Starting BBB Method - My Initial FAS-DPD Test Results

[pokey]

I recently purchased a house with a gunite pool and had been struggling with algae. At the suggestion of everyone on these boards, I went out and got the Leslie's FAS-DPD test kit. My first results are as follows:

FC - 18 ppm
CC - .2 ppm
pH - 7.3
TA - 95 ppm
CYA - 55 ppm
CH - 280 ppm

I have a 14,000 gallon pool according to the Pool Calculator and I had been using an inline chlorinator with trichlor tabs but as per the BBB method, I have turned it off. It seems like my FC is higher than it should be. I used two pounds of Power Plus Powder last weekend to shock the pool after seeing some algae and the inline chlorinator has been running all week. The majority of the algae is gone. I had expected to need to put in some bleach this weekend, but that doesn't seem to be necessary. That said, it seems as though my CYA is higher than I'd like it and perhaps I should drain the pool somewhat before I begin the BBB method. Will the FC levels just go down on their own? I had planned to spend this weekend following the Turn-Your-Swamp-Into-a-Sparkly-Oasis procedure by adding bleach and measuring FC loss but that doesn't appear necessary.

The water looks very clear but when you brush the bottom there is a lot of white dust and certain pockets of green dust. The skimmer throats, for instance, are very green still. CYA is too high for the FC to work all the way? I should add that I'm in Dallas so there's no shortage of sunshine.

My real problem now is that whatever skimming/circulation system my pool is supposed to have doesn't work correctly as there is a ridiculous amount of leaves and berries and other arboreal detritus on the surface of the pool and lining the waterline all around the pool. But I figured I'd handle the chemistry first and deal with that problem next.

So to inaugurate my adherence to the BBB school of thought, where should I go from here?

Thank you in advance,
Adam

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol: Your numbers are not too bad. Since it appears you are ALMOST in shock mode and you apparently have some remaining algae, I would suggest finishing the process. Carefully read the article How to Shock your Pool up in Pool School and follow that procedure. That will involve upping your chlorine (only with liquid....no more powder) up to around 20-24 and then holding it there until the algae is gone and your pool is crystal clear.

Depending on where you live, this time of year is tough on keeping a pool clean. Make sure your water is at the right level and you are getting a fairly swift flow into the skimmers. Keep all the filters cleaned up and watch your psi on your filter. backwash/clean when it rises 25% above normal.

 

[Leebo]

That problem is gonna mess with your chemistry. Clean all the leaves and berries out first, as the chlorine is gonna try to "attack" them mess dropped from the trees.

As for the cloudy.....what type of filter do you have? Keep brushing the floors and walls....it sounds like you're towards the end of this fight.

 

[pokey]

OK - So I have a 14,500 gallon pool and my current FC is 18 so according to the Pool Calculator I need to add 180 oz of 6% bleach to get the FC to 24 which is the shock value for a CYA level of 60 according to the chlorine/CYA chart. Do I have all that right?

First I will skim out all the berries and leaves and dead june bugs that have gone their final resting place in my pool. Thank you for all your help.

 

[257WbyMag]

OK - So I have a 14,500 gallon pool and my current FC is 18 so according to the Pool Calculator I need to add 180 oz of 6% bleach to get the FC to 24 which is the shock value for a CYA level of 60 according to the chlorine/CYA chart. Do I have all that right?

First I will skim out all the berries and leaves and dead june bugs that have gone their final resting place in my pool. Thank you for all your help.

Yep, you got it.

 

[pokey]

OK, so after putting in 180 oz of bleach and running the pump all day, my FC is now at 25.5. At some point it will go down to swimmable levels, right?
Just to be sure here, when you're using the FAS-DPD test for FC and you put in the two scoops of the white powder, you put in two scoops no matter whether you're putting in 10 mL or 25 mL? Is there anyway I'm testing this wrong?

So now I test it tomorrow morning to see what the loss in FC was overnight, right?

 

[duraleigh]

Is your water crystal clear?

What is the result of your CC's test?

 

[pokey]

It's pretty clear. The FC is down to 18 ppm now and the CC is definitely less than .5 according to my test kit.

So now I just wait for the FC to go back down to 2-4ppm and I maintain that level, correct?

It seems like a lot of the algae has become white dust, as was mentioned in the Sparkly Oasis procedure, so if my pool vacuuming robot is not picking that stuff up, which he appears not to be, I may need to get a new Polaris or Kreepy Krawler or some similar thing.

 

[duraleigh]

so if my pool vacuuming robot is not picking that stuff up, which he appears not to be, I may need to get a new Polaris or Kreepy Krawler or some similar thing.

Give him some help. Brush frequently to put the dust in suspension and your filter will get some of it. Manually vacuuming will help, too (altho, that's really the whole point in having a robot, right? ) backwash/clean your filter as necessary.

Sometimes it just takes more time than you would expect. Get your pool cleaned up and he may do a good job the rest of the summer.

 

[JamesW]

So now I just wait for the FC to go back down to 2-4ppm and I maintain that level, correct?

The FC should be kept between 7.5% and 15 % of the CYA level at all times. For a CYA of 55, the FC should be kept between 4 ppm and 8. The FC should never be allowed to go below 7.5% (4 ppm for a CYA of 55 ppm). For salt pools, the FC minimum is 5 % of the CYA.

 

[moljourn]

So now I just wait for the FC to go back down to 2-4ppm and I maintain that level, correct?

I wouldn't come out of shock treatment yet. You lost 7.5ppm FC in about eight hours over night. Since there was no sun to dissipate your FC there is something organic still eating it up. You need to be able to go overnight and see a drop of 1ppm or less in your FC before it is a good idea to let your pool fall out of shock level.