Can't get my water to clear up!

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R

RaysFan

0
Apr 22, 2011
13
Lutz, FL
My pool is a nice shade of green, an I can't get it to clear up? I'm new to this forum. So I am reading the pool school. Although I am not finish I want to start this post so I could get a jump on things. Here are my water test results and pics from today.

17K gal in ground concrete/marcite
Sta-Rite Posi-Flo II filter

FC 5.0
CC 0.0
pH 7.8
TA 125
CH 250
CYA 100

DSC06209.jpg
 
I'm not exactly one of the experts, but how confident in that CYA number are you? Often CYA > 100 reads as = 100. So it could be 200, 300, or more and you need to know. Diluting the pool water with an equal amount of tap water (I believe you want 1/4 pool, 1/4 tap, 1/2 reagent), then doubling the result you get, will be informative.
 
You probably already saw this in Pool School if you're reading, but for clearing up a green pool the pool store isn't going to cut it. Get a TF-100. Probably XL.

THAT I can say with complete confidence based on clearing up my pool last year with the help of the wonderful experts here.
 
I just wanted to say I agree with everything that has been said, the problem with pool store testing is you never know how much care they have put into doing the test, some pool stores are better than others about this on average their reputations are not so good. Since you said you want to get a jump on things and this is a holiday weekend I guess we will have to work with what we have or can get. First take another water sample back to the pool store this time dilute it with 50/50 with tap water and see what the CYA level test out as, if it still reads 100, they your CYA is very high and a near complete drain and refill may be in order. Second you will need a good Chlorine test that can test Chlorine levels while shocking, you may be able to find one of these locally, it will be marked an FAS-DPD Chlorine test, most likely to be found will be a Taylor brand kit. Do not confuse this with the plan DPD Chlorine kit.

Once we know the CYA level we can get an idea of where to go, but at a minimum your looking at a partial drain and refill along with a lot of bleach/liquid chlorine.

Ike
 
Welcome to TFP :wave:

In a nut shell the pool is green (or went green :cry: ) because you do not have enough FC available relative to your CYA level. If CYA is truly 100, you will need to partially drain the pool to get it down to at least 70, at which point we can help you our with how to shock your pool with liquid chlorine.

What the pool store doesn't tell you is that pucks and some powdered chlorine raise CYA to the point of being overstabilized (100ppm+) and essentially binds up the available chlorine in your pool rendering it useless in fighting off algae. Get the CYA level down, stop using pucks, and switch to liquid chlorine and you will be better off in the long run.

For test kits, most here prefer the TF100 or the Taylor K2006. They are both good kits, but the TF100 give you more tests for your money :goodjob:
 
Without having the CYA level under control and without having accurate testing to know your FC level to maintain shock level then if you will pardon the pun all you may have been doing is treading water. To clear a swamp condition like this you have to kill all the algae, failure to do that and you will be right back where you started very soon.

Ike
 
If the CYA is very high, then it would take extraordinarily high levels of chlorine to kill the algae. That's why the pool store will be more than happy to sell you products that get around the high CYA level to kill the algae (such as bromide or ammonium products), but you will still be left with a pool that has too high a CYA level and will continue to get algae in the future. The only way to reduce the CYA level is through water dilution (partial drain/refill). Of course, to know how much dilution is needed, you need to test for your CYA level and in order to do that you need a proper test kit such as the TFTestkits TF-100. The pool store may not test accurately

You really need to get your own good test kit. Until you know what is really in the water, all you can do is add chlorine and hope it's enough, but it may not be.
 

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I drained an refilled some of the water in my pool. And the CYA retested still at 100. I'm going to drain more off and refill. But as I was reading the Pool School I read the part that metals may cause problems. I'm on a well an I know that the water is high in iron. I imagine the iron is also causing a problem. It says to treat with absorbic acid. What do I need to look for is all absorbic acid the same or is there specific for pools or can I just get it from a drug store??
 
Focus on one problem at a time :whip: :
The Iron is not causing the water to be green. Uncontrolled algae growth is the issue.
If you add ascorbic acid to the pool at this time, the problem will only get worse. :rant:

You need to get the CYA low enough to be able to shock.
Drain and replace more water to reduce the CYA level.

After you have addressed the CYA issue, then post a new full set of test results.
There are a lot of good folks here who can guide you through the shock process keeping your PH appropriate to avoid staining from Iron.

After the water is clear, then you can decide if you want to address any iron staining that formed as a result of allowing the PH to rise over the Winter.
 
I wasn't going to add it. I was more or less asking could that be contributing to the problem. Cause I seen that it causes staining, was wondering if it also would green the water. I don't have much staining at all. Or didn't last time I saw the bottom.. :p
 
The bright green color is new algae growth. :(

Water temperatures are probably starting to climb rapidly in the Tampa area so the sooner you can get the algae under control, the less work and expense it will be to get this pool in swim condition.

Keep us posted with your progress.

Oh, and we like pictures :wave:
 
My pool was that shade of green once :oops: ......that's how I ended up here. A lot of reading, both in pool school and on the forum, helped me to better understand the relationship between CYA and chlorine. Everyone here will give you great advice! Basically, the higher your CYA level, the more chlorine it will take. So unless you own a chlorox factory :lol: , getting your CYA level down to where it is workable is very important. You might have to do the drain/refill dance a few times to get the level down. Take a look at the chart in pool school to understand how much chlorine it takes compared to your CYA and it will start to make sense. Above all, you will need a healthy dose of POP, pool owner patience! Stick with it and you will get there!
 
Ok, well this is turning out to be a chore. I have drained an refilled and still not below 100 CYA. And without my knowledge my father came by earlier this week and dumped algaecide in it when I wasn't home, to try to help me out. :rant: But the pool does look better, although still a little cloudy. Results from today.

FC 0
CC 0
pH 7.6
TA 125
CH 275
CYA 100

DSC06232.jpg
 
How significant was the drain and refill? Are you testing CYA withe the TF100 or taylor kit? Try diluting your pool water 50% with tap water and then test the diluted sample to get an approximate feeling of how high the CYA still is.
 

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