'New' Chemist on Board!

Jump to latest Follow Reply
J

jacobi

0
Jun 3, 2011
18
Evansville, IN
My husband left town and in an effort to make certain all was ok before having the family over this weekend, I began to read on this site. Thank you so much, by the way.
We have an SWG, converted one year ago. We had been using test strips and they were over one year old. I went to the Pool store. I purchased a kit that says it measures FC, TC, pH, Bromine, Acid & Base Demand, TA, Ca Hardness & CYA.
I knew I most likely had trouble before I started. We had some green 'silt' type substance on the edges of the bottom of the pool. Also the pool water did not seem as sparkly as usual. Add to that, test strips and those being over one year old and I wouldn't even need to add in the next item.
The night (Wednesday evening) before he left, my husband added CYA to the pool based upon the reading of 0 per test strip. I measured and mixed the first installment. I then asked my husband to add the rest (I meant the amount we needed!!!) He promptly dumped the entire bucket in! At the same time he shocked the pool with Power Powder Plus, 3 bags (for the algae). Also used 12 oz. of algae control with the active ingredient poly[oxyethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene, 60%.

Since then, I have lowered the level of water twice and added more wated. Tested. Here are the latest results.

FC 20 CYA >100 TA 80 Ca Hardness 120

The water is clear, have vacuumed and brushed several times and see no algae and the water seems more sparkling.

I am unable to test pH, because not only did the kit not come with instructions (I went back and got them), but there is no reagent by the number listed on the instructions (R-004).

I haven't developed a signature. So here is the rest of the info, as best I know and also as best which I can measure the pool by myself.

Pool Vinyl; 34' x 14' pool for volleyball.....3 ft. on each end, 5 ft. in the middle
The company said the pool was 24,000 gallons???

Filter Sand, Hayward Pro Series High-Rate, S224T , 1.5 HP

Add to all this that the valve isn't sealing properly after we backwash and the pool emptied a large amounts several times...we had flooding rains in May, almost the entire month, so backwashing was a necessity. Finally thought we had the pool settled (according to testing at the pool store) but then another rain overfilled the pool, we backwashed, thought it was sealed but we lost a large amount of water overnight. Hence, our present state.

Please send advise! I am desperate. Got a baby coming to enjoy his first foray into a pool!!! Yikes!

jacobi, not a chemist!
Evansville, IN
 
Hi, welcome to TFP! You probably need a new spider gasket in your multiport valve. They are inexpensive and not too difficult to replace.

You will need to continue to drain and refill to lower the CYA to a more manageable level.
 
Thank you for the responses.

8 lb. CYA was added to the pool on Wed. PM.

The only method of lowering the water I know is to backwash to the bottom of the skimmers. I was afraid to go any lower because I didn't know if this would burn out the pump and I didn't know what a better method might be. So you can see I don't know much! :)
 
Thanks for the advice about the size. So how would I run the #'s with the 2 ends descending to the middle? I read how to average with a shallow and a deep, but anyone have advice on this one?
Also, I read other advice on the site for small pools, vs. medium vs. large.....what is each considered in gallons?

Thank you all once more! I am learning all the time!!
 
Butterfly said:
I'm getting about 14,200 gallons for water volume......can someone confirm?

If this is correct, CYA added should be about 70ish.
Click to expand...


Yeah, that is what I get if you assume an average depth of 4 feet. So 70 is way better than 100+ and even manageable for the short term (will just end up costing more $ in chlorine until lowered a little), but could be swimable so long as it passes the overnight chlorine loss test and a day of full sun brings it to less than 16 for the TC.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I suggest you stop w/water replacement tonight and refill pool. Circulate.

Tomorrow, after pump runs for at least an hour, give us another CYA test result.

We need the pH test result, too.

I don't trust the CYA testing - from zero to >100 when about 70 CYA was added. Errors somewhere.

Bed. Rest.
 
Before I head to bed, I went out to turn off the pump but it had already disconnected itself...the hose solution to draining the pool quit working. Any ideas? It didn't maintain suction once the water level was below the skimmer. I had connected the vacuum hose to the skimmer and turned on the pump, set to waste.
I am sure I did something wrong but don't know what.

Sorry to keep bugging you all!
 
Re: 'New' Chemist on Board! 2nd day!

Ok. Remeasured pool with the help of duct tape.....actual measurement is 16 wide x 36 long x 4 ft av. depth = 17,200 G. Is this correct?
I have a set of steps beyond the 16 ft. length at each end.

Values:
FC 4 pH 7.2 CYA 80

I took more care in the CYA and made certain (did it 3 times with same sample) that the dot had disappeared (not a shadow of it left, as I may have done before).
So with a swim party tomorrow with small children coming, what are the suggestions of the experts? I know I need to do something with my pH. But what about the FC? And should I leave the CYA as is or try to lower it more (yesterday 70 was recommended?)

Thank you all! Whoops I still need to change my signature, so the above measurements are the correct ones.
 
Your PH is not a problem. 7.2 or higher is fine for swimming. The PH will tend to come up over time, so no need to raise it yourself.

Increase the percentage setting on the SWG a little so that FC is closer to 5.

If the water seems just a little off, but there are no obvious symptoms, add perhaps 5 ppm of chlorine "just in case". Adding a little extra chlorine both before and after a swim party is always a good idea.

You might also want to try adding a little DE to the filter, see the instructions in Pool School.
 
Re: 'New' Chemist on Board! 2nd day!

jacobi said:
Ok. Remeasured pool with the help of duct tape.....actual measurement is 16 wide x 36 long x 4 ft av. depth = 17,200 G. Is this correct?
I have a set of steps beyond the 16 ft. length at each end.

Values:
FC 4 pH 7.2 CYA 80

I took more care in the CYA and made certain (did it 3 times with same sample) that the dot had disappeared (not a shadow of it left, as I may have done before).
So with a swim party tomorrow with small children coming, what are the suggestions of the experts? I know I need to do something with my pH. But what about the FC? And should I leave the CYA as is or try to lower it more (yesterday 70 was recommended?)

Thank you all! Whoops I still need to change my signature, so the above measurements are the correct ones.
Click to expand...

pH and CYA are in range :goodjob: for your SWG.

What is CC and how does your water look?
 
JasonLion said:
Your PH is not a problem. 7.2 or higher is fine for swimming. The PH will tend to come up over time, so no need to raise it yourself.

Increase the percentage setting on the SWG a little so that FC is closer to 5.

If the water seems just a little off, but there are no obvious symptoms, add perhaps 5 ppm of chlorine "just in case". Adding a little extra chlorine both before and after a swim party is always a good idea.

You might also want to try adding a little DE to the filter, see the instructions in Pool School.
Click to expand...

I feel very stupid saying this but I do not not what amount or how to figure 5 ppm chlorine for my pool. So much to learn...

Thank you!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply