Really bad pool levels

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T

the taxidermist

0
Oct 19, 2010
45
Ok here is the short - so I was Haboobed, got my pool clear, then my strainer box crack, plast aid'ed that, now its working again... Ive been hitting it with lots of chlorine but unable to get my levels to rise or stay over night. I have tested and have seen no CC's also. I have 0 TC. My TA is 20?!? and my CYA well there isn't enough water in the tester to and the tube isn't long enough! the water is mostly clear to the top...

TC-0
PH-6.8
TA-20
CYA-Ungodly high!

Can you help me and tell me what I should do? do I drain this thing 60% and add new water?

I have a sand filter and the pool is 1bout 11500 gallons.

Also I have been running the aerator a lot to try and cool the pool down ->AZ

thanks much!
 
Your numbers seem a little odd. You are running an aerator but have crashed the PH and have no TA? Do you use a lot of Pucks for chlorine?

The description of the CYA test would imply no CYA (you fill the tube and still see the dot? Thus needing a longer tube?)

Your first step is going to be to stabilize that PH. Your test may bottom out at 6.8 so you could be lower which is no good.

If you have 0 CYA then you are just loosing the chlorine to sunlight. If you've been using pucks - then something funny is happening.

I'd run all the tests you have and posts the results again. It'll help us look for discrepancies.
 
What do you use to add chlorine on a day-to-day basis, and what do you use when "hitting it hard"?

Could you try explaining what you do in the test a little more clearly and how you got the result of "ungodly high" (they should mark that on the tubes :lol:) ?
 
Well Ive been hitting it hard with Chlorine, I use bleach 6% the big jugs i think 96oz. Ive been dumping about half a jug every day sometimes a lil more at night. I hadn't done a full test in a lil bit because the pool was rock solid for a while. Now after these storms, and the pool not being super clear and kind of a cloudy/green from not fully recovering I have gotten back on it. In regards to my CYA the water is just clear in the tube all the way to the top. The TA blew me away, It only took 2 drops to turn pink.

The PH, I have put about 2 gallons in the pool over the past 2 to 3 weeks. and the PH is very low all bet lower than 6.8 but it was higher recently. I did use some old acid, could that be the problem?
 
If you haven't added CYA, haven't used pucks, and haven't used dichlor granules you can bet that your CYA is 0.

If any of those things have gone into the pool ever, there's some CYA but it does sound like it's under 20 which the CYA test can't test for very well.

Loosing all your chlorine regularly goes hand in hand with low or no CYA. Time to add some manually.

Trust your test results, maybe do it all one more time to be sure and then start adjusting the pool according to those results. Get some chlorine in the pool, test it half an hour later and give us a FC/TC/CC reading. If the pool is green, chances are there's algae and you need to begin the shocking process.

Add enough CYA to reach 30ppm before you begin shocking, it'll help you keep chlorine in the pool during the process. You could go with 20-25ppm as well to save some cashola on bleach (the CYA test should register well at 25ppm, 20ppm is about the low limit for it though. Under 20ppm is pure speculation). Use the pool calculator to determine how much CYA to add (in a sock, tied off on the ladder or in front of a return, squish it regularly till gone from the sock).

Adjust PH up to 7.2 before shocking btw. Why did you use the acid and when? How high was the PH when you added it?

Any more info about your pool? Vinyl? Plaster? If you put your pool specifications in your sig line (user control panel) it'll always be there for us to reference.
 
STOP! The first thing you need to adjust is the TA!!! It's much too low. Use Baking soda to bring that up to about 70. Then retest and adjust your pH.

Once you've done that and report back, we'll deal with the rest of the problems.
 
Ok - this makes more sense.

Your CYA is 0 - so sunlight is breaking down your FC almost immediately.

The age of your acid is not the issue - it's the AMOUNT. 2 gallons of 31% Muriatic Acid could indeed crash your PH and TA in 11,000 gallons of water. Your TA is low enough that you may be seeing some erratic PH moves - so correct that and see where PH is landing.

I would -

Raise the CYA to 30 to start
Get the TA up with baking soda - target 60 (or 70) to start

These targets are on the low side of the recommended levels - that way you can creep up on more "perfect" levels over time. Are you familiar with the Pool Calculator?
 
Please adjust TA and PH 1st!!!! Then worry about CYA and FC. With TA at 10 and PH likely below 4.5 you are at risk of damaging your pool surface and equipment.
 

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Ok after a 12 hour cycle im now looking at

fc 0
cc 0
tc 0
ph 7.8
ta 130
cya 0

I may have over shot the baking soda. Should I now lower my TA a lil bit with acid/aeration process? How should I go about getting my CYA up? I have pucks on hand and know those raise CYA but pretty slowly.
 
Personally, I prefer adding CYA manually. That way I know how much I put in which gives me a value to insert into the calculator vs an unknown that I have to test for to be able to quantify.

Put the CYA into a sock (any old sock), tie a rubber band at the top and hang it in front of a return or off the ladder. Then go squish it hourly till it's gone from the sock. HTH brand sold at walmart is very soluble and squishes out right fast as compared to the pool store brands. Aim for about 30ppm CYA for now. If you need more you can always add it later.

As far as the TA, if you lower the ph to 7.2 with acid, it will probably come up on it's own w/o aeration (give it a day, test) or you can aim for 7.3-7.4 instead. Go ahead and lower it now, 7.8 is about as high as you want it to be already. If you stick any tablets in, remember they will lower pH as well.
 

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