Am I On The Right Track?

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Re: Shocking Pool, How Long to run Filter?

Based on the Chlorine/CYA chart in Pool School, shock level for 80 CYA is 31. This chart is more aggressive than the Pool Calculator. Since you have a plaster pool, I suggest you use this higher shock level.
 
MOD EDIT: I have moved this post/thread under your active thread on this subject. Please keep posts related to clearing up you pool in this thread for now...It helps us know the history :) -linen

This is my 3rd post on shocking this pool. Please take a look & tell me if I’m on track.

Learned to make sure FC is WAY above shock before OCLT, I dipped below shock level both on Fri(dipped to 12.5 ppm) & Sat(dipped to 18.5 ppm).

I’ve also kicked shock level from 21 ppm(per Pool Calculator) to 31 ppm(CYA Chart). Have been consistently above 31 ppm since Sat morning.

Couple of things... Discovered grass growing behind the top row of tiles. We removed the tiles, concrete & grass. Scrubbed, raised water level above the area, brought FC above 41 ppm for the rest of the day. Next morning(Sun) FC was 36 ppm, maintained around that level & above 31 ppm. Lowered water under this cement area, was afraid the crack leading underneath the sidewalk would contaminate the shock level. My OCLT went from 42.5 ppm @ 8:30 pm down to 32.5 @ 6 am this morning.

Also found paperwork from a previous owner for treatment of Mustard Algae, not sure if correct & it doesn’t have a date. I do remember seeing yellowish on the wall next to the ladder steps that looked like it washed there from the water current. This was before I began shocking.

My #’s as of 3/30, just before shocking process

PH 7.5
TA 120-130
CH I cant test as one of my regents for this is bad & I havent ordered
CYA 80 as of 4/02, brought down from 90 after much backwashing

FC 32.5 ppm as of 6 am, added 1 gallon @ 6:15 am & 1 gallon @ 10:30 am
CC .5 as of 4/06, will test again next round

Water looks clear to me but keep failing OCLT.

As stated before I’ve done lots of backwashing. Normal clean is around 14 psi, it hasn’t gotten above 15 psi except the first day although I did have to backwash to lower the water level yesterday.

Should I be treating for Mustard Algae? Or continue as I’m doing?

See photos below of the 9” deep end & the long cement crack running along the top half of the cement area.
 
Re: Shocking Pool, How Long to run Filter?

lovemy3azboys said:
Should I be treating for Mustard Algae? Or continue as I’m doing?
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Keep going, since you are still loosing FC during the night, you are still making progress on whatever is growing in your pool. If you want shoot for the higher FC level that Butterfly mentioned. You are not done with shocking process until you pass the three criteria (see my sig).
 
You know algae loves to hide in the most difficult-to-get-to places, like light niches.

Since you lowered the water level and took the crack w/roots out of the equation, I suggest that you pull the light niche in search of algae and look closer at the pieces and parts of ladders, skimmers, etc.

Keep at it - you will win this battle :goodjob:

Your pics look great :-D
 
Butterfly said:
You know algae loves to hide in the most difficult-to-get-to places, like light niches.

Since you lowered the water level and took the crack w/roots out of the equation, I suggest that you pull the light niche in search of algae and look closer at the pieces and parts of ladders, skimmers, etc.

Keep at it - you will win this battle :goodjob:

Your pics look great :-D
Click to expand...

Can you enlighten me as to how to remove the light niche? This is our first inground pool & we have not even swam in this sucker yet...
 
Should just be a single screw at the top of the fixture ... then if the installer did not mess up, the wire is long enough to set the fixture on the deck. I think technically you are supposed to be able to remove the light from outside the pool (if it is not too deep).
 
jblizzle said:
Should just be a single screw at the top of the fixture ... then if the installer did not mess up, the wire is long enough to set the fixture on the deck. I think technically you are supposed to be able to remove the light from outside the pool (if it is not too deep).
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Just so I understand. After I make sure electricity is off I need to unscrew at the top, hope the wiring is long enough, set the entire piece of light fixture on the deck.
Once it's on the deck, how to I clean it?

If the wiring is long enough can I set it in a separate bucket of chlorine solution & scrub it so that the algae isn't released into the pool?

After cleaning should I have it hang free overnight to make sure the algae is completely killed inside/behind it or replace it right away?

I think I read somewhere to replace the light?

Thanks in advance.
 
You really should not need the electricity "off" just make sure the light is not on and no one turns it on while outside the pool or it will overheat.

I think the idea is to just brush the inside of the light niche (in the pool) and the back of the light to see if there is algae hiding. There is no need to open up the fixture (unless there is water in it in which case you may want to repair it before you put it back). The bucket is a pretty good idea.

If there is algae back there it just may not be seeing as high a concentration of FC when the light is in place. Taking it out and scrubbing it and then either putting it in a bucket or hanging it back in the pool, should kill anything that might be hiding.
 
Well, lm3, pulling the light niche can be a nasty job.
We had to do it a couple years ago (because of mustard algae - long story) and the algae looked like black gunk stuff :puker:

DH used a toothbrush and rags and a bowl/bucket with our fav clorox in it with a much stronger mixture of chlorine and water - maybe 50/50 - he was a little heavy handed :shock: , but with wiping and brushing it did kill everything there.
 
Butterfly said:
Well, lm3, pulling the light niche can be a nasty job.
We had to do it a couple years ago (because of mustard algae - long story) and the algae looked like black gunk stuff :puker:

DH used a toothbrush and rags and a bowl/bucket with our fav clorox in it with a much stronger mixture of chlorine and water - maybe 50/50 - he was a little heavy handed :shock: , but with wiping and brushing it did kill everything there.
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Your right... I wasnt able to remove the light niche myself, almost felt like the screw was rusted in place... Hoping my husband can remove it tonight...
 

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Here's a theory... I see a pattern concerning my OCLT. Each night I lose 3 ppm less than the night before, first night I lost 13.5 ppm. 2nd night I lost 10 ppm & last night I lost 7 ppm. At that rate I'm hoping tonight I'll loose only 4 ppm & Wed night a loss of 1 ppm. Does this pattern & prediction sound likely? I'm I just becoming obsessed? LOL... :lol:
 
lovemy3azboys said:
Here's a theory... I see a pattern concerning my OCLT. Each night I lose 3 ppm less than the night before, first night I lost 13.5 ppm. 2nd night I lost 10 ppm & last night I lost 7 ppm. At that rate I'm hoping tonight I'll loose only 4 ppm & Wed night a loss of 1 ppm. Does this pattern & prediction sound likely? I'm I just becoming obsessed? LOL... :lol:
Click to expand...
Sounds like a pattern and prediction does sound likely :goodjob:

Obsessed? naw, just got sparklypoolitis like the rest of us. :-D
 
Thanks for all the support :) .

DH was able to remove light niche. He said there was a bunch of what he thought was dirt, when I came over I saw a cloud of dirty grey/white. He used the vacuum hose to clean out the hole where the light goes in which was very "dirty" with something dark. We filled a bucket with water & used the pool brush to scrub the light. It had a lot of black which we were thinking was the gasket for the back of the light, it looks very old. He also chiseled away what looked like corroded metal gunk from the metal part in back. Hard to tell what exactly it was because it was night & we were working with a flashlight. We soaked the light in a bucketful of pool water overnight. This morning I emptied the water, put in fresh water & added more strait chlorine to that. Will scrub more later.

I lost more FC than expected, was hoping for a loss of only 4 ppm but ended up with a loss of 10 ppm again... Am sure it's due to all the gunk we discovered. Also did a little backwash this morning. My Barracuda had stopped jittering & the psi was at 16. After backwash psi is back to 14 psi(normal) & Barracuda is moving right along again. Will continue to keep FC well above 31-35 ppm & will scrub all again tonight.

After reading some other posts here I decided to retest my CYA, I had originally miscalculated my granule CYA & ended up about 100, with lots of backwashing we got it down to 80 before the shock process late last week. I retested last night & it read as 60. I remember reading that CYA tests are not accurate with high levels of algae or FC but I don't remember which it was. I also read that temperature is a factor. My pool water is 72 according to the new thermostat I bought that floats in the pool. Any advise on the CYA issue? I'd been using 80 for CYA & above 31 to shock level based on that.

Another question DH has is, can we get chlorine that is stronger than the 10% that we've been using?
 
Re CYA: If you tested during the daytime before (and got 80) and the nighttime test was 60, I'd go with the daytime test. Even tho you are backwashing & losing some, I doubt you'd go from 80 to 60 that quickly. So, my suggestion is to still use 80 for your calculations.

Some pool stores carry a stronger liquid chlorine. Just remember the higher the concentration, the shorter the shelf life. Make sure they got the fresh stuff :wink:
 
Forgot to mention that I found white granuales on the poles that were floating in the water after we cleaned the light. The metal pole is pitted this morning & the granuales have sort of embedded themselves overnight. Just now I found what I thought was a crumped tissue or paper at the bottom of the middle of the pool, when I pulled it up it looks like a clump of granuals. What could this be?
Also since we cleaned the light my Baracuda has been tempermental. Not sure what's going on... I even backwashed it & that only fixes it for short time, once I stretch the hose it seems to work better for awhile but then slows down...
Any ideas on what this clump is? :? It measures 2" L X 1.25" W The middle has a bluish tint...
 

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Fixed my Baracuda myself. As I was writting my prevoius post I realised I needed to take the whole thing apart, including the hoses. Sure enough I found more of this mysterious granual clumps... Now my Baracuda is jittering right along... Yeah :-D !

Still worry about what the granual clumps are though...
 

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