Help me please

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C

Concho

LifeTime Supporter
May 23, 2012
72
Hello,

I've been a pool owner for about 2 years and have never had a problem with my water. I am assuming I am having an algae problem, but can't make any headway on fixing it. I have a test kit on order, so I am only testing with sticks currently. I have shocked once with 4 gallons of 10% chlorine along with 4 lbs of dichlor...FC still zero. Shocked again in the evening, no FC. Added a non-chlorine shock....still no FC. Added 4gallons and 4 lbs again...no FC. I have read pool school since doing all of that ( which my pool store owner advised), but I would think I would get some sort of reading on FC.

Test strip #'s:

FC 0
PH 7ish...was higher before adding chemicals
TA 140 ish
CYA 0-20...lowest value on the strip

Any thoughts? I am waiting for my test kit, but until then should I keep dumping in Liquid chlorine?
 
Welcome to TFP!

With CYA very low you will lose chlorine very quickly any time the sun is shining on the pool.

Did you measure CC? One possibility is that you have ammonia in the water, which would use up chlorine almost instantly. If that is happening the CC level would be fairly high.
 
Last night at the pool store they said my TC was about 7. Am I wasting time and money by throwing the chlorine in....just threw more in with the sun not on the pool. Is there a solution to having ammonia in the water? I havn't done enough research on this site yet. Thanks for your help!
 
FC of 0 and TC of 7 means CC is 7, which is very suggestive of ammonia. You can always clean things up with enough chlorine. However, if your ammonia level is quite high it can be a really large amount of chlorine before things are back to normal. You have a fairly large pool, so I would stick it out with chlorine. One option would be to get an ammonia test kit (they sell them for aquariums) and measure your ammonia level. Another option would be to do an extreme chlorine demand test (see here).
 
Just checked again with my test strip and registered> 10 for FC.....Its hard to know what to do without a good test kit....would you suggest waiting til morning and testing again? Thanks.
 
I tested with the strips this morning and FC was in the 3-5 range....I added 2 more gallons of 10% chlorine. It looked like the CYA color on the strip was into the 30-50 range...I'm figuring to stay away from the dichlor at this point? PH seemed a little low...maybe high 6's to 7. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
Got some numbers from the pool store:

FC 7.87
TC 9.14
PH 7.6
TA 140
CYA 120
CH 310

The pool looks clear....my numbers are looking better.....but not sure how to proceed. Mr. pool store guy says to turn on my chlorinator (trichlor) and stop adding any more shock....he said to add some wipeout tomorrow. I know according to poolschool I should keep shocking til I pass the 3 steps. Could this blow up in my face if I stop shocking?
 
The difference between the FC and the TC says you still need to shock. It certainly will blow up in your face if you stop shocking. It is your pool and you're free to handle it anyway you see fit. You should make up your mind whether you're going to follw the pool store advice or ours. Trying to follow both is going to confuse you and waste both our time.

With a 23,000 gallon pool I highly suggest you get yourself a good test kit and start taking control of your pool. You'll be much happier once you do that.
 
I agree with you totally. I ordered a test kit on Monday and it still hasnt arrived...so i'm basing most of my results off strips. The CYA looked a lot lower several days ago....but I added a lot of dichlor. My pool guy says he's not worried with the CYA til it approaches 200....Kinda makes my head spin! I then asked if it's OK for the kids to swim....he said no problem....what's your view on that? I have started draining some water if my CYA is really 120....don't know if the numbers can be trusted.
 

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You should get your own test kit like the TF-100 or taylor k-2006. Pool store test results are usually unreliable and often wrong. Next you need to actually read pool school and then re read it while you are waiting on the appropiate test kit to arrive. Being if you really do have a CYA of 120 you need to drain at least 1/2 of your water. If you keep following the advice of the pool store and buying all the pool stores magic chemicals you will continue to run in circles. If you turn on that chloronator it will continue to add more CYA. Look here At this link pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock there is not a shock value for a CYA of 120 listed. Shocking is not a one time addition of some bag of chemical, it is a process. You add chlorine( we suggest liquid chlorine or bleach) to bring your FC to shock level wait a little while maybe an hour and test again then add more Chlorine to bring your fc back to shock level. But first you will have to reduce the CyA levels in your water.
 
I hear what your saying....and am praying my test kit arrives soon....in the meantime should I trust the numbers and start draining water? The pool looks better clarity wise than it ever has....how many gallons of chlorine should I add? Its hard to do this without knowing if my CYA level is accurate...and I have everyone around me saying..."you better listen to your pool guy" but my gut and brains tell me not to!
 
Step back and take a breath.

The first thing you have to decide is whether to do it the pool store's way or do it our way. You cannot do both. Either you understand your water and put in what you know will work, or you blindly put in what the pool store tells you.

Since you have a kit on order, it sounds like you want to do it our way. Here's your assignment:

1. Go to Pool School. Eventually you need to read all of it, but start with an emphasis on ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry, Recommended Pool Chemicals, and How to Shock Your Pool. Shocking your pool will solve your problem if you do it correctly.

2. Read a few of these threads. It will give you an idea of the process ahead, but it will also show you the success that comes at the end.

turning-your-green-swamp-back-into-a-sparkling-oasis-t4147.html
major-pool-chemistry-problem-t44008.html
opened-pool-after-3-years-of-being-closed-t20330-20.html
need-help-cannot-clear-cloudy-green-water-t11447-60.html
And my personal favorite, more-proof-that-bbb-works-t45138.html

3. Go back and read pool school again

4. At this point you will have a foundation to begin to ask questions, so ask away. It will feel very overwhelming, but don't give up, and we will help you.

BBB is not a magic bullet, and it will take a little bit of work to get your pool under control, but once you do, you will sail through the summer with sparkly water.
 
GOT MY KIT....Yay!

FC 4
CC .5
PH 7.5
CYA 100

I have been draining some water to try to get the CYA down....I will do OCLT tonite. If I have added a fair amount of non-chlorine shock, could that give me the CC reading I am getting? I know if I continue shocking I need to add another 10 gallons of chlorine and keep the process going til I pass my 3 steps. What do you think?
 
So far so good. You are correct about CYA being too high. I had the same problem, got it down to about 70. Shocking is difficult, but doable.

Can you run a complete test before you start the shock process? Just to make sure your TA and CH aren't some crazy number.

I'm getting ~8 gallons of 6.0% bleach to get you to a shock level of 25. Remember, shocking the pool doesn't mean putting chlorine in once and walking away, it means reaching 25ppm and HOLDING it there until you pass all three criteria.

I have no experience with non-chlorine shock, so I'll defer to others.
 
Another question for you....my kids want to swim all day....and I know my FC is low...but I would rather wait until this evening when they're out of the pool to start dumping chlorine in...should I be OK....or should I dump some in now and raise my levels a little bit. I am still draining and refilling as we speak to lower my CYA. Thanks.
 

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