waterbear
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Posts posted by waterbear
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Dude, you're a <deleted>.............10 ppm is not recommended or suggested by the CDC for safe pool water. I don't care what the CPO says........it obvioulsy doesn't have anyone from the health field advising whoever is writting it. I'll take the word of a doctor over the word of the EPA or a Pool Tech any day.
The CDC does not set standards for safe levels of chlorine, only for disinfection regimes to follow in case of fecal accidents, which have to do with ct vaules (kill times) for such parasites as crytosporidium. On their website they differ to state Health departments for recommended levels for normal sanitation. The EPA is who has jurisdiction over swimming pool and spa sanitizers in the US. I suggest you do a bit of further study and get your facts straight!
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Look moron, my pool water has been nothing but a dream for two years and I have not had one problem with it. Take your EPA bullshit somewhere else. I equate the EPA with Greenpeace simply because ANYONE can be a member of it. The CDC is our governments establishment to set the health codes in this country, not the EPA. If the CDC states it's 1-3 ppm then it's 1-3 ppm. Since there are no symptoms being displayed by anyone swimming in my pool associated with CHLORAMINES then that means my pool doesn't have the levels of CC in the water to cause them. That means that my pool chemistry is obviously on par. Look jackass you may not trust the system but don't come in here trashing it with some half cocked bullshit you pull from the CPO. That book was written mainly for COMMERCIAL POOLS.........we're talking about private pools that do not have the load that a commercial pool would have. Mineral sanitizer are never recommended for commercial pools for that one reason but when it comes to a private pool that is an entirely different ball game.
And yeah, I don't think canada is a real country..............
Get your facts straight. The EPA has jurisdiction over swimming pool sanitizers in this county. NOT the CDC! They are the ones who said your Nature2 is safe with .5 ppm FC. You obviously don't put much faith in them from your comments yet you trust your family's health to a product that they approved. The spa N2 instructions were recently modified (in 2006) and now they operate at normal spa chlorine levels and not at .5 ppm FC in spas because they were found to not properly sanitize with such a small residual FC in the water. Recommened levels are set by individual state health departments. The CDC does not have any jurisdiction and on their website even defers the recommended levels to state health departments.
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considering that most people use an erosion type chlorinator even if they state it or not makes it legitimate dumbass. Considering most erosion chlorinators use Trichlor that make is evem more legitmate of a response. Hey dumbass, if 10 ppm is the new norm according to you then why is the CDC still recommending 1-3 ppm. I think you better call that group of highly educated doctors and health experts and give them your expert opinion!!! LOL............what a dumbass.
Oh, the only time the CDC ever recommends higher than 3 ppm for pools is when someone has a case of liquid shits in the pool. They recomment 20ppm but stress VERY HEAVILY to not go back into the pool until the FC is down to THEIR acceptable level. Which is, by the way, 1-3ppm.
Shove your CPO up your over disinfected butt................................CDC trumps CPO any day.
Wrong organization. EPA is the government entity that has jurisdicition over swimming pool sanitizers, not the CDC. REcommended levels are determined by individual state health departments.
You use of foul language really speaks for itself to your ignorance.
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Remember, you erosion style chlorinator (if you have one) uses stablized TriChlor Tablets. It's been my experience that this brings my CYA levels up pretty fast as well. Take that into account if you use Trichlor
Jerry
For every 1 ppm FC introduced by trichlor it will also introduce .6 ppm of CYA. For every 1 ppm FC introduce by dichlor it will introduce .9 ppm CYA. Since the original poster has a SWG and does not use trichlor but was comparing the price of Dichlor vs CYA to get CYA levels to the proper range for a SWG your answer really is not relevant.
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LOL, so what you're saying is passive erosion mineral sanitizer are ineffective period?
Pretty much! Same goes for electronic ionizers and liquid copper/silver treatments.
Bullshit..... 2 ppm is the level established long ago if you just use chlorine alone.
Wrong, it was 1 ppm.
3ppm is the max that is considered safe for swimming in. I find it hard to believe that our CDC here in the states would allow a system that claims to sanitize your pool with half the chlorine continue to do so. This isn't canada. I've been keeping my pool at .5ppm now for 2 years now and here is what I've noticed:
Wrong organization, it's the EPA, not the CDC.
1st and most importantly no one in my pool has ever gotten ill. No pink eye......nothing!!! The water is crystal clear and has absolutely no odor.
Does not mean that pathogens are not growing. Copper and silver have extremely slow kill times and at one time were pushed as "chlorine free" systems. This is no longer permitted.
2nd our swimsuits have not taken the normal amount of fading or wear from swimming in a pool kept at 1 to 3ppm
I don't have to use as much chlorine to shock.........less FC produces less CC.
Fallacy. If there are ammonia compounds in the water and the chlorine level is low you are right that they cannot combine with the clorine to produce CC but they are only destroyed by oxidation. If you do not superclorinate or use MPS to oxidize them they are still in the water.
Opening your eyes underwater in my pool doesn't result in the blood shot eyes later on like conventional pools.
Free chlorine doesn't cause the irritation. Cloramines do. If a chlorine pool is properly maintaned there are no chloramines in the water and no eye irritation.
The only thing I don't like about it is the fact you will not gag if you swallow water like high chlorine pools will. Not that it's a problem, but I don't want people drinking my water in the pool. I think that's pretty sick regardless of how clean it is.
Oh, NO ALGEA!!! In the two years I've had this system........I have not had one single issue of algea.......
Of couse there will be no algae (note the proper spelling) with copper in the water. Copper is an effective algaecide. Just look at all the copper based algaecides on the market. However, it is NOT a sanitizer.
Debunk all you want but the system IS PROVEN and it is allowed in this country by our government as safe.
Proven by who? All the research indicates otherwise.
I don't give a **** about what a bunch of canadian say anyway........hell, is canada a real country anyway?
Now you are showing your ignorance. Perhaps if you actually learned something about swimming pool water chemistry you would have a different view.
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Rubbish..........3ppm has been set as the absolute maximum the human skin can tolerate without getting irritated. When the chlorine manufactures revise it I'll consider it. Hell, if the new safe max is 10 ppm I'm suprised the chlorine makes didn't put that crap in their instructions. After all, that would require you to make more of your product...............I doubt your source and you really shouldn't be posting these "new norms" until they're universally accepted.
Bake in your own pool dude.......I'll stick to the old method.
Oh, commercial pools see more use, maybe that is why they suggest higher levels........if I'm right, most public commercial pools limit your time in them and since the bather load is so extreme I'm pretty sure they're counting on that 10ppm to not stay high long...
The "new norms" are accepted. You obviously don't know a lot about pool chemistry. Where did you ever get that 3 ppm is the abosulte maximum the human skin can tolerate without getting irritated? You obviously also don't know what a CPO handbook is either.
Perhaps you should learn a bit before you post. (And FYI, I am not just a pool owner. I am in the industry.)
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I'm not going to argue that salt water systems are the way to go. In fact, I'm going to convert to salt water myself. But, water is usually safe between 1 and 3ppm free chlorine. If that is the levels of chlorine that is causing the dry hair then switching to salt water isn't going to stop that. Why, because the chlorine generator is keeping the water at 1 to 3ppm of chlorine!!! Same level of chlorine equates to same level of hair damage.
The only solution I can think of is one that I have already done and it worked. My wife was constantly bitching and moaning about her hair getting dry in the pool. I got tired of it and installed a NATURE 2 system. Now my water is supposedly safe at .5ppm chlorine. Less chlorine, less damaged hair, less yacking from my wife screaming about her hair. Oh, and you can use the nature 2 system with saltwater. In fact you can set your generator to keep the pool at .5ppm......works out great.
Oh, I'm not plugging nature 2. That is just the brand I went with but there are a lot of mineral sanitizers on the market. Nature 2 happens to have more websites to stumble across. Just make sure it's an Erosion type mineral sanitizer.
Jerry Materne
Actually, a lot of the newest studies on CT kill times for pathgens indicate that 2 ppm FC is the lowest that should be used with any copper/silver system. In Australia they are not permitted to advertise them as being low chlorine systems and in Canada they are only registered as algaecides, not sanitizers. Nature 2 is a passive erosion type system that uses copper sulfate and silver nitrate to supply the copper and silver to the water.
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uh, correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the warnings on your chlorine containers tell you not to swim in the pool until the FC drops below 3ppm??? Where in the hell are you getting off saying 10ppm is swimable. Don't invite me to any of your pool parties buddy. Quit blowing mony on expensive test kits. You'd be better off taking a class on reading comprehension.
Jerry Materne
Check out a new edition of the CPO handbook for accepted levels. You'll find the info there. Many state health departments are now setting 10 ppm as the level that bathers can enter a commercial pool and it's been generally accepted in chlorine sanitized spas for a while. Also, new studies in CT times have shown that 1 ppm FC, even in an unstabilized pool is not high enough to kill many pathgens and generally accepted minimum levels are now 2 ppm and higher. Perhaps you might want to start reading some of the newer info that has been published.
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Ozine is NOT a stand along sanitizer since there is no reisudal. Also realize that ozone ia a toxic gas. Ozone works differently with chlorine and bromine. In a chlorine system ozone can reduce sanitizer demand because it does kill some pathogens but it also destroys chlorine so chlorine usage might be higher to maintain the same residual sanitizer level.
In a bromine system ozone will oxidize the "bromide reserve" that is put in the water on each fill (sodium bromide) into active bromine sanitizer, hypobromous acid. This can help maintain more constant bromine levels but it also causes the oxidation of hypobromous acid into bromates. Bromates are a suspected carcinogen in drinking water but you are not drinking the hot tub water. Keep that in mind.
Ozone is usually considered a worthwhile addition but it is by no means necessary.
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There are only 3 EPA approved sanitizers--chlorine, bromine and biguanide.
Bormine is a known senstizer (most likely to cause a true allergic reaction) but is a good choice for indoor tubs and ones that are not subject to full sunlight.
Chlorine has less of an odor than bromine and is my first choice for outdoor tubs. IF ventialtion is poor indoors the air quaitly can degrade with chlorine. It is simpler to use than bromine but does require daily water checks to make sure the chlorine levels are maintained.
Biguanide is an antimicrobial that is used with a hydrogen peroxide oxidizer. It is more expensive than either chlorine or bromine, will require much more frequent filter cleaning and replacement, and has a tendency to develop white water mold and pink slime since bacteria deveop an immunity to it after continued use.
ALL other systems are NOT primary sanitizers metals (or 'minerals' as the marketing hype likes to call them. "Minerals" sound very spa like and healthy but the truth is they put metals into the water for sanitation. Metal ions have very slow kill times and need to be used with a residual santizer like chlorine. If you want to soak in copper sulfate and silver nitrate be my guest! These are the actual ingredients on the box of a Nature2 cartridge, a popular 'mineral' sanitizer!), ozone, UV light are all secondary sanitizers that need to be used in conjucntion with a primary sanitizer, usually chlorine or bromine. Be aware that not all secondary santizers are compatible with bromine or biguanide.
Chlorine is, IMH0, the safest sanitizer to use with bromine running second both in terms of chemical exposure and water sanitation when used properly. Biguanide works but I feel there are just too many problems associated with its use so unless you have a TRUE chemical sensitivity to both chlorine and bromine I would avoid it.
Much of the bad press that chlorine has recieved concerning disinfection byproducts such as chloroform and other TMHs are more of a concern in drinking water treatment and, to some extent, indoor pool where they can concentrate in the air than in outdoor pool or spa use. Also, Ozone can create bromates and chlorates in the wate r which are other non desirable disinfection byproducts, once again more of a concern in drinking water.
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I have found the MetalFree (EDTA) to be not as effective as HEDP based sequesterants like Proteam Metal Magic or Jack's Magic Pink Stuff at keeping the staining away. Use a double dose of the sequesterant initially and be sure to add a maintenance dose (or in your case more since you are always adding water with iron in it) on a weekly basis and keep your pH at the low end of the scale (about 7.2). Is your pool fiberglass or plaster? Often, if the stains start to come back you can just drop your pH to about 7.0 and add another dose of seqeusterant and they will go away if you catch them just as they start. I ususally only have to do the acrobic acid once a year and then by keeping sequestant in the wate I am able to keep my white fiberglass pool stain free. The staining will usually start to deposit if you let your pH climb too high and if you have a high santizer level. Also, when you raise your FC after the ascorbic acid use liquid chlorine or bleach and pour it into your skimmer. This way you might deposit iron on the filter instead of in your pool. You will have to acid wash the cartridge to remove the iron. To do so first soak the cart overnight in a solution of 1 cup of automatic laundry detergent to each 5 gallons of water to remove organics (or they will harden into a cement like mess and ruin the cart), hose it off well, then soak it in a solution of one part muriatic acid to about 20 parts water for about 30 minutes or so. Hose it off again.
Stain removeal is not a one shot deal but something you have to keep on top of if your water contains metals. As an alternative you might want to consider a water softener and use the softened water to fill. The ion exchange resin is effective at removing iron from the water. If your iron is very high you might want to consider a 'green sand' or other special iron removing ion exchange resin for your fill water.
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Sorry, no pics. They did it in the evening as the sun was going down and all the pics I took came out too dark to see anything. They had straps of some sort attached to both the pool and the tub. Don't remember how they were attached since I could not get that close while they were working. For safety reasons I had to stand across the street while they were lifting them. It did not take very long at all to do once the straps were attached. They did the pool first and by the time they got to the tub it was almost dark. Like I said, once they got the tub in the back they used a bobcat to move it into position.
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Both my fiberglass pool and my acrylic hot tub were lifted over my house to the back when they were installed. It was pretty cool to watch! The PB is the one who did it so I know he was insured! They did the final placement of the tub with a backhoe.
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I would not suggest that because you don't know what is in the tablets as binders, buffers, etc. Pure ascorbic acid powder can be had for about $10/lb from many internet suppliers. You don't even need the food grade.
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The kit you asked about is a rebranded Taylor K-2005. It is ok but you would be better off with this kit
http://www.lesliespool.com/shopping/produc...ProductID=13142
which is a rebranded Taylor k-2006 and uses the FAS-DPD test for chlorine instead of the DPD test and a color comparator that is in the kit you asked about.
FAS-DPD testing is a drop counting test with a distinct change from pink to colorless and is accurate to as much as .2 ppm. It will test chlorine levels well in excess of 25 ppm without bleaching out like the DPD test can and since you don't have to try and match colors your test results are going to be much more precise!
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I would get a Taylor K-2006 test kit. It will test all the parameters you need for normal maintinance except salt. For salt the Aquachek salt testers are extremely accurate and easy to use. They do take about 5 minutes to develop fully, however.
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Does CYA eventually drop on it's own? Is this something that I may have to bring back up again in a few weeks with stabilizer? I ask because I bought 2 jugs of it and I'm going to return them if I don't need them.
CYA does not decrease on its own but is lost through backwashing and splashout (but NOT by evaporaton.) I would keep it around in case you need it. It won't go bad.
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Waterbear,
Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it. I have seen many of your posts at other boards and I respect your opinion. I have a couple more questions.
Our cartridges are looking pretty gross. I soaked one overnight last night and it is still pretty filthy. I used two cups of powered dishwasher detergent, but I think that I should have added more because we have a tall cartridge and it required a huge container (100+ quart cooler) for soaking. I can tell it did clean some, because the soaking liquid was really dirty this morning. But will the cartridges still work if they are stained?
use 1 cup per 5 gallons of water. If you have a really tall cart (I have one that is really tall myself--over 31"!) you might want to find a container such as one of those plastic storage bins that you can lie the filter on it's side in. It will take a LOT less water and detergetnt. Just make sure it's deep enough to have the filter submerged. I found one that fits my filter at Target (Rubbermaid) and it takes a LOT less water to submerge the filter.
Do we need to use a vacuum at all or is our Polaris enough?
A vacuum will be faster to get the stuff up so you can clean the filter. The advantage of the Polaris is the stuff will collect in it's bag and won't dirty the filter as fast but it will be a lot slower.
Also, my husband turned on the jets to the spa, which spills over into the pool. It was the first time he had done that in a while and all of this crud came out into the spa. It looks better this morning, but it is still worse than the rest of the pool. Any suggestions to get the spa up to the same level as the pool? Should we continue to run the jets regularly during the cleaning process or do you think that we have blown out all of the crud by running them for a few minutes?
I would turn off the jets for now and either use a spa want to get the stuff out of your spa or vacuum it out. When the pool is clear and the filter clean turn on the spa and see if anything else goes into it. If it does vacuum or use a spa wand to get it out.
Thanks for your help.
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Bah, pool stores are unreliable.
Well, if pool stores are unreliable then you might want to forget about all the advice I've given you on getting your own pool straightened out! (and it WAS quite a mess!) I work in one!
Get your own test kit. You can get cheap Clorox at Costco, BJs (my favorite) or Sams. Wal-mart bleach works well too. And they're all 6%. Also, Clorox will store much longer than pool chlorine. Pool Chlorine will be water in 2 months, at least that's what my local pool store says and why they don't carry it. They recommend Clorox.
12.5% liquid clorine can be the best deal if you use it quickly (within a few weeks). It will lose strenth on standing but it won't be 'water in 2 months'. It will be around 8%. Many pool stores don't want to deal with liquid chlorine because it involves having huge storage tanks on the premises that have to be refilled weekly and it involved filling the carboys from the tanks, which is NOT a fun job. Chlorine strength has to be monitored and there is paperwork and logs from the EPA that have to be maintained.
Also, you don't buy shock. Shock is something you do.
Liquid chlorine is often called liquid shock. You are right that shock is a verb, not a noun but there is a place for using cal hypo or even lithium hypochlorinte to shock instead of liquid. Depends on the circumstances.
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I finally bought a test kit (thank you Jenlind!) that tests CYA.
Here are my readings:
Total Hardness: 75
Sounds like you are using test strips since the test is for total hardness. You want to test for calcium hardness. Get a good drop based kit like the Taylor K-2006. If your pool is vinyl then calcium hardness is not that important. If it's plaster this reading is too low. Total hardness is your calcium and magnesium hardness so it really isn't giving you any useful information. Don't worry about this until you get your clorine demand under control.
Total Chlorine: 0
Free Chlorine: 1
It is impossible for your total chlorine to be less than your free chlorine. Total chlorine is the sum of free chlorine and combined chorine. Once again it looks like you are using test strips. They are just not accurate! If this is a drop based kit then you did the test wrong.
PH: 7.3
This is within range. I would leave it for now.
Alkalinity: 140
Don't worry about this until you get your chlorine demand under control
CYA: 75
Now how in the world do I get my Total Chlorine up?
It's your FC that you want to raise. Your Total chlorine should be the same as your FC. This would mean that you have no combined chlorine in the water which is what you want.
I bought 2 big jugs of Ultra Bleach from Wally World. Is my CYA ok? My water looks very clear, so that's really not an issue....YET.
Your CYA is a bit high but it is livable if you keep your FC between 6-10 ppm for normal sanitation and shock to 20 ppm when you need to shock (if your combined clorine is above .5 ppm) or if you are killing algae.
This is why a GOOD test kit like the taylor k-2006 is so important. If you are going to run a high CYA pool you need this kit (or another kit that has the FAS-DPD titration test for chlorne) since it will allow you to test higher chlorine levels accurately. DPD chlorine tests (turns red and uses a color comparator) cannot reliably test over 10 ppm and OTO chlorine tests (turns yellow and uses a color comparator) will only test total chlorine.
Test strips are useless for water balancing.
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Pool stores have a blue chemical that is good at binding to small particles to help your filter. I can't recall the name. Don't overdose on it, and give it 24 hours. Your pool will clear. You might pull your filter and spray it down too. It could be full. Your CYA is good for a SWG, a bit high for chlorine. I'd say keep your FC at 10-12 for now, maybe even go to 20, and keep it there until it does not drop overnight. You'll need about 4 gallons of bleach 6% to get to 20ppm (or so). The problem could be that with your CYA so high, algae started up last night and that's why you saw a drop.
If you do want to get your CYA down, drain your pool about 20% and refill, will cut your CYA by 20%, as well as your TA and CH.
I don't know what "sock in the skimmer" is, but it cannot be good with your current CYA levels. Stick with bleach. Dichlor or Trichlor will just make things worse for you.
I know you are trying to help but you need to learn a bit more and get your own pool under control before trying to give advice. A CYA level is certainly managble in a manually chlorinated pool by keeping the FC level a bit higher. In fact, if the pool get a lot of sun it might even be desirable. With a CYA of 70 and a gunite pool then keeping the FC at 20 ppm will be an effective shock level an d maintaining the FC between 6-10 ppm for normal sanitation would be fine.
The TA and CH do NOT need to be lowered and, depending on the fill water, a drain and refill might actually raise them.
Skimmer socks are a stocking that fit over the skimmer basket and act as a prefilter. They are an excellent 'gadget' that are inexepnsive and really work. They have NOTHING to do with chemical levels.
Please learn a bit more before posting. I know you are trying to help but I also know that you are a newbie since I have been helping you get your own pool under control.
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I have a 17,000 gallon, Gunite black plaster pool, cartridge filter. It came with a house we purchased about 2 years ago.
Initially, we had a pool service, and everything was fine. My husband got cheap, canceled the service, but didn't bother to learn anything about pool chemistry. Passive aggressiveness paid off, finally, and I decided to take care of our swamp.
I have the Taylor K2006 kit on order, so at this point, I don't have exact numbers. Our pool has gone from green and murky to blue but cloudy. Yesterday, our pH was 7.1 and TA 90. Pool store recommended 4 pounds of Soda Ash. I ultimately added two boxes of Borax, gradually, testing as I went along, instead. Chlorine had stabilized overnight two nights ago, but was down this morning so we added bleach to get it back up over 5. (It was 2-3 and I added 4 ppm to get it between 5 and 10.) Here are our numbers as of this morning:
FC: 5+ (best guess is 6-7)
If you dilute a small amount of pool water with an equal amount of distilled water your can then test your chlorine (only the chlorine) and multiply the results by 2 to get an approximation of how high your chlorine is. A shot glass is good for measuring. If you need to go higher you can use 1 part pool water and 2 parts distilled and multiply by 3 or 1 part pool water and 3 parts distilled and multiply by 4 or 1 part pool water and 4 parts distilled and multiply by 5. You will lose accuracy with each dilution but it will give you a ballpark until the Taylor kit arrives
pH: 7.5
TA: 100
CYA: 70
CH: 350 (tested yesterday)
The rest of your numbers look good.
We've been running the pump 24-7, have a sock in the skimmer, been brushing the pool and running the polaris. We switched out the filter yesterday, which was green and filthy and put in one we had cleaned. We have not vacuumed because as of yesterday, we didn't own one. Now we do, but don't know how to "vacuum to waste," which I'm anticipating as one of the things we need to do.
You can't vacuum to waste with a cartridge filter. You just have to keep cleaning the cart.
Also, you should know that my husband didn't pay enough attention to me, bought and put in scented bleach at one point. Doh! I'm sure this isn't helping the cloudiness. Any advice to help us get our pool to crystal clear would be appreciated. Thanks!
With your CYA at 70 ppm keep your FC at about 20 ppm until the FC is holding overnight. Your pool might be cloudy at that point. It's just dead algae that your filter will eventually remove. It can take a week. I am not a big fan of clarifiers. They can make the cloudiness worse if you overdose on them. If you are going to use one with a cartrdige filter get a 'natural' one based on chitosan and not a polymeric one.
BTW, skimmer socks are the BEST thing every. I keep one in my pool all the time. They really help keep a lot of stuff out of the filter. I am always amazed at how much junk they collect!
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You need ascorbic acid powder (pure vitamin C powder). You can buy it under brand names in the pool supply like Natural Chemistry's Stain Free or you can search on the internet for a supplier of ascorbic acid powder (much less expensive).(You can also use oxalic acid powder, which is the ingredient in many pool stain removers but it is toxic compared to ascorbic acid). Here is the procedure:
1) drop your free chlorine to below 2 ppm (don't add any chlorine for a few days to a week to achieve this or use a chlorine neutailizer (sodium thiosulfate). Then lower the pH to about 7.4 if it is higher than that.
2) Add 1/2-1 lb of ascorbic acid per 10000 gallons of water, don't overdose or you will create a bad chlorine demand. I would start with the lower dose and if the staining doesn't all go away then I would add more after about 25 hours. Just sprinke it into the water all around the pool, concentrating on the worse areaes. Run pump for the next 24-48 hours. All the staining (or most of it at any rate) should be gone.
3) After about 1 hours add a double dose of metal sequesterant. (you want the treatment dosage, not the maintenance dosage) I personally have had good luck with Proteam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic Pink Stuff (for iron). Continue to filter. The pool might get cloudy, don't worry, it will clear. Next add a dose of Polyquat 60 algaecide (Make sure it's polyquat and not linear quats or copper! Look for the ingredient poly [oxyethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene dichloride] on the label. If it doesn't say that it's not polyquat. This will help prevent an algae bloom while your chlorine is low (and it will be for a week or two!)
4) Now here is the tricky part, if you do not want the stains to reappear you have to raise your chlorine levels slowly over a period of days (and the ascorbic acid creates a huge chlorine demand so any chlorine you put in gets used up burning off the ascorbic acid.) I would use liquid chlorine and add enough each evening to raise the free chlorine 2 ppm. Pour it into the skimmer so it can cause the metals in solution to stain your filter instead of the pool again.
Check your chlorine levels each morning. At first you will find that the chlornine is not holding and is gone each day but after a few days to a week the chlorine will start to hold and will rise to normal levels (usually 3-5 ppm). Once the chlorine is holding and has reached normal levels rebalance the TA and pH if needed and you can start swimming again.
5) remember to add a maintenance dose ( usually just a few ounces) of sequesterant every two weeks to every month and keep tabs on your pH and don't let it rise above 7.6 or you will create conditons for the stains to return. If the stains start to return and you catch them fast you can often make them disappear if you drop the pH to about 7.0 and add another treatment dose of sequesterant
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Slow down, take a breath and realize it's a pool, not rocket science. For your CYA at 80 ppm keep your FC between 3-5 ppm and see how it goes. If you start to get algae then bump it up a bit. You will soon find what works for your pool. Most of the SWG pools that I have seen do just fine in the 3-5 ppm FC range!
Ph Level Climbs Every Day
in All Swimming Pools Types
Posted
Do you mean Jack's Magic Blue Stuff by any chance? Never heard of Mikes blue magic.