vacation return

[dorpo75]

I have just returned from a vacation of 3 weeks. When I left, our pool was sparkly and beautiful :-D While gone, our son was supposed to be putting in the chlorine and testing the water. If any of you have a teenage/early 20's son, you may know my next line. He checked and added for awhile but then other things took precedence. Of course the weather had been at it's hottest during the time I was gone. I returned to a pool with a green cast on the vinyl but not yet "in" the water. We did have to pull the steps and scrub those, scrub a dub dub underneath them and the wall behind them as that is where the worst concentration was located

I took a reading and here are my numbers:
FC .5
CC .5
TC 1
PH 7.8-8.2 hard to differentiate
TA 130
CYA 30
Water temp is 94; air temp is 94 but higher due to humidity. It's brutal out there today.

According to the pool calculator, I need to add a gallon of bleach plus a cup or two to get it to a shock of 12, so that I have done.
I may add some more CYA but not sure yet.
I am waiting until night fall to check the #'s again and then blast it with chlorine again. I have to lower the PH as well, but wanted to start the shock process first.

Anyone see anything that I should be doing differently?

Thanks.

 

[gar]

We just had the same thing happen, so I feel your pain.
Go to the Pool School and read "Defeating Algae" and within that article read the link "Shocking Your Pool", this will be extremely helpful!

I got a lot of bleach on hand and stayed up late shocking and retesting. It takes time and you'll have to hit it hard and often until your FC levels start to hold.

Good Luck, gar

 

[dorpo75]

Checked the chlorine level at 8:20 and found that my FC was up to 5 so I added 3qts and 1c of bleach to get back up to shock level. Then I got in (ewww with the "green stuff") to vacuum b/c it is easier to do it that way and it really wasn't that bad...
I have the filter running all night and I HATE to run it when I am not awake, but it runs when I am not home, so what is the difference, right?
As I am having a family picnic on Sunday, I will clean the filter and keep watching those numbers. I do have sparklypoolitis and want it to be evident with guests around!

 

[JasonLion]

The next time you have a moment when FC is below 10, lower the PH to around 7.5, and then continue shocking as needed.

 

[dorpo75]

Thanks, Jason. I have just gone outside and put in the necessary PH Down product and will wait a bit, test and then zap the chlorine again. That's what I get for leaving a 20yr old in charge of pool care for 3 weeks. Algae.