Pool's a mess....help!

[KristiS]

I'm posting on behalf of a friend.....I switched to the BBB method a few years ago and have had such success with it that I would like to help him out. I don't really understand the basic chemistry of why it all works....i just know that if I test daily and use the pool calculator my pool looks great. :lol: So since i can't explain it all to him I'm looking for help from you. He has a 25,000 gallon round vinyl above ground pool. He came home from vacation and had some algae issues. He added some algacide and a few boxes of Borax and baking soda. Now his pool is a cloudy mess. Here are his numbers:

FC: 0.5
CC: Couldn't test; out of 0003 reagent
PH: less than 7; almost a yellow color
TA: 100
CYA: TOO HIGH! About 3/4 below the 100 mark...what would that be?

As you can see he's a mess. I know that much but don't know where to tell him to start. He's ordered his own test kit to arrive on Thurs so once we get him where he needs to be he'll be able to maintain. Please help!

Thank you so much!

 

[jblizzle]

Obviously a large water replacement is in order to get the CYA under control.

Try redoing the CYA test using 50/50 pool and tap water to start and then double the results ... that will give a little better idea how high it really is.

Let me take a guess here ... while on vacation he put a LOT of tablets or dichlor in the pool? That could explain the VERY low pH. This should be brought up quickly, but if you start replacing water, it may be able to wait until the refill which may help.

 

[KristiS]

Thanks.....I will redo the CYA test tomorrow but in the meantime any suggestions about how much water he should replace?

 

[jblizzle]

Depends on how high the CYA is

Minimum is 50% and likely more than that. IF the CYA is 200, then need to replace at least 75%

But, it is bad for the liner to drain too much at a time. Leave at least a foot of water everywhere ... this may require multiple dump and fills.

 

[Bama Rambler]

We won't know until after the diluted test. Probably about 75%.

 

[BoDarville]

Bama and jblizzle beat me to it...Got to type faster

I would first suggest re-testing the CYA as jblizzle suggested to get your true number. Once you have that, go to the Pool Calculator link in my sig. Go to the CYA section and enter the number from your test result and the desired (target) number you would like for your CYA to be at. The calculator will tell you how much water needs to be replaced.

BTW, target CYA for a manually chlorinated pool is between 30 - 50 ; For SWG pools, 60-80.

 

[KristiS]

Ok....thanks guys! This place is awesome

I will probably be back for more guidance over the next few days.

Happy 4th!

 

[KristiS]

You guys will love this. He got his water tested at the pool store and hIs numbers went something like this:

FC: 0
CC: 0
PH: TA: I forgot but high
CYA: 300 (!!!)
Tons of algacide.

You know what they told him he needed? Stabilizer.

Unbelievable.

Thankfully.....he's smart enough to know better.

He dumped about 2/3 of his water and is refilling now. Still waiting on his test kit but I'll test when it's full and post a new set of numbers. Do you think he dumped enough to get his CYA down to the recommended level?

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

I think some info got crossed ... I bet the 300 was really a CH number. The CYA tests do not go above 100ppm.

You never reported back what your CYA test showed with the 50/50 pool/tap water sample ... so we have no idea if he dumped enough.

 

[KristiS]

Does it make a difference if they have one of those fancy computer testing machines that they use to test the water? Could they have guesstimated that number?

I never retested. He wasn't in a hurry and was waiting on his test kit. Just happened to run into him today and he shared that story.

 

[jblizzle]

The fancy testing machines often just read the color off of a test strip ... So you start with a crappy test strip and then let a computer guesses at the color and spits out a number to 2 decimal places.

Trust your own test kit.

 

[KristiS]

I do trust my own test kit.....I've been using this method for years and have had great success.

He didn't ask me to retest and was anxious to dump and start over. I'll retest when it's full....

I just found it ironic they wanted to sell him stabilizer.

 

[techguy]

Did I read that correctly... they tested CYA at 300 and wanted to sell more?

Also, if he is doing a dump and fill, I don't think I would talk him out of it unless they liner is at risk of being damaged. I know I dumped mine at least twice during it's lifetime... without damage... before becoming a dedicated BBB convert and dumped my pucks.

 

[KristiS]

Alright, so I did the half tap water half pool water thing for the CYA. It still did not reach the 100 line reading. It was about a 1/4 inch below it. So if we double that, what would it be? Well over what it should be!!

This was after dumping 2/3 of his water and refilling. I'm thinking he has to dump again....but he is hoping the CYA level goes down over time. I showed him how much FC is required for a pool at 100 CYA, so he can imagine how much it would take to keep his balanced. I'm not sure what he will do. I tested for him today and plugged it all into the pool calculator so he knows how to do that. He has a brand new test kit and I have directed him here to read pool school, as well as encouraged him to post himself so he can get on the right track.

Thanks everyone for all your help.

 

[jblizzle]

If it was still over 100 using 50% tap water ... then his CYA is still over 200ppm.

If he really replaced 2/3 of his water, combined with the current reading, he had to have been over 600ppm to start with ... which seems kind of unbelievable.

I think we need to step back and determine if it was really possible for his level to get that high; if he really replaced 2/3 of the water; and how confident you are with your CYA testing.

Do you have any history of what chemicals have been used in the the pool?

 

[Richard320]

It's all speculation until the pool is filled, the water is mixed, and an accurate set of tests are performed.

Things can get done logically, based on facts, or by riding the pool store merry-go-round.
If he wants to be swimming before Summer's over, I'd look for facts.

 

[KristiS]

The water was replaced a few days ago and I did another set of tests about an hour ago, including the CYA with the 50/50 water mixture. I don't know all his history...I know he was using pucks and shock packets. He said he spent over $1000 in pool chemicals and was frustrated with the results so that's when I told him about the BBB method and how it has worked wonderfully for me.

It's one of those things that people have to do on their own, see the results, experience how simple it can be, and live happily ever after. :lol:

I've pointed him in the right direction, it's up to him whether he decides to follow it or not ya know?

 

[jblizzle]

Just got curious and ran some numbers:
To raise CYA by 600ppm, you would need to add 225 lbs of trichlor pucks/granules or 250 lbs of dichlor granules.

How old is the pool? How long has he been struggling? That is a lot of solid chlorine.

Assuming your CYA test was right (no reason to think it is not), I would say he needs another 75% water replacement and to stop using anything but liquid chlorine.

There is a chance that he was throw in dichlor packets while replacing the last set of water.

I agree with you that it is often not possible "force" the BBB method on someone. They need to become desperate enough to find the solution for themselves.