000 gal pool temp: 82 degrees F Remains covered except when in use. Another question about borates: I added 4 boxes several months ago, and I added another 4 ounces the last couple days. Do borates dissipate from the pool? Or am I getting close to the point where I should stop adding borax and use soda ash instead?

Thanks Richard... I thought I Had to go back to Pool School I stand corrected, sorry mumpelnc.

Baking Soda raises Alk, Borax raises Ph.. Baking soda will raise pH just fine. Something else must be up.

20,000 in ground vinyl liner pool. Alk is about 110 - 120. I have been keeping the chlorine level fairly high, probably between about 5 - 10 ppm over the last 3 or 4 weeks or so to combat some algae. The pH is 6.8. I added a couple pounds of baking soda which was all I had and after 24 hours observed no change. Added a few pounds more and now it has been several days and the pH has not budged. Any suggestions?

Wow, and to think I was using it this whole time. Not sure how that happened so quick. Is it possible the low pH was causing the sanitizing tablets to dissolve quicker than normal resulting in a high concentration of sanitizer?

2 days ago I tested my spa water with the typical Taylor titration type alkalinity test. Upon adding the indicator solution the sample immediately turned red before I even added a drop of sulfuric acid. I took this as TA = 0. I then tested the pH and it was off the chart low. I sprinkled in some baking soda to remedy the problem and tested it an hour, as well as 12 hours later. Testing the alkalinity after the baking soda resulted in a LIGHT BLUE (instead of the usual green) sample after adding the TA Indicator solution, and 8 drops of sulfuric it turned yellow (instead of the usual red). I took this as TA = 80 which is acceptable, however I have never seen these weird colors in the alkalinity test before. What does this mean?

My dad and I notice that when I clean out the cartridge filter the water seems to go cloudy for a little while. Does the dirt and oil contained in a slightly dirty filter aid in further cleaning of the water by effectively increasing the density of the mesh? Or is this the work of some other phenomenon? (20,000 in ground vinyl lined pool, using dichlor)

I notice the EXACT same thing. Sorry I don't have an answer, but I am interested in hearing one.

Bail out as much of the water as you can, but don't tweak out trying to get every last puddle. Then go to a wet/dry vac and suck out the rest of the water and leaves and crap as you continue to rinse down the sides to make sure you get all the large heavy solids like dirt and sand. Fill it up all the way and run it for a couple days while you sanitize it to death. Maintain a high bromine level and shock the **** out of it. Clean the filter AT LEAST once, maybe more if you need to. Then drain it and get some GOOD spa cleaner from the pool store. When you drain it don't bother cleaning the filter a final time. Throw it out and buy a fresh one. Now it's time to start scrubbing your brains out. Scrub every inch of the shell with the cleaner while rinsing it. If you're having trouble getting motivated, just imagine what might have been done in the spa in the past!

Once a spa runs out of bromine and gets cant-see-the-bottom-cloudy (FYI this is happening in a matter of hours, usually after it gets used while low on bromine) is there any easy way to clear that water up? Or is it just easier at that point to drain it and put fresh water?

Any word on the quality of Waterways? I've actually already found their product online and was thinking of using it, but I don't want to end up buying the same crap I already have.

Had it 4 years. First year I wasn't really into it, but I've used it almost every day the last 3 and love it.

I have a Pro-Form Storm hot tub that is about 4 years old. It's been a complete piece of garbage and a total waste of money with everything that's gone wrong with it and the lack of customer support. But, it's what I got and I'm trying to work with it. The worst part about it is the jets. They constantly break. The inserts pop out of the housings, they seize up and stop spinning, they won't shut off when you twist them, they are disintegrating, etc etc etc. Every day I find more of these little plastic teeth in the bottom and I have no idea where they are coming from. I already had to hack the thing up and install a ghetto valve to shut off the neck jets so they didn't shoot fierce high pressure water from above the water line rendering pump #2 unusable. I am interested in re-jetting the entire spa with a different brand or style of jets and housings. Any advice on good quality parts? I would like to be able to manually control each one by twisting it to shut it off and NOT have it fall apart in 6 months like every replacement jet ever sent to me from Pro Form.

Ah, so I'm just making my problem worse. Thanks for clearing up that bit about Borax/sulfates and TA for me. Anyway, with a pH of now 7.2, TA of 160, and crystal clear water should I even be messing with it? Sometimes I tend to want things too perfect for my own good, maybe I should just let it be.

I've never added borates to the pool since the last time it was filled with quality city water. I've read that the recommended amount of borates for those who choose to add borates to their pool is 30-50 ppm. Based on the math here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/sticky.php?s=4921 I would need something like 14 or 15 boxes of borax to reach those borate levels. Based on the pH change observed so far with the 4 boxes I've added, I wont need to add anywhere near 14 boxes to achieve what I'm trying to do. I figure another couple boxes of borax to get my pH up in the high 7s, then add acid to bring pH down a bit as well as TA. I'm obviously under the impression that acid will lower TA more than Borax will raise it for a given change in pH. Aeration just isn't practical for me right now. I have a chemical background....if there is some reason that this just is NOT going to work by all means explain it to me

I've never added borates to the pool since the last time it was filled with quality city water. I've read that the recommended amount of borates for those who choose to add borates to their pool is 30-50 ppm. Based on the math here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/sticky.php?s=4921 I would need something like 14 or 15 boxes of borax to reach those borate levels. Based on the pH change observed so far with the 4 boxes I've added, I wont need to add anywhere near 14 boxes to achieve what I'm trying to do. I figure another couple boxes of borax to get my pH up in the high 7s, then add acid to bring pH down a bit as well as TA. I'm obviously under the impression that acid will lower TA more than Borax will raise it for a given change in pH. Aeration just isn't practical for me right now. I have a chemical background....if there is some reason that this just is NOT going to work by all means explain it to me

I've been battling a low pH / high TA problem in my 20,000 gallon in-ground vinyl lined pool. I've read that borax will raise pH without much effect on TA, so I've been trying to use borax to get by pH up over target value, then I hope to add some acid to bring them both down to target value. I've added 4 boxes of borax so far and I've got my pH up to about 7.2 (it was quite low). My TA is about 160. Is this going to work? What pH should I shoot for in order to bring my TA down (I'll be happy with 120).

Hi I have a 20,000 gallon vinyl lined pool. The problem I'm having is cloudy dull water with slight algae that is very difficult to brush off. A couple days ago my TA was was over 200 and pH was I think about 7.4. Messing around with it (mostly just adding HCl) I have gotten my TA down to about 160-170 but my pH is about 6.8. Some other information: CYA: 60ppm TDS: 1000ppm As it stands I'm trying to balance out the pH and TA by disconnecting my sweep and taking the hose for it out of the pool and shooting it back into the pool in an arc to try and aerate the water pulling CO2 out via concentration gradient to the air. How long does something like this take? I did it for about 8 hours yesterday and it's been going another 8 hours today and I haven't noticed much of a result with my drop based TA and pH test kit. Water is still cloudy and dull. I have tried blue clarifier and shock to no avail. I am using granulated chlorine (Chlor-Brite I think?) to sanitize. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get my pH and TA in check, and even if I do, I don't even know for sure if it will solve my dull cloudy water problem.