So Close, Any Suggestions

[IkeRay]

First and Foremost, test results:

FC 10ish shocked up to 12 4 hours ago.
CC 0-0.5
others prior to shocking:
pH 7.5
TA 130
CH 230
CYA 30-35 just added the stabilizer so its still working its way into the system. added enough from 25 to make it 35ish.

i think thats all the pertinent stuff. now to the problem:

the water is cloudy and still kinda grey:

dont let the pictures deceive you, its pretty cloudy since from the diving board pics you cant see the main drain.

 

[Guest]

Keep shocking and brushing. It is possible that the stains on the stairs are not algae but it's impossible to tell from the pictures. You want to mantain your FC level at about 15-20 ppm (based on your CYA) WITHOUT IT DROPPING DOWN until the FC reading is holding overnight (last chlorine addition at sundown and test it in the morning). When the FC is holding and there is NO CC you have killed any algae. The water might be cloudy from dead algae and it sometimes can take a week to filter it all out.

 

[JasonLion]

It's time for a bottle of POP, pool owner patience. If you just killed some algae then the dead algae will turn the water a white or gray cloudy color and it will take the filter a couple of days to completely clean it up. Keep an eye on the filter pressure, particularly with a DE filter, and backwash the filter as needed.

 

[duraleigh]

Hey, Ike,

Very revealing pictures. I'd bet lot's of money that's dead algae in you pool....very little doubt. You have done your job with the chlorine but, Like Waterbear has said, keep it up at shock level while your filter is doing it's work. A little more FC, keep running the pump and backwashing, and a lot more POP and you're about done, my friend. Nice work.....be careful not to backslide now that your in the home stretch..

My pool is in it's 4th day of holding shock level (long story) and I haven't seen the blue color yet....just grayish green. I have the "luxury" of having gone thru this process twice before so I'm much more comfortable with it than the first time.

The morning when you come out to look at the pool and you can see the slots in the screws in the main drain will make it all worth it. :lol: :lol:

 

[IkeRay]

pictures in chronological order. not the exact day that it was blued up, but took about a week only because i had to manually vacuum all the leaves and debris off the bottom. it took 6-8 hours of pure vacuuming to get it all off, and thus lots of water loss and drops in both CYA and CH. this is all from bleach (6%), lots of manual vacuuming, and finally lots and lots of POP.

so first

then had

then

finally

 

[IkeRay]

well i now have a cleanish/clearish pool. here are my results:

FC 12 (held overnight)
CC 0
pH 7.6
CYA 30
TA 130 (i know, a touch high)
CH 220 (and a bit low)

temp 76*

apparently since algae and leaves/DE were camped out on the sides and bottom of the pool for suck a long time, there appears to be some staining on the gunite, so im going to go at it with a pumice stone since my brush just isnt doing it.

also, i shocked last night because when i turned on the pool light there was a bunch of particles in the water. the DE filter is slowly working it out im sure, but do i need to keep the pump running 24/7 until all the particles are out of the water? or can i cut back to "normal" run time (thinking 6 hours (11am-5pm) at first).

 

[duraleigh]

The stains may very well disappear or at least minimize just by keeping chlorine in the pool. Of course, it's fairly logical to assume higher chlorine will help them disappear faster. You might want to just brush them daily with a stiff bristle brush (simply to scratch the surface a little and expose them to more chlorine)for a week or so before you try the pumice stone.

Regardless of the filter type or any other factor, you will always have those little nightime floaties drifting past the light. You can minimize them by constant filtering but you can never get them completely out. Running the pump 24/7 will assist but you'll soon reach a point of diminishing returns.

 

[rimshaker]

The morning when you come out to look at the pool and you can see the slots in the screws in the main drain will make it all worth it. :lol: :lol:

hahah, let out a loud chuckle on that one.... so very true!! Very rewarding feeling. First time that happened to me I was so amazed it could get so clear so deep that I was counting individual pebbles in the deep end for like 5 minutes.... just for the fun of it.

 

[IkeRay]

heres the final update:

tests:
FC 3.5ppm (drops to 1.5-2 every day)
CC 0ppm i have swam every day this week
CYA 30
pH 7.5
TA 130
CH 230

like I said, still some staining, but it has slowly disappeared since the pool has been cleaned. I'm considering getting a jack's magic test kit to see if its some kind of metal stain.

I do have some chip out on the top step, do I need to drain the pool down to repair it or will it be fine to leave it?

EDIT: went ahead and resized all the pics so its more bandwidth friendly, also, editted first post with pics in time order, almost bleach and POP.

 

[Butterfly]

Congratulations!

Happy swimming

 

[JasonLion]

Looking good!

The stains are probably organic stains, which the chlorine will take care of eventually.