Greetings all,
I have been reading this site for a couple of weeks, got the big test kit. Before I begin in, I have owned this pool for 3 years, it is an above ground round 20 ft diameter 4 foot deep pool. I have adapted a real pump and large filter box into the garbage that came with the pool, but am still using the skimmer box and smaller filter box, and pumping that through the new pump, although, I also created a new intake that goes directly to the new pump. There is only one outlet into the pool. I was my filters regularly, daily for the last few weeks, and I vacuum once a week. I had been using :rolleyes the hockey pucks for chlorination.
This year, when I tried to open the pool it was in bad shape, algae, leaves, looked like something swamp people would have been proud to hunt gators in. I got the leaves out, killed the algae, vacuumed a gazillion times to waste, filters running 24/7 for a couple of weeks. Water is clean but cloudy. When I pressure wash my filters the water coming off the filters looks like milk...white milk.
I bought a cheap test kit from Home Depot.....prior to reading this website. That kit, although cheap told me that my TA was high. I did the see saw action all last month with baking soda and acid prior to reading this site and finding how fruitless of an endeavor that was...and expensive. I have since assumed the muriatic acid/aeration technique and have managed to get my TA down to around 145. Old test says 150, my new kit says 140. Originally I was in the 250 range, so I'm feeling good about the 140. The unknown was my CYA, which I didn't get that kit until today...it arrived in the mail. Here are my numbers from today, using my new kit and the pool calculator, and I have some questions.
TC=3 (probably due to high CYA)
pH=7.6
FC=1.5
CC=1.5
TA=145
CH=???? The test vial stayed purplish blue. Never turned red at all. The purple drops were difficult to get to dissolve, they stayed intact until I manipulated them to dissolve in the vial. I don't know what this means.
CYA=70
I'm sure I'm cloudy because of a combination of the elevated TA, and high CYA inhibiting FC....there might be some biological stuff going on that chlorine isn't waxing. I'm successfully reducing the TA with Acid/Aeration method. I'm about to dump 43% of my water and re-fill to reduce CYA down to acceptable levels, and I'm through with the pucks...switching to bleach.
Am I on the right track? You think the water will clear once I get the TA, CYA, and FC on the ball?
Never had any problems with the pool until late last summer, when I had a huge algae bloom, and I couldn't get FC levels in the pool at all, kept adding more pucks to the skimmer. Which was making things worse by adding to the CYA issue....when I closed the pool....if you can call it closing, it was in bad shape. When I tried to open it.....not much better. I think I am following all your directions correctly, I just want to make sure here. Also, the CH test, any ideas on that, why that is happening?
Thanks a gazillion already,
Tom T in North Carolina
I have been reading this site for a couple of weeks, got the big test kit. Before I begin in, I have owned this pool for 3 years, it is an above ground round 20 ft diameter 4 foot deep pool. I have adapted a real pump and large filter box into the garbage that came with the pool, but am still using the skimmer box and smaller filter box, and pumping that through the new pump, although, I also created a new intake that goes directly to the new pump. There is only one outlet into the pool. I was my filters regularly, daily for the last few weeks, and I vacuum once a week. I had been using :rolleyes the hockey pucks for chlorination.
This year, when I tried to open the pool it was in bad shape, algae, leaves, looked like something swamp people would have been proud to hunt gators in. I got the leaves out, killed the algae, vacuumed a gazillion times to waste, filters running 24/7 for a couple of weeks. Water is clean but cloudy. When I pressure wash my filters the water coming off the filters looks like milk...white milk.
I bought a cheap test kit from Home Depot.....prior to reading this website. That kit, although cheap told me that my TA was high. I did the see saw action all last month with baking soda and acid prior to reading this site and finding how fruitless of an endeavor that was...and expensive. I have since assumed the muriatic acid/aeration technique and have managed to get my TA down to around 145. Old test says 150, my new kit says 140. Originally I was in the 250 range, so I'm feeling good about the 140. The unknown was my CYA, which I didn't get that kit until today...it arrived in the mail. Here are my numbers from today, using my new kit and the pool calculator, and I have some questions.
TC=3 (probably due to high CYA)
pH=7.6
FC=1.5
CC=1.5
TA=145
CH=???? The test vial stayed purplish blue. Never turned red at all. The purple drops were difficult to get to dissolve, they stayed intact until I manipulated them to dissolve in the vial. I don't know what this means.
CYA=70
I'm sure I'm cloudy because of a combination of the elevated TA, and high CYA inhibiting FC....there might be some biological stuff going on that chlorine isn't waxing. I'm successfully reducing the TA with Acid/Aeration method. I'm about to dump 43% of my water and re-fill to reduce CYA down to acceptable levels, and I'm through with the pucks...switching to bleach.
Am I on the right track? You think the water will clear once I get the TA, CYA, and FC on the ball?
Never had any problems with the pool until late last summer, when I had a huge algae bloom, and I couldn't get FC levels in the pool at all, kept adding more pucks to the skimmer. Which was making things worse by adding to the CYA issue....when I closed the pool....if you can call it closing, it was in bad shape. When I tried to open it.....not much better. I think I am following all your directions correctly, I just want to make sure here. Also, the CH test, any ideas on that, why that is happening?
Thanks a gazillion already,
Tom T in North Carolina