Just tested my water.. not sure what to do

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travs69

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May 8, 2009
5
I had posted this on another forum with no help, a friend suggested dumping 12Gallons of bleach (6 today, 6 two days from now). I'm not sure if he's guessing if he knows what he's talking about.

Just got the TF100 and we've been fighting the cloudy/green no chlorine problem for about 3 weeks going on the pool stores recommendations. The last recommendation was to put in 4 bags of shock (I think it was Total shock? I'll have to check with the wife). Water has been cloudy since I opened the pool. Same water from last year, it was covered but we had the cover come off and there was a LOT of debris in the pool that we had to get out. I recently hard plumbed all the piping and added a 250k pool heater but it is not on at this time.

FC: .5
TC: 1.5
pH: 7.8
TA: 350
CH:
CYA: 20
My pool: Above ground, vinyl liner, 24' round
Pool chemicals: BioGuard silk sticks in a floater, 2 bags of BioGuard Smart Shock every sunday.
My pump & filter: 1hp pump, sand filter
Water temp: 67

I noticed the CYA test was pretty subjective, I didn't know if the dot was supposed to COMPLETELY disappear or just most of it disappear.

Thanks in advance for your help
 
The black dot in the CYA test is supposed to completely vanish, the entire bottom of the tube should be a uniform gray white color with no hint of the edge between the black and white areas. This page at Taylor Technologies has pictures, towards the bottom, of what it should look like.

The key to getting rid of algae is to maintain shock levels of chlorine consistently. That means testing and adding more chlorine frequently. It is best to start at a time when you can test and adjust the FC level once per hour for several hours in a row. There are instructions in this article at Pool School.

If you have questions please post again and we always love to hear how it is going.

Good Luck :goodjob:
 
The stabilizer looks about right, but that isn't very much bleach.

To shock your pool you want to raise the FC level up to shock level for your CYA level. With CYA at 20, shock level is around 11. Raising FC from 0.5 to 11 in 13,500 gallons requires 294 oz of 6% bleach.
 
Again thanks for the reply.. I just left the FC level at what the calculator says.. so do I need to get it to 11.. and let is settle back to 4-5? About the gallons in my pool.. I have used 2 different calculators.. that gave widely varying results, I have a 24' round pool, 52" side walls and right at 48" of water in the pool.

Gotta say.. thanks again!
 
Because of your "cloudy/green no chlorine problem" you need to shock the pool. You should read the article on shocking the pool at Pool School. It isn't very long and explains the entire process of shocking. You need to test and adjust the FC level back up to shock level frequently, at least twice a day and more is better, in order to kill the algae and clear up the water.
 
travs69 said:
Again thanks for the reply.. I just left the FC level at what the calculator says.. so do I need to get it to 11.. and let is settle back to 4-5? About the gallons in my pool.. I have used 2 different calculators.. that gave widely varying results, I have a 24' round pool, 52" side walls and right at 48" of water in the pool.

Gotta say.. thanks again!
Click to expand...

13,500 gallons.

Welcome, you are on the road to a trouble-free pool, just follow the instructions Jason gave you. :goodjob:

When your water is clear from the green monster, we can talk about your PH and TA. You will need some Muratic Acid. See the article in Pool School about recommended levels for your pool. :wink:
 
Ok.. so I started with (roughly.. I should have rechecked before I added anything)
FC .5
TC 1.5

at 5:00pm on Friday I added ~176oz of 10% liquid chlorine
Reading at 11:00p
FC. 5
TC 2.5

1st question, did the FC ever actually get any higher and already dropped back down?

I added another ~176oz at 11:00p (I'm assuming the goal is to get FC at 11 and hold it there for a bit)

Readings at 8:30am
FC 1
TC 2

added 128oz of 10% (cause it's all I have right now)
2nd and 3rd question, should I keep going down this road or am I doing something wrong. Am I ok just doing the FC,TCC reading or should I be redoing all the tests.
 
travs69 said:
1st question, did the FC ever actually get any higher and already dropped back down?
Click to expand...
Run a test maybe 1/2 hour after adding the bleach, see what it is then, to be confident the FC is going up.
travs69 said:
2nd and 3rd question, should I keep going down this road or am I doing something wrong. Am I ok just doing the FC,TCC reading or should I be redoing all the tests.
Click to expand...
You're doing the right thing. Just FC/TC is fine for now.
--paulr
 

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travs69 said:
Ok.. so I started with (roughly.. I should have rechecked before I added anything)
FC .5
TC 1.5

at 5:00pm on Friday I added ~176oz of 10% liquid chlorine
Reading at 11:00p
FC. 5
TC 2.5

1st question, did the FC ever actually get any higher and already dropped back down? Yes, it got higher but was consumed by the organics/bacteria in your pool.

I added another ~176oz at 11:00p (I'm assuming the goal is to get FC at 11 and hold it there for a bit) Try to maintain your shock level. You may want to re-read the "how to shock...." in Pool School.

Readings at 8:30am
FC 1
TC 2

added 128oz of 10% (cause it's all I have right now)
2nd and 3rd question, should I keep going down this road or am I doing something wrong. Am I ok just doing the FC,TCC reading or should I be redoing all the tests. Keep going! Shocking a pool is a process, not a one time event! Just test the FC & CC for now. Other tests can wait 'til you're done shocking.
Click to expand...
 
I'm assuming the goal is to get FC at 11 and hold it there for a bit
Click to expand...
No. The goal is to get to 11 or a little more and HOLD IT THERE until your water is crystal clear.

To emphasize what FPM said, this is a process....not one dose of chlorine and done. The chlorine you are putting in your pool is being consumed and must constantly be replenished back up to shock level until the process is complete.
 
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