Ok. I didnt listen and took the easy way out and paid dearly. I have spent $200 plus dollars in June and still have maybe 12" visability in my pool. I have been using the pucks putting them in the skimmer and floater. That being said, with the help of my wife, I am color blind, here are the stats I have. FC-3, CC-4, PH 7.6, TA 140 CHT 70 and CYA is 90. I want to switch to Bleach and Borax ASAP. Please help. I just backflushed my filter and have the cleaner running. I know...you told me so.
Water still cloudy $200 later.
- Thread starter phatocaster
- Start date
Welcome back 
What test kit did you use for those results?
2 things are obvious right off ... your CC > 0.5ppm and your FC is too low for your CYA.
CYA is double the recommended level ... so step 1 = 50% water change.
After that, start the shock process using bleach as described in Pool School.
You will not be able to accurately do the shock process without the FAS-DPD chlorine test.
What he said, the key to a trouble free pool, is knowledge (Pool School), and a good test kit (I use the TFTestkits TF-100) this gives you the information you need to know what is going on. We know the color matching test strips look easy, but they have proven time and again to be wildly inaccurate in the real world, even in an ideal world they lack the resolution needed in many key areas. The final area is applying this knowledge and information when it comes time to dose your pool with various chemicals, pool calculator is a tool that takes the effort out of all the math and unit conversions.
Ike
Ike
I have the Leslies Complete FAS-DPD Chlorine kit. One thing to mention also, I got maybe 1 inch of rain yesterday during a thunder storm and the temp had been 100-105 degrees every day for the last week. At the moment I have the return pointed upward shooting water in the air to try and aeriate and cool the water off. Thanks
Also...I did shock it with 2 packs of shock after the storm. Sorry to keep posting but I want you to get all of the info.
What they are saying....you need to get the CYA down to the 45-50 range and stay away from the pucks and packages of "so called" shock. While your pool is draining a refilling, read pool school. Following the advice you will get here, your pool should be much much better in a few days.
I started draining the pool last night. It is close to being half way. When I fill the pool back up I assume I will test the CYA at that time, because I will have no chlorine in the pool, and depending on what my CYA is, I will use the Chlorine/ CYA Chart to determine how much chlorine I use to shock the pool. Say if I my CYA is 50 then I will enter 20 in the calculator to determine how much chlorine I will need to shock the pool. Is that correct? And when everything balances like it should I will at that point start adding the borax and muriatic acid. Correct? :?:
If your CYA test comes back at 50, put 50 in both the "now" and "target" fields of the calculator. This will change your "FC goal" to the appropriate range.phatocaster said:
Not exactly. Take it one step at a time...
1. Retest CYA once your refill is complete. Drain refill again if necessary to get CYA close to 50ppm.
2. Then, recheck your pH and get it around 7.4 or so.
3. Start the Shock Process. Do it EXACTLY as the article in Pool School guides you.
1. Retest CYA once your refill is complete. Drain refill again if necessary to get CYA close to 50ppm.
2. Then, recheck your pH and get it around 7.4 or so.
3. Start the Shock Process. Do it EXACTLY as the article in Pool School guides you.
So I would put 50 in both of the CYA fields and then put 0 in Now and 20 in the Target fields of the FC section?
duraleigh said:
Since my CYA is so high I believe I will let it drain 3/4. Having to fill and drain again will be expensive. Proud of the water around here if you know what I mean.
Drained and filled pool. CYA is now 40. The pool filled more than the 4 foot mark so I poured in 3 182oz jugs of 6% Bleach. I will test the CC in about 2 hrs to see what it looks like. When should I start testing for all of the other levels? PH is 7.4. I didn't add or do anything to get the PH at 7.4. Is that normal?
phatocaster said:
Test the pH of your fill water. It's probably around 7.4 or 7.5, in which case, yes, it's normal.
Frustrated....
Merged topics to maintain history. Butterfly
I'm still fighting this pool. I have went through 20 182oz containers of 6% Bleach this week. Finally the overnight Shock test worked.
Its like Im fighting a losing battle. I test everything and put all of the figures in on the Calculator. I have drained 75% of the water and refilled. Done what has been recommended here and the water is still cloudy. I can see down as far as the next to bottom step. As far as all my readings go everything look fine. I have not put any stabilizer or clarifier in the pool since I drained it. Should I use clarifier to clear it up?
Merged topics to maintain history. Butterfly
I'm still fighting this pool. I have went through 20 182oz containers of 6% Bleach this week. Finally the overnight Shock test worked.
Its like Im fighting a losing battle. I test everything and put all of the figures in on the Calculator. I have drained 75% of the water and refilled. Done what has been recommended here and the water is still cloudy. I can see down as far as the next to bottom step. As far as all my readings go everything look fine. I have not put any stabilizer or clarifier in the pool since I drained it. Should I use clarifier to clear it up?
Re: Frustrated....
Please post a full set of test numbers. FC, CC, ph, TA, CH, CYA...it would be best if these are your test numbers from a drop based tester, but post what you have.
I noticed your pump and sand filter combo. That pump appears to be quite over sized for that filter...it is possible that the high flow rate is channeling the sand. If you post the model of the filter and the model of the pump (not just the motor ) we can look at it.
Please post a full set of test numbers. FC, CC, ph, TA, CH, CYA...it would be best if these are your test numbers from a drop based tester, but post what you have.
I noticed your pump and sand filter combo. That pump appears to be quite over sized for that filter...it is possible that the high flow rate is channeling the sand. If you post the model of the filter and the model of the pump (not just the motor ) we can look at it.
I would try Adding DE to a Sand Filter and if that doesn't work (and assuming you've been shocking, brushing and filtering) and you see no improvement, then you can use a clarifier.
It sounds to me like the CL has killed off the algae and organincs. Now the Filter must filter out the debris. Keep your FC at shock until you pass your OCLT test.
Sand filters can often take a week or so to get the debris (cloudiness producing junk) out of the water. as suggested above, DE can speed the process but it can require more hands-on maintenance of the filter, it's pressures and backwashing. Add more DE if you backwash.
Sand filters can often take a week or so to get the debris (cloudiness producing junk) out of the water. as suggested above, DE can speed the process but it can require more hands-on maintenance of the filter, it's pressures and backwashing. Add more DE if you backwash.