We always used to just use bleach/baking soda/rock salt with our Taylor K-2005 kit to balance things out until we had a big problem with clearing it during the spring of 2014. I went to the Pool Store, bought hundreds of $$ in chems and got it clear... for a bit. We had algae problems off and on all summer and trouble keeping readable chlorine levels. Fast forward to this year. Bought $300 worth of chems right off the bat so we could open up early. We had a tree fall on the pool, a short in the wiring to the pump causing 2 weeks of no circulation, and a leak in the lines somewhere shortly afterwards. Fixed the leak with some amazing gel that we poured into the skimmer.
After re-reading my "pool bible" (aka Taylor kit instruction book) I realized how much I was overspending on chlorine by getting tri-chlor, so I've reverted to good ole bleach. Our pool is finally blue after a big algae bloom, but still a little hazy. It's been raining almost everyday for around a month. Couldn't get any chlorine to register on my kit. Thought maybe my testing bottles were too old. I took a sample to that pool store since they do free testing, knowing I wouldn't buy anything from them, but wanted to see if my tests were true. Here are the results:
TC: 0
FC: 0
pH: 7.4
TA: 65
CH: 175
CYA: 110
They told me I have something creating a high chlorine demand and need to burn out the pool with a 74% shock they sell. I politely walked out. What really gets me, is that on their analysis, they say that CYA range should be 30-150. No wonder I can't get the FC to register!
After reading Pool School and some other threads, I'm wondering - do I need to SLAM the pool, or do I just need to drain and fill a few times to get the CYA down? What could be causing the haze? Early sign of algae? I killed the last bloom by dissolving 10lbs of the Sam's club granular chlorine and pouring it in. That was just a few days ago. We've "shocked" SO much, no wonder the CYA is through the roof.
We have a pool party scheduled in a week - is there hope for the party? Give me some advice! I'll be ordering the more accurate FAS/DPD test soon.
After re-reading my "pool bible" (aka Taylor kit instruction book) I realized how much I was overspending on chlorine by getting tri-chlor, so I've reverted to good ole bleach. Our pool is finally blue after a big algae bloom, but still a little hazy. It's been raining almost everyday for around a month. Couldn't get any chlorine to register on my kit. Thought maybe my testing bottles were too old. I took a sample to that pool store since they do free testing, knowing I wouldn't buy anything from them, but wanted to see if my tests were true. Here are the results:
TC: 0
FC: 0
pH: 7.4
TA: 65
CH: 175
CYA: 110
They told me I have something creating a high chlorine demand and need to burn out the pool with a 74% shock they sell. I politely walked out. What really gets me, is that on their analysis, they say that CYA range should be 30-150. No wonder I can't get the FC to register!
After reading Pool School and some other threads, I'm wondering - do I need to SLAM the pool, or do I just need to drain and fill a few times to get the CYA down? What could be causing the haze? Early sign of algae? I killed the last bloom by dissolving 10lbs of the Sam's club granular chlorine and pouring it in. That was just a few days ago. We've "shocked" SO much, no wonder the CYA is through the roof.
We have a pool party scheduled in a week - is there hope for the party? Give me some advice! I'll be ordering the more accurate FAS/DPD test soon.
But we're glad you are here. So first things first .... CYA! Yuck. Yep, the only way to reduce adequately is a partial drain. You want that CYA lower before you SLAM or add any more chemicals. Since you have a plaster IG pool, you need to be careful of draining too much if you have a water table that could "float" or disrupt your pool shell. Having said that, a healthy drain is usually more efficient that many very small drains, but I'd recommend about a 40-50% drain and exchange of water if you are able to do so. See how that reduces your CYA. However you slice it, remove/exchange some water to get you to a decent CYA. Even if you only make it to 50 or 60, that's at least manageable. You'll use a little more bleach for a SLAM, but after that not so much.
