Very Very Green!!

[LisaM]

I am new to this board. I have read through all the postings and have found them very helpful. I just had my water tested and am not sure what to do with these numbers. Any help is appreciated.

Pool is 20x40 in ground vinyl liner
Cover blew back over the winter and sunlight got to it. Opened to GREEN pool including frogs and a baby snake... Used water from a fresh water creek to top off, probably 4000 gallons.

DE filter

Last night I put in 15lbs of granular chlorine

Here are the numbers the pool store gave me on my water test

ALK 119
PH 7.2-7.6
CALCIUM HARDNESS 187
COPPER 0
IRON 0
CYA HIGH
SATURATED INDEX .8
FREE CHLORINE .4
TOTAL CHLORINE 1.5
COMBINED CHLORINE 1.1
DISSOLVED SOLIDS 0

The free chlorine confuses me because I just dumped 15lbs in last night at 6pm and tested this water at 1200 today. Could it have been eaten up that fast??

Also is liquid chlorine a better option??

Any help to get this thing clear as quickly as possible is welcome. Thanks!

Lisa

 

[RobbieH]

Yes it will be eaten up by the algae. Faster than you think, too!
I would stop the granular chlorine, as your CYA is already high. I'm guessing you are using Dichlor? It won't take much Clorox to shock your pool (relative to mine anyway!)
You need to get an accurate set of numbers before you start shocking, and during your shock, so a good test kit is in order.

 

[woodyp]

"High" isn't an accurate CYA number to work with to determine shock level. If they say it is 100...........it could be WELL over that. Simplest thing is to drain and replace half the water and start shocking from there. You really need an accurate CYA number. Consider one of the two test kits recommended here.

 

[LisaM]

There is absolutely no way for me to drain 1/2 of my pool and start over. I have well water and am not paying $600+ dollars for somebody to truck in 18,000 gallons of new water. If I need to lower my CYA level how is that done other than draining water? Thanks.

 

[RobbieH]

Reverse osmosis.

 

[madwil]

water replacement or reverse osmosis is about the only way to get rid of CYA. How much trouble is it to refill from creek like you did when you topped off?
I'm on well water also, topped off about 8k this year from it- but I have really good water availability for my well!
Depending on where you are, the RO might be available fairly cheap- at least less than $600!

 

[LisaM]

No its really expensive to have water brought in. I called to see how much it was just for the little bit I needed to top off and they wanted $260. I just replaced my well pump last week because it died and that is NOT an experience or expense I would like to repeat. The creek does not have enough water for anything more than a top off.

Question. Do I need to worry about high CYA?? My water has always been crystal sparkling clear. The only reason it is green right now is because that cover blew back and sunlight got to it for a few weeks. Plus I opened super late this year due to horrible weather.

Another question I have is do I need to raise my calcium hardness at 187?

Actually one more. :-D If I switch to liquid chlorine what are the benefits of clorox over what I get at the pool store? The pool stores seems stronger so I would need less.

Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

Before worrying too much about CYA, you should get an actual measurement, not just a generic "HIGH" report. If CYA is 70 or 80 you can live with it. But if CYA is 200 or 300 then you have a real problem.

There is no need to raise CH with a vinyl liner.

Liquid chlorine from the pool store is fine. But the powdered/granular products contain additional things that you don't want too much of in the pool. Dichlor adds CYA, which is already high, and cal-hypo adds calcium, which you could allow to go up some, but not too much.

 

[Suziqzer]

IF your CYA is too high you will continue to battle your pool levels and algae until you get it down or you will have to maintain very high chlorine levels to keep problems away.

 

[LisaM]

CYA is 68 so I dont think thats a problem at this point. I will be conscious of its level from here on out. Last night pool color hadnt changed a bit after the 15lbs of chlorine so I knew something else was going on. Sure enough noticed DE blowing back into pool so took apart the filter and found 1/2 an acorn had blown through one of the grids. I keep spares on hand so replaced that, dumped 2 gallons of liquid chlorine in and this morning I could see 1/2 way down the slope heading to the deep end so progress is being made. Dumped 2 more this morning. Didnt have time to backwash the filter but pressure had only gone up 8lbs so I think it will hold till I get off work.

 

[guamguy]

CYA of 68 is manageable. Just plug the test results into the pool calculator and it will tell you the proper amount of chlorine to bring your pool to shock level. If you don't have one of the suggested test kits from pool school, you should get one. Shocking will take a lot longer if you don't have reliable test results to use during the process.