Drain the pool?

[JennKeith7]

Ok, I haven't bought the good test kit yet. The pool store here uses that kit though so it has been tested with one of that type. I've been fighting cloudy water for around a month and nothing seemed to work. I was using the cheap test strips and everything looked fine so took sample to pool store up the road and they tested with the better kit.

Here are the numbers:

TC 10
FC 10
Ph 7.6
TA 180
TH 100
Cyanuric Acid 100

Phosphate: 1000

There recommendations was to drain at least half and refill to deal with the cyanuric acid. Then quit buying hth chlorine to keep it down. Then they wanted me to use 3 oz. SeaKlear Phosphate Remover and run filter for 48 hours, cleaning after 24.

I've been reading pool school on and off for the last few weeks. I want to switch to the BBB method.

What are your recommendations? Does their recommendations sound right?

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

With 100ppm CYA, you should consider a drain and refill, but your cloudy water could be simply due to your filter. How long are running your pump daily?

 

[JennKeith7]

I've been running it 24/7 because of the cloudy water. We started with the 1500 gph that came with the pool, but then when the cloudiness started we bought the 2500 gph pump. I seen lots of posts online about intex pumps that come with the pool being too small. That didn't seem to fix anything though.

 

[JennKeith7]

I have it draining now. It will probably take a couple of days to drain. When we first filled it up the water turned yellow. We are using city water, but guess it is high in phosphates. When I get it filled back up in a few days should I use the SeaKlear Phosphate remover if it turns yellow again and phosphates still test high? Or is there a better way to go about that? I thought you couldn't remove phosphates only "hide" them. This claims it does, but I'm sure it doesn't since it says to add 1 fl oz per 5,000 gal weekly. If there is an easier way, that would be nice since this stuff is $63 a bottle for 32 oz!

 

[Shane1]

I'm no expert but all the reading I've done here says that phosphate removers are for the most part smoke and mirrors and the majority of pools dont need them. It's just a big money maker for the pool stores.
Are you draining all your water? You should only need to drain half.

 

[JennKeith7]

I probably won't drain it all. Although I do have 2 pavers that are a bit off and thought about draining it further to fix those since it'll already be half way there. It is less than the 2" off, but irritates me anyways. Pool calculator says to drain at least 60%. Only thing I'm scared of is draining it half way, filling it back up, and finding out my Cyanuric Acid is still high.

 

[Isaac-1]

Drain half way, then mix pool water 50/50 with tap water and test the CYA level, it should match what you have when you add that 50% tap water to your pool.

Ike

 

[JennKeith7]

Ok Great! Now I just wish it would hurry up and drain faster so we can get this going!

 

[JennKeith7]

Pool is a little over half way drained and there is brown stuff on the bottom! I thought it just needed to be vaccuumed when it was full and cloudy, but not it looks like some kind of algea! Anyone know what it is??

 

[JennKeith7]

Here is a pic. I thought it was dirt because it stormed almost every night this week and we had high winds. Now, I don't think it is. Any idea what to do now?

 

[Bama Rambler]

It certainly could be dirt but it's hard to tell from the pics.

From the looks of the test results I'd guess that the pool store is using a DPD test and not a FAS-DPD test.

Once you get the pool refilled take a sample back to the store and have it tested and post the results from that test.

It would be nice if you could get your own kit, even if it's just the TF-50. Then you'd know what's going on for sure.

 

[JennKeith7]

Yeah, next Tuesday is pay day and I'm going to try and order one then. Before I thought it was just sand, especially with our high winds all week, but with all the cloudy water problems it makes me wonder.

 

[JennKeith7]

Ok, just had the water retested. Will get a good test kit of my own this week. Here are the numbers...

TC 0
FC0
Ph 7.8
TA 90
TH 250
Cyanuric Acid 0

Phosphates 1000 (as high as test would go)

So, what do I adjust first? I want to use bleach for chlorine from now on, but know I need to raise the cyanuric acid. I have stablilizer and I also have a bag of shock if that would be better. And, how long do I wait after each addition to adjust something else?
Thanks!

 

[OdinIII]

Did you drain all the water? Can we trust this test?

 

[JennKeith7]

I drained the majority of the water so that I could reset two pavers that were a bit off. Figured I was already half way there. I'm not sure exactly what kind of test he had, but it was a big one that had all different kinds of the drops to put in the water samples.

I am ordering one of the good tests. Just trying to get by until payday Tuesday to do it. I have several types of strips and the dropper ones for chlorine & Ph, but after coming here, I've learned my tests are junk.

 

[OdinIII]

Keep in mind that I'm not an expert but I would plug those numbers in the pool calculator. I tend to try to only work on a few points at a time. I wouldn't try to add everything at once.

I personally would add slightly less stabilizer than the calculator says to add for 40 ppm then add bleach to bring my chlorine level up to 7 ppm. I'm assuming your water is perfectly clear now? If so then I'd just check the chlorine and PH levels daily until you get your kit. The CYA should bring you PH down a little. Once you get your kit you can try to bring everything else in line.

I'm not sure what if anything should be done about the phosphates.

 

[duraleigh]

OdinIII is a VERY wise poster, despite his relative short time with BBB.

I tend to try to only work on a few points at a time. I wouldn't try to add everything at once.

That is perhaps the single BEST advice on the forum today. Newbies, slow down and take it one step at a time. knowing how to adjust one parameter makes it much easier to adjust the next one and so on and so on. :lol:

 

[JennKeith7]

Thanks! That sounds great!

The water is a bit yellow, but otherwise clear. It's not cloudy, just has a yellow tint. Pretty sure that is the iron in our city water. I was looking at the pool calculator and thinking that's what I should do. It just scares me a bit after my last run in with cyanuric acid.

The brown stuff on the bottom I mentioned earlier is posts..... I think it was dead algae that the filter was not getting out. It didn't feel slimy and kinda looked like sand. When I vaccuumed the filter didn't pick up whatever it was and was shooting it back in. I took the hose off the side of the pool and just let it shoot all the water out that had that in it. Hopefully that takes care of that issue.

 

[OdinIII]

Thanks! That sounds great!

I was looking at the pool calculator and thinking that's what I should do. It just scares me a bit after my last run in with cyanuric acid.

That's why I asked if we could trust the test. It's very important not to add too much CYA. I weigh mine on shipping scales before adding. I would shoot for less than 40 ppm then retest once a week till you get it at 40 ppm.

Make sure you get a kit that includes an FAS-DPD test. Once I had this and could actually know what my chlorine levels was it all started to come together.

 

[JennKeith7]

Yeah, my tests are all a waste of money. The pool store's seemed to be a decent one. Theirs is how I found out that I had a cya problem. I finally went up there with a water sample and said, ok, tell me whats wrong. Mine were reading 30-50 the whole time. I put 30 in the pool calculator instead of 40 that way I can adjust when the kit comes, but it doesn't stay at 0 for now.