Hey everyone,
I am having some recent trouble with my pool and want to verify I have the right approach to resolving any issues.
I am in North Florida and have a 36,000 gallon SWG pool. About ten days ago I happened to be home when the "pool guy" was there. I asked him what his recent chlorine readings have been and he admitted to me he had not been testing (he thought he could rely upon the green lights on the salt cell). He took a reading that day and came back with zero FC. I had the salt cell set at a relatively low setting and it clearly was not keeping up. I immediately dropped a floater in with some trichlor tabs. He must have come back the very next day and poured some chlorine in because the next afternoon I did a test and got a FC reading of 10+.
Well, this past weekend I noticed some little black dots on the bottom of the pool in some areas that have some pitting (I need to refinish the pool). I swam down and discovered they were small "piles" of dark green algae. I took a brush to all of the spots I could see and they came up relatively well, usually just leaving a faint green residue. Also, the pool is showing slight cloudiness.
The pool guy was back yesterday and I asked him to again tell me his numbers and he told me get got a FC of 10, PH of 7.4 and a CYA of 0. His CYA number seems off to me since the pool has managed to hold that 10ppm FC reading for about a week.
I jumped back on this site yesterday and realize that I need to shock my pool to kill off any organic material in the pool. In preperation for doing so, I pulled out my trouble free test kit and ran my own test. My numbers are as follows:
FC - 10.5
CC - 0
PH - 7.5
CYA - 40
TA - 140
CH - I had trouble getting any reading on this.
In an attempt to verify my number I went to the local pool store and here are their numbers:
FC - 5
CC - no result provided
PH - 7.8
CYA - 50
TA - 185
CH - 240
They verbally told me that my phosphate readings were "very high" and then asked what kind of filter I had. I responded that I had a cartridge filter and he made a face like I was in trouble. I then told him that I was under the impression that the first thing I needed to worry about was shocking the pool to kill off any organics and then would worry about everything else (I should add that I have had this pool for ten years and never (a) had algae issues or (b) had phosphate issues.) His response befuddled me. He told me I did not need to worry about shocking the pool, that I had enough FC and all I needed to do was to get the phosphate issues under control. They advocated 18 ounces of something called "pool perfect + Phophate remover".
Even thought I only found a little bit of algae, this seems like a big warning that I should jump on. I think shocking is still justified and wont hurt anything.
My plan is to run a second test today to confirm my numbers. If I confirm them I intend to go forward with shocking the pool at shock levels indicated using the pool calculator (at current CYA readings I will be around 15 PPM). Once I complete the shock process I will raise my CYA and account for any calcium harness issues I have. A couple of questions:
1 Any issues with my approach?
2. Do I need to turn off my SWG while shocking the pool?
3. Once done, do I need to worry about phosphate levels?
4. Anyting else I am missing?
Thanks for everyones help.
I am having some recent trouble with my pool and want to verify I have the right approach to resolving any issues.
I am in North Florida and have a 36,000 gallon SWG pool. About ten days ago I happened to be home when the "pool guy" was there. I asked him what his recent chlorine readings have been and he admitted to me he had not been testing (he thought he could rely upon the green lights on the salt cell). He took a reading that day and came back with zero FC. I had the salt cell set at a relatively low setting and it clearly was not keeping up. I immediately dropped a floater in with some trichlor tabs. He must have come back the very next day and poured some chlorine in because the next afternoon I did a test and got a FC reading of 10+.
Well, this past weekend I noticed some little black dots on the bottom of the pool in some areas that have some pitting (I need to refinish the pool). I swam down and discovered they were small "piles" of dark green algae. I took a brush to all of the spots I could see and they came up relatively well, usually just leaving a faint green residue. Also, the pool is showing slight cloudiness.
The pool guy was back yesterday and I asked him to again tell me his numbers and he told me get got a FC of 10, PH of 7.4 and a CYA of 0. His CYA number seems off to me since the pool has managed to hold that 10ppm FC reading for about a week.
I jumped back on this site yesterday and realize that I need to shock my pool to kill off any organic material in the pool. In preperation for doing so, I pulled out my trouble free test kit and ran my own test. My numbers are as follows:
FC - 10.5
CC - 0
PH - 7.5
CYA - 40
TA - 140
CH - I had trouble getting any reading on this.
In an attempt to verify my number I went to the local pool store and here are their numbers:
FC - 5
CC - no result provided
PH - 7.8
CYA - 50
TA - 185
CH - 240
They verbally told me that my phosphate readings were "very high" and then asked what kind of filter I had. I responded that I had a cartridge filter and he made a face like I was in trouble. I then told him that I was under the impression that the first thing I needed to worry about was shocking the pool to kill off any organics and then would worry about everything else (I should add that I have had this pool for ten years and never (a) had algae issues or (b) had phosphate issues.) His response befuddled me. He told me I did not need to worry about shocking the pool, that I had enough FC and all I needed to do was to get the phosphate issues under control. They advocated 18 ounces of something called "pool perfect + Phophate remover".
Even thought I only found a little bit of algae, this seems like a big warning that I should jump on. I think shocking is still justified and wont hurt anything.
My plan is to run a second test today to confirm my numbers. If I confirm them I intend to go forward with shocking the pool at shock levels indicated using the pool calculator (at current CYA readings I will be around 15 PPM). Once I complete the shock process I will raise my CYA and account for any calcium harness issues I have. A couple of questions:
1 Any issues with my approach?
2. Do I need to turn off my SWG while shocking the pool?
3. Once done, do I need to worry about phosphate levels?
4. Anyting else I am missing?
Thanks for everyones help.