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Wabkhughes

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Jun 11, 2016
9
Corryton, Tennessee
we are new here. thanks for having us. we have had a pool for the last 25 years. we had the ig gunite pool redone 7 years ago because it was not taken care of by previous owners. we were advised to either paint or have the gunite redone. we chose the gunite way. our problem was algae. we could not control it.
last 6 years were trouble free until 2 weeks ago, when we opened the pool. (we always use a winterize kit from lowes) uncovered the pool, water crystal clear, filled pool up with city water as usually. shocked pool and vacuumed. pool water clear. rained 2 days later and pool went green. treated pool for all 3 algae. we have used 25 pounds of alk to get ph up to where it is suppose to be. after being used water gets a green tint to it. we shock it and it clears up within an hour. we have a heyward clorine feeded.the problem we have is there is the yellow foam in the skimmer and around the water level of the pool that we are getting. pool place said it was residual and not to worry about it. we have cleaned the walls and bottom 3 times to get rid of this problem. this is our test results from yesterday. fc .83, tc 1.85, ca 90, ch 241, ta 123, ph 7.4. shocked pool last night. fc this morning was 1.5. water crystal clear. still had yellow foam in water. what do we need to do
 
Welcome to TFP!!:handwave:

I'm going ot assume that those test results are form a pool store. Not much credence is given to pool store testing around here. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Between employees who blindly trust the word of chemical sales representatives and high school kids working in the pool store for the summer you end up with poor results from their testing. But, what can you do?? We base our pool care system on accurate testing and only adding what the pool needs, when it needs it. To do that you need your own accurate test kit. Order a TF100 and at least include the XL option. That will give you what you need while you are clearing the pool, and probably enough reagents for a couple of years normal use.

The biggest problem we find is the over stabilization (CYA) of pools. Unless you are using Cal Hypo, all other forms of solid chlorine are almost half stabilizer, this includes the tabs you use in the chlorine feeder. The pool industry refuses to recognize the connection between CYA/Stabilizer and the ability of chlorine to do it's thing sanitizing the water. others here can give you the scientific details if you want, but lets just say CYA locks the ability of chlorine to sanitize. The more CYA you have the more chlorine you need to keep in the pool to keep algae at bay. I took over my pool with a CYA of about 250 (CYA tests above 100 are just a guess, not very specific contrary to what the pool store says). With a CYA of 250 I had to keep my chlorine level at around 20 just to keep algae away.

While you wait for it to get delivered, you have a homework reading assignment. Start with ABCs of Water Chemistry and Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis

Now, a couple of points - the green tint, is it cloudy or very clear? Did the pool store have you use any algecides in closing last year or opening this year?
 
thank for the fast reply. the green tint is a little cloudy until we shock again, than it clears up again, usually in 30 minutes or less. we have always added an algaecide to go with pool closing kit per the instructions.

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wife is worried about the floating yellow foam.
 
Wabkhughes said:
thank for the fast reply. the green tint is a little cloudy until we shock again, than it clears up again, usually in 30 minutes or less. we have always added an algaecide to go with pool closing kit per the instructions.

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wife is worried about the floating yellow foam.
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My gut feeling is that the algecide has caused the foam. What would worry me more is the "cloudy" part which tends to add credence to my thoughts that you have algae growing in the water.

Standard pool store wisdom says "shock" the pool if you have problems. Their idea of "shocking" is adding an unregulated amount of chlorine to the water hoping it will kill what is there. The problem is, as you have discovered clear water may not stay clear as things grow back.

We take a more scientific approach. We use accurate testing to prove/dis-prove the presence of things in the water. The problem is that you need a test kit that is precise in its measurements of pool water parameters. Your five way kit just does not have that precision. Is the chlorine level 3, 4 or 5. The color match is difficult to tell.

Once we prove that there is something in the water we have a method of clearing it up using specific amounts of liquid chlorine. Then, proving that everything has been eradicated.

As i said above, I would recommend getting one of the precise test kits and taking control of your pool.
 
Wabkhughes said:
Thank you for your answers. I'm dealing with a wife who wants clear water now. She does not want to here what you suggested. So i am turning the pool care over to her for the next week and let her decide what to do. i will keep you up dated...
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I wish you luck. Keep us posted and we are here to answer questions.
 
after going back to pool school and rereading solving problems, suction side air leaks. we found that by spraying water with dish detergent on the pvc ball valves, it showed that all 3 valves were sucking in air, right where the stem comes out the top of the valve. replaced all 3 valves. put unions on each side of the valves for easier replacement in the future. no more air bubbles in the pool. water green again last night, put 4 gallons of clorox and 2 1lb bags of shock. chlorine was about 3.5 last night. checked this morning chlorine still 3.5. pool sparkling clear. sun on pool all day, no green tint. also no chlorine in water., added 2 bags of shock. chlorine back to 2. taking a water sample in the morning to have cya checked. according to pool math it said to replace 44% of water. that will not happen. did good to prove to wife ball valves were part of problem. will you explain the Calcite Saturation Index to me. csi was -0.33 now and target is 0.01. which i dont understand....thanks<br>
 

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here are the water test from today. free chlorine 0.26, total chlorine 0.32, cyanuric acid 105, calcium hardness 250, total alkalinity 96, ph 7.1. water is crystal clear after slamming it. what are you suggestions to what i need to do. wife says no to draining water. she wants to use clorox bleach, washing soda and baking soda for the pool , i have no problem with that. my thing is where do my max levels of fc, tc, ph, ta, ch, cya and csi need to be at??? plus can not get good test strips until next month. we are retired and on a fixed budget.
 
tim5055 suggested you get a proper test kit 5 days ago. Had you done that you would probably have it by now. :)

We don't trust pool store testing. There is no reason to go to a pool store.
 
check me out from pool math.
for fc to go from 0.26 to 8 i need to add 2.5 gal of clorox
for ph to go from 7.1 to 7.5 i need to add 50 oz of washing soda
ta looks ok.
ch is 250 ok.
cya is 105 which is higher than i want, but can live with.
csi is at -0.46 target is -0.1.
have i missed anything?
thanks

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i know, we are retired and on a fixed budget. will have to wait until next month
 
Yes, it can be difficult to convince people that it works. Hopefully she will give you a little time to work on it and the water will convince her. You can show her some pics of my pool water in my build thread, link in sig below. Maybe that will help convince her that we aren't completely crazy for swimming in bleach! :crazy:
 
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