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I posted about this Sept 2016, asking again to try and really get some clarity.
I had a 15x48 pool, now have a 18x48. It seems that no matter what I do, I CANNOT get clear water for ANYTHING. I even took a sample to the pool store, drained all the water out and vacuumed leaves out with a Shop-Vac (as they told me the leaves on the bottom were probably causing a green outcome due to phosphorus or such) and I added "alkaline" (I think it was) as they suggested. I put 2 bags of salt in there and the pump continued to say "93 complete" after a 3 hour run, which is what the book said is what I needed, and for a good week everything was fine.
I go out there about 2 days later and that water is as green as split pea soup. I'm beside myself. I can't IMAGINE what I'm doing wrong, yes I skipped "shocking" but this was because when I "shocked" before it made the water all cloudy. I don't mind the OCCASIONAL trip to the pool store but it's 20-odd miles away and nowhere near any other places I go so I don't want to have to go every stinking WEEK. The pH test kits (with the strips in the tube) are no good because the difference between 1 and 5 in terms of color difference is maybe 0.00003% of a difference in shade and you can't even BEGIN to tell what is going on.
I became so furious over that, and other things, that I took a knife and tore the pool apart, it drained in probably 3 minutes flat. (That brings up another question--why is the drain plug for emptying it so small, it takes FOREVER? They make that drain plug about the size of a quarter. Why don't they make the drain plug as big as, say, a large pizza or something so it drains in a HURRY, and don't tell me "if they did that it would leak," nonsense, make it big but without leaking BOTH or don't make pools at all!)
About 5 days later (yesterday) I got another pool, paid $100 for a Coleman 18x48 which might as well be an Intex given the way it looks. It came with a
pump (and the pump looks to be much bigger than the one I was using, it uses type B cartridges not type A) and is in good shape and the guy seemed nice and helpful. I want to try again, but I want this to not take over my life and to not be so puzzling. To wit:
(1) What is the EXACT process one should do upon filling it up for the first time? Shock or don't? (Some say shock, but when I do it turns very cloudy.) Should I stop using salt and return to chlorine tablets? Should I add alkaline or such? What about HTH "Super Algae Guard," the guy who sold me this pool said that works well for "zapping" algae when you think can vacuum from the bottom.
(2) Is there any pH test kit where you can actually TELL what the numbers are? I mean I'm looking for something to where the difference between 2.0 and 2.7 would be as obvious as the difference in Jennifer Lopen in a bikini vs Donald Trump in an astronaut suit, I mean OBVIOUS. If they don't make those, I submit they need to be MADE to make it that way or not be allowed to make and sell pH test kits at all whatsoever, not even for pool supply stores to use, NOBODY.
(3) One person said that no matter what you will do you will end up having to drain it over and refill it about once a month, because no matter what you do it's going to turn green with no way to stop it. Are they correct?
(4) Someone mentioned getting a sand filter, what is that all about?
(5) Is it worth checking around to see if there are pool services which can come out here? I live in the boonies and it's an above-ground pool, I figured they only serviced REAL pools (inground) and in the city.
Other tips? Just give up and get the kids (mine are 8 and 10) a local pool membership?
The problem is likely your water - well or city? Since patience and reading the directions do not seem to be your forte, I'd pay a pool service to come out for two months or so and see if they can get the pool clean and keep it clean. If they can do it, then you can learn from them.
I had a smaller Intex 10' diameter and it took a lot of care to get the water clear because of our well water (getting the water clear after the first couple days after filling was a real problem). The things that helped were: buying a bigger pump, sticking to a serious chemical schedule, buying a plastic "bubble wrap" cover for when we weren't using the pool and buying a battery powered small pool vacuum. Ours stayed up from June to October and while I did do half water swaps about once or twice during a season, we eventually got to the point where it wasn't much trouble and was always clear.
The problem is likely your water - well or city? Since patience and reading the directions do not seem to be your forte, I'd pay a pool service to come out for two months or so and see if they can get the pool clean and keep it clean. If they can do it, then you can learn from them.
I had a smaller Intex 10' diameter and it took a lot of care to get the water clear because of our well water (getting the water clear after the first couple days after filling was a real problem). The things that helped were: buying a bigger pump, sticking to a serious chemical schedule, buying a plastic "bubble wrap" cover for when we weren't using the pool and buying a battery powered small pool vacuum. Ours stayed up from June to October and while I did do half water swaps about once or twice during a season, we eventually got to the point where it wasn't much trouble and was always clear.
Our water is not well water we provide, but it's not city water either. It's like "So & So Rural Water" as it were.
I've not had much problem with leveling things out per se, the real problem has been the water. You mention a serious chemical schedule, what did that entail? How did you determine what chemicals were needed? What were the chemicals you used for "booting up" vs "maintaining?" Also, the pool covers, the problem I have is they're so ungainly that even removing them or putting them on becomes such a thing they end up all over the ground and drag leaves from the ground into the pool. It feels like it would take 35 people to handle that thing. Also how you drain the water quickly? The drain plug is so tiny and it ends up on the bottom where you can't hardly get to it.
I had a much smaller pool than you did, so draining it wasn't that much of a problem. We had a home-made solar pool heater setup that included a solar powered submersible pump and when we were draining the pool or swapping the water we just used that pump.
This is a pretty good overview of what we had to do to the well water, and in reading that thread and talking to the pool supply company, iron bacteria in the water was our first problem that had to be fixed before anything else was done. Once that was fixed, we were able to go to a simple chlorine floater, occasional additional chlorine and the occasional shock.
Get a floating cover. Sun causes algae to grow. It also breaks down chlorine. The cover will also keep leaves out as long as you to not sweep them off the cover into the water when rolling up the cover. Cover costs about $100 - $150. YOu can just pull it off for use or get a roller. Roller will cost another $100.
Check the chemistry daily. Balance and add chlorine as needed.
There are special algae killers and retardants.
Keep chlorine levels at the top of the scale.
Switch to salt water. Not a complete solution but some types of algae cannot grow in salty water. (Plus it is easier on your eyes and skin).
Get a floating cover. Sun causes algae to grow. It also breaks down chlorine. The cover will also keep leaves out as long as you to not sweep them off the cover into the water when rolling up the cover. Cover costs about $100 - $150. YOu can just pull it off for use or get a roller. Roller will cost another $100.
Check the chemistry daily. Balance and add chlorine as needed.
There are special algae killers and retardants.
Keep chlorine levels at the top of the scale.
Switch to salt water. Not a complete solution but some types of algae cannot grow in salty water. (Plus it is easier on your eyes and skin).
Thanks for the reply. My responses:
(1) I am using a salt system, and I make sure it confirms I have enough (it will flash 93 after it's done).
(2) How do I check the chemical balance if the pH strips make it so stinking hard to tell what the values are? That's always been my problem, the color variations are so fine it's downright impossible to make out the values.
According to this article (http://www.poolcenter.com/watbal) I need to measure pH, alakanity and calcium hardness. Am I to understand that what I need to do, besides maintaining chlorine or salt levels (already doing that), is get a test kit which tests for those 3 parameters and apply the chemicals needed for obtaining this balance? (If so what chemicals do this for each of the three?)
(1) I am using a salt system, and I make sure it confirms I have enough (it will flash 93 after it's done).
(2) How do I check the chemical balance if the pH strips make it so stinking hard to tell what the values are? That's always been my problem, the color variations are so fine it's downright impossible to make out the values.
Take a bottle of water to the pool store, they are happy to test it for free and then sell you chemicals to fix any problems. THey use better testing systems than test strips and provide more accurate results.
You have a salt system, so this might not apply, but pool water is not just water. It is a chemical soup.
The water from the municipality is NOT pool water yet. It will go green in a heartbeat without added chemicals. This is one reason you try to never drain and refill a pool, but balance it out. I used to figure on $50 worth of chemicals to get my in-ground pool properly running.
Chlorine gets used up quickly when it reacts to stuff in the pool or the sun degrades it. In a standard pool, stabilizer (cyanuric acid) is used to keep that from happening as fast. It works.
The acid balance is more than just the pH level, there has to be enough baking soda in the pool to act as a buffer.
Get the liquid test kits instead of the strips. They can be easier to read.
What type of Filter are you using?
How many turnovers is it performing each day?
What times is it set to run?
What is the daytime high temperature of the water?
What are you using to balance the ph and alkalinity?
What is the readings for your total and available chlorine?
(1) I am using a salt system, and I make sure it confirms I have enough (it will flash 93 after it's done).
(2) How do I check the chemical balance if the pH strips make it so stinking hard to tell what the values are? That's always been my problem, the color variations are so fine it's downright impossible to make out the values.
According to this article (Information on swimming pool water balance, testing and chemical management) I need to measure pH, alakanity and calcium hardness. Am I to understand that what I need to do, besides maintaining chlorine or salt levels (already doing that), is get a test kit which tests for those 3 parameters and apply the chemicals needed for obtaining this balance? (If so what chemicals do this for each of the three?)
Get a good test kit. Those strips are terrible.
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