Hi all,
First time poster although I've been lurking on the site scouring for info over the last year or so (alot last summer ). We are renting a house in Tempe, AZ and really enjoyed the rather large diving pool last year, until it turned green that is. Knowing next to nothing about pool maintenance and following the vague directions of our landlord I kept the floater filled with tablets and shocked the pool here and there with the powder shock, threw in some clarified and algaecide for good measure and got it turned around a couple times from a slight algae bloom. Basically we spent a ton of money.
Then it went deep green, probably due to high CYA and inadequate chlorine levels. Having read the forums here a bit I realized that my test strips were not going to cut it and that this was more complicated than I thought. I was getting conflicting information from everyone I talked to, friends/landlord/poolstores. I was pretty convinced that I needed to purchase one of the two recommended pool kits and tackle the situation armed with chemical knowledge of our pool and online support. Then I talked to the wife...
She talked me out of buying the kit, figuring that we might not still be here after our 1yr lease and that it was possible that I would be unable to fix the situation even with the proper tools. The pool service was only x amount per month and they would provide all those expensive chemicals and then for sure we would be able to swim the last few weeks of the summer. Right?...wrong!
The pool service shocked the pool with massive amounts of chlorine. Came back and shocked it again 2 days later. It lightened slightly and then went full green again. We paid for the spider gasket to be replaced after they found it was tattered and were sure that would fix the problem. Wrong again. Their next suggestion was to drain the pool completely which the landlord balked at fearing it would damage the plaster. We agreed to drain the pool about half way and then refill it. The pool service was able to get the pool back to clear but by that time it was a bit cold to swim.
Pool stayed nice and crystal all winter long (of course) and when it started heating up again and after we signed another 2 year lease I vowed to tame the beast before it turned green this time. I purchased a TF-100 and bought 6 large bottles of bleach to start working with. I had a gallon of the 12% liquid chlorine from the pool store from last year but that sat in the pool shed so I'm not sure how effective it was. I've been adding bleach every 2nd evening and the chlorine levels are jumping up to the 5-10ppm reading on the small test kit (at least 30 mins after adding to pool). The levels are dropping off to 0.5-1.5ppm on the second day which i realize is not good but so far the pool has stayed crystal clear.
Anyway here are my stats:
Pool size: ~20,000 gal
Sand Filter
In ground
Plaster
1HP pump (i think) and 15GPM/ft^2
pH - 7.8
TA - 150
FC - 1.5 FAS/DPD (1hr after ~90oz of 6% Clorox reads 5-10 range on the K-1000)
CC - 0
TC - 1.5
CH - 440
CYA - 30
I was pretty pleased with these numbers, but I'm imagining that when the temperature gets up there that I'll be burning off chlorine pretty fast. I'll go through a 182oz bottle every 2 days probably? Maybe thats normal. I know right now its pretty much all gone after two days. I probably need to add it every day to be safe. Would a bit more CYA help with keep it around longer? I've added some pucks to the floater basket figuring that might help with keeping the chlorine levels up but it didn't seem to make any difference at all.
The TA seems a bit high also. Not sure if thats a problem or not.
I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that I'm on the right track and some advice about possible issues going forward. Appreciate any and all inputs.
Thanks!
First time poster although I've been lurking on the site scouring for info over the last year or so (alot last summer ). We are renting a house in Tempe, AZ and really enjoyed the rather large diving pool last year, until it turned green that is. Knowing next to nothing about pool maintenance and following the vague directions of our landlord I kept the floater filled with tablets and shocked the pool here and there with the powder shock, threw in some clarified and algaecide for good measure and got it turned around a couple times from a slight algae bloom. Basically we spent a ton of money.
Then it went deep green, probably due to high CYA and inadequate chlorine levels. Having read the forums here a bit I realized that my test strips were not going to cut it and that this was more complicated than I thought. I was getting conflicting information from everyone I talked to, friends/landlord/poolstores. I was pretty convinced that I needed to purchase one of the two recommended pool kits and tackle the situation armed with chemical knowledge of our pool and online support. Then I talked to the wife...
She talked me out of buying the kit, figuring that we might not still be here after our 1yr lease and that it was possible that I would be unable to fix the situation even with the proper tools. The pool service was only x amount per month and they would provide all those expensive chemicals and then for sure we would be able to swim the last few weeks of the summer. Right?...wrong!
The pool service shocked the pool with massive amounts of chlorine. Came back and shocked it again 2 days later. It lightened slightly and then went full green again. We paid for the spider gasket to be replaced after they found it was tattered and were sure that would fix the problem. Wrong again. Their next suggestion was to drain the pool completely which the landlord balked at fearing it would damage the plaster. We agreed to drain the pool about half way and then refill it. The pool service was able to get the pool back to clear but by that time it was a bit cold to swim.
Pool stayed nice and crystal all winter long (of course) and when it started heating up again and after we signed another 2 year lease I vowed to tame the beast before it turned green this time. I purchased a TF-100 and bought 6 large bottles of bleach to start working with. I had a gallon of the 12% liquid chlorine from the pool store from last year but that sat in the pool shed so I'm not sure how effective it was. I've been adding bleach every 2nd evening and the chlorine levels are jumping up to the 5-10ppm reading on the small test kit (at least 30 mins after adding to pool). The levels are dropping off to 0.5-1.5ppm on the second day which i realize is not good but so far the pool has stayed crystal clear.
Anyway here are my stats:
Pool size: ~20,000 gal
Sand Filter
In ground
Plaster
1HP pump (i think) and 15GPM/ft^2
pH - 7.8
TA - 150
FC - 1.5 FAS/DPD (1hr after ~90oz of 6% Clorox reads 5-10 range on the K-1000)
CC - 0
TC - 1.5
CH - 440
CYA - 30
I was pretty pleased with these numbers, but I'm imagining that when the temperature gets up there that I'll be burning off chlorine pretty fast. I'll go through a 182oz bottle every 2 days probably? Maybe thats normal. I know right now its pretty much all gone after two days. I probably need to add it every day to be safe. Would a bit more CYA help with keep it around longer? I've added some pucks to the floater basket figuring that might help with keeping the chlorine levels up but it didn't seem to make any difference at all.
The TA seems a bit high also. Not sure if thats a problem or not.
I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that I'm on the right track and some advice about possible issues going forward. Appreciate any and all inputs.
Thanks!