Long story long

Jump to latest Follow Reply
G

GerryMc

0
Aug 29, 2011
7
Hello,
I'm Gerry from Sacramento county in California. Last year we moved into this foreclosure house with a approx 45k gallon pool. It was in I'd say bad, not horrible shape? Huge brownish stain in the deep end around the drains, brown spots (won't brush away) here and there in the pool and some surface discoloration here and there. There is also lots of calcium buildup on the tiles. We had a lot to do when we moved in so we hired a pool guy for a few months, then once things started to settle down a bit we started trying to maintain it ourselves. His last day was on a Wednesday and on that following Saturday we noticed little black spots on the walls. So I tested and found the FC at Zero. After much reading found out it is black algae and have been battling it ever since. We also had our pump die so we replaced it with a ecopump ep8 .25/2hp pump. Have also replaced the missing doors on the skimmers and that really seemed to make a big difference on the water surface being much cleaner (maybe placebo effect?). I think we've probably tried everything except obviously the right thing to get rid of the algae. So now I'm done winging it so here I am. I've read much of pool school but need more to better understand everything. But did get out of it the need of a good test kit. I went to Leslies and bought their Complete PoolCare DPD Test kit. And AFTER figuring out the chlorine test realized I got the wrong one... Oh well still very much learning the hard/expensive way.

I've been testing for the last 3 days and will post all results including Leslies results. They gave me... wait I bought 1qt Leslies black algae killer and put that in the pool. Then I also bought a $46 bottle of phos free, but didn't put that in and will be returning it after reading on here that phosphates are irrelevant if everything else is in balance. I was concerned about phosphates because our sprinklers spray into the pool and we live by a field with those cotton type trees and all kinds of nature flys into the pool.

Test results:
5/27 4:15pm at Leslies
FC - 3,
TC - 3,
CC would be 0 correct?,
pH - 8,
TA - 90,
CH - 60 (I think I added some muriatic acid but can't remember, this is when I added the 1qt of black algae killer)
5/29 11:30am at home with new test kit:
FC - .5,
TC - 1,
CC 0 .5,
pH - 7.6,
TA - 110,
CH - didn't know what i was doing yet, didn't get a good result),
CYA - 80.
(added 96oz of muriatic acid)

5/29 6pm:
FC - 1
TC - not tested
CC - not tested
pH - 7.2
TA - not tested
CH - not tested
Added 256oz 12.5% chlorine

5/30 7:30am
FC - 10
TC - 10
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
TA - 120
CH - 190
CYA - 80
Added nothing

5/31 10am
FC - 6
TC - 6
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
TA - 110
CH - 180
CYA - 90
Added nothing

Not sure if TA, CH and CYA should be fluctuating that much?
I read the defeating algae page and if I'm reading correctly, we're suppose to keep the FC at shock level until the algae is gone? That would mean swimming is no good during this time? The water is very clear and there is no algae other than the black algae. Very small spots doesn't seems to be too much on the bottom of the pool, just the walls and steps.

Just a bit overwhelmed by the maintenance of this size of a pool I think.

Thanks for any advice!
 
The DPD chlorine test will only read FC/TC levels up to 5 (or 10), which isn't going to work very well in this situation. You really ought to get a FAS-DPD chlorine test, which will measure FC & CC up to 50.

Trying to maintain a pool with that level of CYA is very difficult. I recommend replacing water to get the CYA level down to something more reasonable. With CYA around 80-90 you should be keeping FC at 7 to 12 just for ordinary day to day usage. Your FC levels have been way too low for routine maintenance on several occasions, and no where near high enough to shock at any point.

Having test results vary by 10 up or down doesn't mean anything.

Black algae, if that is what you actually have, is very difficult to kill. Sometimes you can get rid of it by brushing several times a day with a wire brush while at shock level, others have better results rubbing it with a trichlor tablet.
 
Sounds like you are getting the hang of everything.

First, the weir doors on the skimmer make a HUGE difference as then the dirt can not float back out.
Second, while shocking, there is no reason to be testing TA or CH or CYA (CH is a little low, can be adjusted later) But, ...
CYA of 80-90ppm is pretty high for a non-saltwater pool.

The recommendation is to drain and replace 50% of the water to get closer to the 30-50ppm recommended range. Unfortunately, you have a large pool so that is a lot of water. However, it is possible for you to maintain the pool with the high CYA, but not if it gets much higher.

Review the Chlorine CYA Chart. For a CYA of 90ppm (to be on the safe side), your shock level is a FC of 35ppm. You must keep the FC ABOVE 35ppm while shocking. Can you measure that high? Have you ordered the FAS-DPD test to add to your kit?

Really it is decision time:
1. Stop adding chemicals and replace 50% of the water to make maintaining the pool easier
2. Accept the high CYA level and have to maintain very high levels of FC for shocking

Either way, you need the FAS-DPD chlorine test (check tftestkits.net or amazon)
 
Sorry for the delay replying back and thanks for you input. I've been slowly swapping out the water since I didn't want to dump 20k gallons. I have a hose, one end right in front of a return pumping water out as I run the pump and my pool automatically refills once the water gets down to a certain level (I don't know what that is called). Have been doing this since Saturday it's now Thursday. Last time I checked the CYA was Monday 7/4 and it was down to 75 from 90. I'll probably check it again tomorrow, although I feel like a little kid at xmas wanting to know what it is now. The FC & CC level has pretty much remained at 3. I think I'm on the right track, once I get everything in balance I'll try to conquer the black algae issue.

A little frustrated with pool stores either being not very well informed and/or dishonest. About a month ago I took in a water sample to be tested and was told CYA was a little low so they had me add some, now I'm replacing pool water to lower it. I'm glad I am finally doing the right thing by educating myself through this site. Oh yeah, in my last post I mentioned I bought phos free from leslies and I was going to take it back since starting my pool education here, well they won't refund it since it's a chemical... oh well I guess? Will it do any harm to use it since I can't take it back? Phosphates are at 500.

Regarding the FAS-DPD test... should be okay to buy just the test (Part Num: TTK1515A) instead of a whole kit since I just purchased the $60 Complete PoolCare DPD Test kit from leslies?

Thanks!
 
TTK1515A is the smallest size FAS-DPD kit Taylor makes (that is the A bit at the end, I think their next larger size is the C kit) I would suggest getting this one from TFTestkits http://tftestkits.net/FAS-DPD-Chlorine- ... t-p47.html which is the same reagents, but with a much larger bottle of 0871 and a larger tub of 0870 powder than the kit you listed. (basically you get more of the reagents you use the most with the TFTestkit )
 
Tested CYA this morning, it is down to 60. I'm thinking 1 more week of this water replacement should have us down around 40 and I'll call it good.

Thanks for the info on the test kit!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply