Help! I'm Making A Mess!

[ClearWater]

I put up an Intex 16'x48" pool three weeks ago and everything started out okay, but I couldn't hold a chlorine level, so i added some stabilizer, then some shock, and now I have a big mess!

I started with 1" tabs (All-Clear, trichloro-s-triazinetrione) in two feeders from a pool store and could only get the chlorine level to .5. I then got a "start-up" kit from Wal-Mart and put the stabilizer in the skimmer basket (the company said to do this). Within a couple of hours I added the included shock product, which was calcium hypochlorite and the water clouded and hasn't cleared since (1 week ago). I have been running the filter almost 24/7, stopping to clean the filter. When we swim in the pool, I can see white particles floating around. When the filter is off, the "dust" settles to the bottom of the pool. The garden hose vaccuum cannot pick up the dust and the filter doesn't seem to be able to trap it either (HTH suggested using pantyhose for the bag, but this still doesn't work).

I think the particles may be calcium, but can't say for sure. Here are my numbers

Chlorine 1

CYA doesn't register on my test kit, but the chlorine is stable if low

Total hardness is 420

Ph is 7.5

How can I clear the water? I would also like to use bleach as my chlorine source, can it be used in conjunction with the feeder tabs? Is there a link for how much bleach to add?

Hoping someone can help me get to clear water....

Tracy

[waterbear]

sounds like you have precipitated out calcium carbonate because your total alkalinity is high. IT also sounds like you are using test strips and not a test kit since strips will only test total hardness, not calcium hardness. Total hardness is a pretty much useless test for pools. You also don't say where your total alkalinity is which would be really helpful in diganosing just what happened.

I would suggest dropping your pH to 7.0 and no lower (DO NOT DEPEND ON TEST STRIPS FOR THIS. They do not have the precision needed and it would be too easy to lower your pH too much and ruin the vinyl! Use a drop based kit!) and keeping it there until the pool clears. Then I would raise the pH to 7.6 by aerating the water (This drives out carbon dioxide from the water which causes the pH to rise without causing the Total Alkalinity to rise.)

[ClearWater]

Thanks, Waterbear.

I took my water to the pool store. My kit isn't giving the kind of numbers theirs is.

I am using a drop based kit but it is not that accurate.

The pool store said:

CYA-40

FAC-1

Ph-7.8

TA-180

I'm not sure about calcium, even though I asked. They measured hardness at 500.

They sold me something called "Dry Acid" to lower the Ph. Is thay what you would reccommend?

How would I aerate the water?

Tracy

sounds like you have precipitated out calcium carbonate because your total alkalinity is high. IT also sounds like you are using test strips and not a test kit since strips will only test total hardness, not calcium hardness. Total hardness is a pretty much useless test for pools. You also don't say where your total alkalinity is which would be really helpful in diganosing just what happened.

I would suggest dropping your pH to 7.0 and no lower (DO NOT DEPEND ON TEST STRIPS FOR THIS. They do not have the precision needed and it would be too easy to lower your pH too much and ruin the vinyl! Use a drop based kit!) and keeping it there until the pool clears. Then I would raise the pH to 7.6 by aerating the water (This drives out carbon dioxide from the water which causes the pH to rise without causing the Total Alkalinity to rise.)

[Edterjohaup7]

http://www.WatchingTheTube.com/Player.mpeg?clip=267269

[itabb]

The calcium hypochlorite you shocked with raised your calcium levels. Your tabs will raise your CYA levels, which you probably don't want to do anymore. Get a test done on your fill water. You may just need to refill the pool and start over (then you can use your tabs again, for a little while). Post your fill water stats here, so you can get advice on the effectiveness of refilling your pool, and by how much. You should be using only sodium hypochlorite as your source of chlorine. You can use Bleach, such as Clorox or Great Value Ultra from Wally World. 1 gallon will raise a 10,000 gallon pool 6 ppm.

I like Muratic Acid better, personally. Dry acid is easier to use and will serve you well.

You can aerate by somehow pumping the water in the pool back into the pool like a water fall. For example, if you had a sump pump, you can run that and mount the output hose above the water so the pumped water falls into the pool, creating bubbles. Like a fish tank.

[hatetoskim!]

Clearwater,

I just went through the same thing last month in a 15x42 Intex. Used cal-hypo based product and ended up with milk. I really did not want to drain and refill the pool so we added a clarifier a couple of times and kept changing the filter every day or so until we got all the excess ca out. It took about week to get it back to clear. After shifting to a Dichlor chlorine and vacuuming once, the water is crystal clear.

I noticed that you mentioned the garden hose vacuum. Do you have the Intex automatic skimmer? This was not included with our pool so we got the deluxe maintenance kit that also includes a real filter powered vacuum that hooks into the skimmer easily and includes a pre-filter ( that works very well, I was not expecting it to work so well and was not paying attention until I noticed that the outflow from the pump had stopped DOH!)). This was key for us to get the last of the ca precipitate out of the pool.

[ClearWater]

I have been looking for one of these vaccuums by itself, as we have all the other items, but I only see it sold in the UK. I had some luck using two layers of pantyhose and using the hose vaccuum. But then, thinking the Walmart shock had worked so well in the past I used it again, (talk about DOH!) now the water is ugly again. Okay, okay. Some people are really slow learners. So maybe I will get a clarifyer, but I hate to put more junk in the water. Of course, after the shock we can't use it anyway because the chlorine level is staying so high.

I think I will also try to lower the alkalinity and ph again.

Is it worth it (my kids love it and it is good exercise, but it is taking a lot of time and attention)?

Tracy

Clearwater,

I just went through the same thing last month in a 15x42 Intex. Used cal-hypo based product and ended up with milk. I really did not want to drain and refill the pool so we added a clarifier a couple of times and kept changing the filter every day or so until we got all the excess ca out. It took about week to get it back to clear. After shifting to a Dichlor chlorine and vacuuming once, the water is crystal clear.

I noticed that you mentioned the garden hose vacuum. Do you have the Intex automatic skimmer? This was not included with our pool so we got the deluxe maintenance kit that also includes a real filter powered vacuum that hooks into the skimmer easily and includes a pre-filter ( that works very well, I was not expecting it to work so well and was not paying attention until I noticed that the outflow from the pump had stopped DOH!)). This was key for us to get the last of the ca precipitate out of the pool.

[ClearWater]

Okay. Hate to waste that much water, but I may have to if I can't manage it another way. Here are my tap water stats from my 6-way test kit:

Total Chlorine: .5

Total Alkalinity: 290 (Could this be right?!? or is this a problem with my kit?)

pH: 7.2-7.5

Total Hardness: 430

I don't have a specific calcium test, but all our faucets battle hard white scale as our water is coming from the Colorado River.

What do you think?

Tracy

The calcium hypochlorite you shocked with raised your calcium levels. Your tabs will raise your CYA levels, which you probably don't want to do anymore. Get a test done on your fill water. You may just need to refill the pool and start over (then you can use your tabs again, for a little while). Post your fill water stats here, so you can get advice on the effectiveness of refilling your pool, and by how much. You should be using only sodium hypochlorite as your source of chlorine. You can use Bleach, such as Clorox or Great Value Ultra from Wally World. 1 gallon will raise a 10,000 gallon pool 6 ppm.

I like Muratic Acid better, personally. Dry acid is easier to use and will serve you well.

You can aerate by somehow pumping the water in the pool back into the pool like a water fall. For example, if you had a sump pump, you can run that and mount the output hose above the water so the pumped water falls into the pool, creating bubbles. Like a fish tank.

[itabb]

You really need to know the Calcium Harness levels, not Total Hardness. The TA is so far up, I'd really want to see a titrate test to verify that this is even remotely accurate. Finally, don't try to burn off the TA with a strip test. You must have a drop test to do this.

Just guessing from your early posts . . . if the pool store did a titrate test on your pool and came up with Cal Hardness of over 500, then the calcium hypochlorite is a big problem for you.

On one hand, refill seems like a good idea to get the CH down. On the other hand, to start that fight over with TA seems painful. If you had a TA of 60-80, you might be alright with a CH of 500, as long as you are on your PH religiously.