I almost had it sparkling after Irma

Algae problems in swimming pool water.
Green (cloudy) water or slimy pool walls.
Black algae. Mustard algae. Pink or white pool mold.
catherinebrownsxm

I almost had it sparkling after Irma

Postby catherinebrownsxm » Sun 26 Nov, 2017 12:51

The water was finally clear after emptying and refilling the above ground concrete pool. My chlorinator said 1400 so I went to the St Maarten pool store to get a bag of salt. They said I could use 'water softener salt' in big granules instead of my usual food grade 40 lb powdery salt bags. I guess not; now the water is dark green and the chlorinator's red and yellow lights are on, and it stopped generating.

Here in the Caribbean we use muriatic acid relatively often as the hot sun affects our Ph.


What should I do now? Can I balance with a half bottle of muriatic acid, and then use HTH Ultimate Mineral Brilliance chlorinating granules 'Sanitizes for brilliantly clear water"? Should I shut the chlorinator and leave on the pump?

That's what I have on hand.

Thanks


Denniswiseman
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Re: I almost had it sparkling after Irma

Postby Denniswiseman » Sun 26 Nov, 2017 16:03

Water softener salt is OK to use (it may take a bit longer to dissolve)
You really need to test your water with a decent test kit to decide how to balance your water and not rely on what your SWCG says to measure your salt as it could need recalibrating
You haven't given any numbers
FC:
TC:
pH:
TA:
CH:
CYA:

Chlorinating granules and tabs contain cyanuric acid or calcium which builds up in your water
Teapot
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Re: I almost had it sparkling after Irma

Postby Teapot » Sun 26 Nov, 2017 18:10

Water softener salt is about 99% pure, table/powder salt contains anti caking agent to make it flow. Like a lot of chemicals these can build up in the pool. Some salt uses alum, others iron or manganese.
Pool salt contains cyanuric acid stabiliser, you need some stabiliser to stop the sun from burning up your chlorine so quickly, CYA at 50-70ppm.
As Dennis suggested back to St Maarten to get a full water test done.
Muratic acid is only to lower the pH, there is more to water balance than that, maybe with the test we can see why the muratic needs adding so frequently, although with salt chlorinators they usually do have a pH climb because of the outgassing of hydrogen gas from the cell.

If the pool shop use dip strips to test walk away, you'll be wasting your money.

Yes use the calcium hypo (HTH) you have now, don't leave the pool to get any greener. Keep running the pump to circulate the water, switch off the chlorinator if the salt isn't up to level or you may overwork the chlorinator
SDorsey
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Re: I almost had it sparkling after Irma

Postby SDorsey » Mon 22 Jan, 2018 05:29

Haven't you consulted a professional to get it repaired fast.
Teapot
Pool Industry Leader
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Posts: 1337
Joined: Tue 17 Oct, 2017 10:52
My Pool: 12 x 24 (45m3) liner pool, Triton TR60 filter with AFM glass media (Activate) and variable speed pump running 0.08HP
Location: UK

Re: I almost had it sparkling after Irma

Postby Teapot » Mon 22 Jan, 2018 17:19

SDorsey wrote:Haven't you consulted a professional to get it repaired fast.

I am a pool professional

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