Frustrated..2 weeks into BBB and have to shock

[jt100]

Ok I've been been doing BBB since 5/12 and everything has been going fine and crystal clear until today when i took the solar cover off. The solar cover was on for 18hrs and i pulled it off at 4pm today to a cloudy pool. My numbers have been as follows
20000 gal IG vinyl, water temp holding between 78-81
I've been testing every evening
FC has been between 7-9 ( it did go down to 5 after heavy use on 5/23 and i brought it back up to 9)
CC- 0-.5
PH- 7.3
TA- 90
CH- 110
CYA- 65-70
FC dropped from 6.5 to 4.5 in last 24hrs. CC remaining at .5
I shocked tonight to bring it up to 20. I've been adding chlorine when it gets to 7.0 every 2 days. Should i start keeping it at 9 and then adding more? There has been a TON of pollen in the air (so much so that EVERYTHING is coated in yellow) and the cottonwood trees have been been leaving floaters on everything. Not sure if this is related but i need to nip this in the bud. Thanks for any help.

 

[JohnT]

It's possible that you just accumulated a lot of pollen and/or dust while the cover was on. Skimmers are ineffective with a solar cover on, so the pool will tend to get dirty when you pull the cover. Your numbers don't sound like you have a chemistry problem IMO.

 

[baudilus]

Sounds to me like the cloudiness is something other than algae, but still possibly organic.

Did someone make number 1 in the water?

 

[jt100]

LOL. I knew it was a bad idea to let a horse in the pool. I guess i'll just have to keep an eye on my FC/CC. I'm just trying to get a handle on everything. It's a less than 2 year old pool and the auto controller is on the fritz (a whole different issue)and i just replaced a bad filter pressure gauge , so i am trying to balance the manual flow control from different returns/pump switching times/pool chemistry. I'm just kinda peeved that there are so many variables now. No thanks to the crappy 1 1/2 year old Pentair parts that are out of warranty that are now breaking. We are on our second Pentair heat pump, Pentair controller panel LCD and now something else is going on with our remote controller. Luckily the heat pump and the LCD were under warranty, but the controller isn't. PB says they will work with us on it though and not charge the $79 an hour service call. How nice of them.....I'd really like to get through one season without something breaking......I guess with more technology comes more problems...

 

[93mastercraft]

I had the same issues down here in NC when the pollen was rampant about 4 weeks ago. But now things are crystal clear. I've gotten my BBB method down to a science. 1 box of Borax made my PH 7.4, I shocked the pool initially w/ 5 182oz bottles of 6% bleach and held it there for 3 days with a half bottle of 6% bleach for 3 days untill the pool was crystal clear. That held my TC up to about 12PPM. The CYA initially was high at 100PPM (beacuse last year I used those stbilized pucks ). But now down to 70 after several back washes and refillings. I add 1pt of 6% bleach per day depending on the sun/rain/temperature of the water to keep the FC around 5 - 6PPM. Loven it!

I occasionally take my water to the pool store where I baught the pool to have them test the water. They can't understand why I keep the chlorine at the level that I do, but when I start to explain the effects of CYA and FC they just don't seem to understand what I am talking about. They basically try to tell me I am doing it all wrong and turn my words around. I just smile and say, well we don't drink the pool water and leave... All the while thinking about how clean our pool is. When we go on vacation, I cringe at the fact that I might swim in a public pool. The next time I do, I am going to test the water before I enter their pool...