After opening the pool late and dumping some shock in everyday, I found you guys. I used the pool calculator and got my pool sparkling clean. Well the past week I've been too busy to do anytyhing with the pool. I didn't clean it, I didn't run the filter, I didn't shock...nothing. Day 5 it started to get cloudy. I only have the crappy test strips (I know, I know) but it appeared that everything was relatively balanced except FC. I dumped in 6 1lb bags of 65% cal hypo at night. Tested 1 hour later, chlorine is at 0. Day 6, its even cloudier. I get my water tested at store. CYA is 45, can't remember the rest, but calcium was a little low, PH and TA a tiny bit high, FC and TC 0. The guy says to dump a little bit of shock and it should be fine. I dump another 6 1lb bags of 65% cal hypo. Test 1 hour later and its at 0%. Today is Day 7 starting to get green on top of the fact its sooo murky I can't see anything! We've been having a lot of rain. I tested the water with my strips and looks like CYA has dropped slighly below the ok range and the PH has dropped as well. I did the pool calcuator, dumped in more than it said to for shock. I dumped 6 1 lb. bags of chlorine. Tested it at 0 one hour later. I dumped in 3 more bags and 2 bottles 12% liquid shock. What in the world is going on? What am I doing wrong???? I did find a dead mouse and 4 dead frogs today, but would that screw it up so bad? I just spent almost $100 on this Crud. I hate my pool.
Screwed the pool again.
- Thread starter kvmommy
- Start date
You need to take a step back and reboot. 1st get all the gunk and stuff out of the pool, the just follow what pool school tells you.
Agree with Shane1. You need to stop and take a second to assess your situation. You really need to get the water tested with something better than strips. If you can afford it, get a quality test kit like the TF100 or the Taylor K-2006. You will need this to battle the green stuff that is growing in your pool now. If you can't afford the test kit, take your water sample to the pool store and let them test it but do not buy anything other than liquid chlorine shock if you want. Based on your post, your CYA level is about where you want it now and you do not want to increase it as it will force you to have to shock to much higher FC levels. Be careful about the CYA # taken from test strips because the strips are not very accurate. Pool store testing can be all over the place as well. Another reason to take control yourself and get a good test kit.
Make sure you have removed all the animals, leaves, twigs etc.. from the pool.
Read pool school as recommended and study the chapter on shocking your pool. Shocking is a process ( and not a product) you must follow to kill all the green stuff and clear up the water. Once we know you chem levels, we can figure out what shock FC level you need to maintain over time to completely kill the algae. Near the end when your pool starts to look clean again, you will need to run the OCLT to determine if all the algae has been killed and you are done shocking.
Please have your water tested and post the results for:
FC,
CC or TC
TA
CH
CYA
So we can see where you are at and let you know where to start. Stock up on the liquid chlorine shock or regular chlorine bleach. The Cal-Hypo will not increase your CYA but it will add to your calcium hardness (CH) and also possibly cloud your water slightly. We recommend plain liquid bleach here as your source of chlorine since it does not add unwanted things to your pool. Make sure you get plain bleach and not bleach with fragrance or thickeners.
Run your filter 24/7 if you can but keep an eye on the filter back pressure and backwash the filter when it climbs 6-9 psi above normal, and brush your pool & vacuum daily also.
And have patience, after following pool school instructions and from the help here, your pool will be sparkly again soon.
Make sure you have removed all the animals, leaves, twigs etc.. from the pool.
Read pool school as recommended and study the chapter on shocking your pool. Shocking is a process ( and not a product) you must follow to kill all the green stuff and clear up the water. Once we know you chem levels, we can figure out what shock FC level you need to maintain over time to completely kill the algae. Near the end when your pool starts to look clean again, you will need to run the OCLT to determine if all the algae has been killed and you are done shocking.
Please have your water tested and post the results for:
FC,
CC or TC
TA
CH
CYA
So we can see where you are at and let you know where to start. Stock up on the liquid chlorine shock or regular chlorine bleach. The Cal-Hypo will not increase your CYA but it will add to your calcium hardness (CH) and also possibly cloud your water slightly. We recommend plain liquid bleach here as your source of chlorine since it does not add unwanted things to your pool. Make sure you get plain bleach and not bleach with fragrance or thickeners.
Run your filter 24/7 if you can but keep an eye on the filter back pressure and backwash the filter when it climbs 6-9 psi above normal, and brush your pool & vacuum daily also.
And have patience, after following pool school instructions and from the help here, your pool will be sparkly again soon.
Yep... Do what Optica said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To answer your big question... Algae is actively blooming in your pool. When you add the cal-hypo, it's being consumed immediately and that is why you're seeing massive chlorine losses. The short answer is that you're not adding enough cal-hypo (chlorine). But STOP using cal-hypo and only use liquid chlorine (bleach!). Use the pool calculator for quantities and aim for the shock value for your CYA level (since it's growing so fast, go with pool school CYA/Chlorine chart values in the calculator, it's a bit more aggressive than pool calculator).
Adding enough chlorine will NOT stop it from being consumed until all the algae is dead, it will continue to be lost hourly as you go through the shocking process. This is normal. Don't expect a miracle, but enough chlorine will allow for smaller losses per hour, thus you never fall to 0. This also means that you replace every single bit of chlorine you loose per hour... if you loose 5ppm, you immediately replace it with 5ppm of chlorine. And then an hour later, test and replace the loss again. Repeat... repeat... repeat... This really is the only way to get on top of that algae. And you can't do it without accurate testing.
The strips are junk, sorry. I wouldn't ever recommend using them on a balanced pool much less one in the middle of an algae bloom needing to be shocked. You simply can't shock effectively using strips. It's impossible, chlorine levels high enough to shock will bleach out the strips and show 0. So if you can't get a good test kit, the pool store is your only option. Plan to make a couple trips there a day for testing, minimum. And drive fast. The chlorine in your sample will degrade on the way there, skewing your results (the sample will contain algae, the normal loss will continue inside the sample just as it will in your pool while you're gone).
All that said, you've spent $ on cal-hypo and I can't not remind you now that for less $ than you have spent on the more expensive chlorine that has left you in the same place you were a week ago when this started, you would have a test kit on site that can handle this process. Yes, you would have still had to buy chlorine. But I'm fairly certain liquid chlorine is cheaper than cal-hypo, plus it adds nothing extra to your pool.
We all understand not wanting to spend the $ on the kit (some of us slum it with cheapo Intex pools cuz we can't afford a real above ground). It does sound like a huge expense at first. But ask yourself if you would you pay to patch 100 holes in your liner, or would you just buy a new one for a little bit more and solve the problem so you can swim? An analogy in the extreme way yes, but the concept is the same. Either way costs you $, but one solves the issue long term.
We're here to help any time you need and we'll do the best we can with the test values you can give us.
To answer your big question... Algae is actively blooming in your pool. When you add the cal-hypo, it's being consumed immediately and that is why you're seeing massive chlorine losses. The short answer is that you're not adding enough cal-hypo (chlorine). But STOP using cal-hypo and only use liquid chlorine (bleach!). Use the pool calculator for quantities and aim for the shock value for your CYA level (since it's growing so fast, go with pool school CYA/Chlorine chart values in the calculator, it's a bit more aggressive than pool calculator).
Adding enough chlorine will NOT stop it from being consumed until all the algae is dead, it will continue to be lost hourly as you go through the shocking process. This is normal. Don't expect a miracle, but enough chlorine will allow for smaller losses per hour, thus you never fall to 0. This also means that you replace every single bit of chlorine you loose per hour... if you loose 5ppm, you immediately replace it with 5ppm of chlorine. And then an hour later, test and replace the loss again. Repeat... repeat... repeat... This really is the only way to get on top of that algae. And you can't do it without accurate testing.
The strips are junk, sorry. I wouldn't ever recommend using them on a balanced pool much less one in the middle of an algae bloom needing to be shocked. You simply can't shock effectively using strips. It's impossible, chlorine levels high enough to shock will bleach out the strips and show 0. So if you can't get a good test kit, the pool store is your only option. Plan to make a couple trips there a day for testing, minimum. And drive fast. The chlorine in your sample will degrade on the way there, skewing your results (the sample will contain algae, the normal loss will continue inside the sample just as it will in your pool while you're gone).
All that said, you've spent $ on cal-hypo and I can't not remind you now that for less $ than you have spent on the more expensive chlorine that has left you in the same place you were a week ago when this started, you would have a test kit on site that can handle this process. Yes, you would have still had to buy chlorine. But I'm fairly certain liquid chlorine is cheaper than cal-hypo, plus it adds nothing extra to your pool.
We all understand not wanting to spend the $ on the kit (some of us slum it with cheapo Intex pools cuz we can't afford a real above ground). It does sound like a huge expense at first. But ask yourself if you would you pay to patch 100 holes in your liner, or would you just buy a new one for a little bit more and solve the problem so you can swim? An analogy in the extreme way yes, but the concept is the same. Either way costs you $, but one solves the issue long term.
We're here to help any time you need and we'll do the best we can with the test values you can give us.
With a vinyl pool, you need to be aware of how much chlorine you put in. Too little won't clear the pool but too much can damage the liner. All the more reason to get a decent test kit.
And then stay on top of it....too busy to run the filter- I don't understand that, you need to devote some time to maintenance or it's just not gonna work for you.
Alternatively, if your lifestyle is honestly such that you don't have the time to dedicate to maintaining the pool perhaps your better off to enter into a maintenance contract with a reputable pool company.
I know that tends to get the thumbs down here but if you don't have time required then your just gonna fight it, not enjoy the pool and your kids won't get the most from it, and that's just not what a pool is supposed to be about.
Another alternative might be some automation (chlorinator) to help out a bit. Ultimately the solution has to be feasible with your lifestyle so your family can enjoy the pool!
I know that tends to get the thumbs down here but if you don't have time required then your just gonna fight it, not enjoy the pool and your kids won't get the most from it, and that's just not what a pool is supposed to be about.
Another alternative might be some automation (chlorinator) to help out a bit. Ultimately the solution has to be feasible with your lifestyle so your family can enjoy the pool!
You have learned the hard way that if you depend on test strips, pool store testing, and pool store advice you will end up hating your pool and spending more money than you can afford.
On the other hand read the threads of pool owners that use the BBB method and conduct their own testing with a good test kit. Their pools are clear, they minimize pool expense, and have reduced their pool maintenance work.
We hated our pool our first summer. Today my wife cannot believe how good our pool looks with no problems.
General advice:
1.Put your filter on a timer.
2.Test your water at least every other day. I test most days. Testing for Cl and pH takes less than two minutes.
3.Purchase a good test kit.
4.Read the pool school articles on shocking your pool and the overnight FC test. This spring when we opened our pool the water was very cloudy. My wife thought that we had algae and expected to purchase bleach from Walmart by the truck load. The pool passed the overnight test. My wife almost could not believe me when I told her that we did not need any bleach; we only had to run the filter 24/7 for one week. One week later the pool was clear.
5.When your daily Cl test shows that the Cl level is too low be prepared to shock the pool immediately. You have not added a sufficient amount of Cl to kill the algae. Algae is alive and is growing. You have only slowed the growth of the algae.
Since we converted to the BBB method we have not had any algae. Our maintenance work is perhaps one fourth of the work of our first summer.
On the other hand read the threads of pool owners that use the BBB method and conduct their own testing with a good test kit. Their pools are clear, they minimize pool expense, and have reduced their pool maintenance work.
We hated our pool our first summer. Today my wife cannot believe how good our pool looks with no problems.
General advice:
1.Put your filter on a timer.
2.Test your water at least every other day. I test most days. Testing for Cl and pH takes less than two minutes.
3.Purchase a good test kit.
4.Read the pool school articles on shocking your pool and the overnight FC test. This spring when we opened our pool the water was very cloudy. My wife thought that we had algae and expected to purchase bleach from Walmart by the truck load. The pool passed the overnight test. My wife almost could not believe me when I told her that we did not need any bleach; we only had to run the filter 24/7 for one week. One week later the pool was clear.
5.When your daily Cl test shows that the Cl level is too low be prepared to shock the pool immediately. You have not added a sufficient amount of Cl to kill the algae. Algae is alive and is growing. You have only slowed the growth of the algae.
Since we converted to the BBB method we have not had any algae. Our maintenance work is perhaps one fourth of the work of our first summer.