Effect of ash?

[Tiba80]

Hello,
It's been a couple years since I have been here (a good thing, in my opinion). But this year seems to be more challenging. With all of the wildfires that have occurred here in northern California, we are having a hard time getting the pool to STAY clear. We can get it there for a few days, but then the wind shifts, and brings more bad air from up north, and the pool gets green in a hurry.

I know part of the problem is I have been busy on several local fires for the past month, so monitoring has been pretty hit and miss on my part. But I still have 6-8 weeks of decent swimming weather, and I would like to jump in more often, instead of just throwing the jolly ball in for my dog to chase.

Even our pool supply guy thinks our phosphate levels may be an issue.

This morning's test results (using TFT kit).
Temp 72*
FC 6.5
CC 0
PH 8.5+
TA 140
CH 100
CYA 15

I added 4 gallons of bleach last night, after checking with the family on the last time bleach was added. Seems like it had been a few days, and it has been in the upper 90's, so I knew it was overdue.

Someday we will need to resurface the pool, and actually rebuild the plumbing. We did finally have to replace our cartridge filter with the sand filter, which I am liking a lot! Also wondering if we need to increase the time the filter is running to compensate for the dirtier air?

Basically, shock or slam?

Thanks for your comments.

Linda

 

[woodyp]

I'd be dropping that PH from 8.5 pretty quickly using muriatic acid. You also must be burning off a lot of FC rapidly with your CYA at only 15. Let's get some CA CYA experts in here.

 

[Tiba80]

Used the last MA I had. Going to the store soon for more.

 

[Donldson]

Welcome back.

Phosphates are only an issue if you are letting your FC drop below the minimum per the FC/CYA chart. I would say the first issue (other than your pH) is that your CYA is low and you are probably losing quite a bit of FC to sunlight a day. Raising that up to at least 30 will help your pool retain FC during the day. So yes, you do need to SLAM if things are green to get it cleared up.

So after the SLAM is complete the next thing to think about is algae prevention while you are not around. You said yourself that it had been a few days since chlorine was added and that simply will not do with your current CYA. Raising your CYA and bringing your FC up near SLAM level will probably give you a couple of days breathing room. Using a phosphate reducer will help if there is just no way to keep the FC in acceptable ranges. Automation would be a good option, either via SWG or stenner to regularly add chlorine even if you are not around.

So you have some options. If you want to use trichlor for a couple weeks until your CYA gets in range (30-50) then that is viable in the short term but once your CYA gets to range then it will only cause more trouble. SWG or stenner pump would be my choice in your situation to keep FC up after this point. My last choice would be the use of phosphate reducer, it will probably help but has too many question marks IMO. Either way start with the SLAM and get your water back to clear, then work on keeping it that way. Good luck!