Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I drain?

[Txmat]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Your low PH and low TA will help offset your high calcium. Test your fill water for calcium level, if it is significantly lower than the pool you may want to consider replacing water. Of course you will also loose CYA and chlorine so you will have to replace those if you do replace water. I am not sure at what level of CH it will significantly cloud the water, perhaps one of the other folks on the board will chime in on that. CH of 650 is definitely high and although with a vinyl pool we do not have to worry as much about the calcium level it can still cause scale to form. Unless someone more knowledgeable about calcium jumps in, I would just keep doing what you are and see where it is toward the end of the week.

 

[Swampwoman]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Mine's an inground, but in terms of color change after "12 days of shock and awe" (it was a swamp), here's a link to my sequential pictures:
(Note: don't have a recent picture, but after full cleaning and borates, it's way more clear and sparkly than even the last in this picture, but it gives you an idea)
[attachment=1:21ehf52i]12DaysofShockandAwe.jpg[/attachment:21ehf52i]

Actually, this pic gives you a better idea of fully clear/sparkly
[attachment=0:21ehf52i]steveinpool.JPG[/attachment:21ehf52i]

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Thanks for those Swampwoman -- can I ask were you doing anything else to you pool other than brushing and keeping at shock level each day? I am going on day 12 of shocking tomorrow and I don't look to be as far along (close but not that far -- and mine wasn't quite as dark to start) I didn't take a picture at the start like a dummy!! Thought about it after 5 days. How much bleach did you use for an estimate? Just kinda want to get an idea - During work week I am only about the check levels and shock 1 in the morning and then 2 in the evening once I get home. Just wonder if you had any helpful hints to get me moving like yours did.
BTW -- I looks great!! Can't wait to get to that point!

 

[Swampwoman]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Well, it was colder when I did mine, and the initial clearing took 58 gallons of bleach. The first few days I started, I had taken off the Friday and the Monday, so I was able to maintain the high shock level from the start and didn't therefore loose any ground -- and didn't loose nearly as much chlorine as you would in mid-summer, btw. After that, I went home on lunch hours to bring it back up to (actually, OVER) shock so that it never dropped below -- at least for long -- shock level. I suspect it was easier because the water was so cold...used less chlorine, etc. Do you have any way to have someone else pour a few jugs in at noon?

I had used floc at one point only in deference to the original pool tech who started helping me (and then got no results and was going over his budget, so I took over...) That may have expedited some of the clearing, but likely from the second last to last picture in series (because he was supposed to come back and vacuum it, and he'd already broke the basket trying to vacuum blind, so I'd stopped him, then added the floc to appease him prior to prepaid return...kind of a convoluted story...)

I filtered 24/7, which I assume you're doing. Because mine is an inground, I partially closed the main floor drains to create stronger filtering in the skimmer -- that seemed to visibly/notably get the top layers of water clearer faster.

Your pool has about 3,000 more gallons than mine, and you're fighting the heat. In terms of filtering, depending on your pump and filter (mine is just a hayward sand 220T; my pump is 1 hp and I only have one skimmer but I do have great suction, 3 returns and two floor drains so perhaps mine is more "centrifugal") it might just be a matter of a little more time in your case. I think once mine was the color yours is now I was truly only a few days away!

I will send you the "sparkly pool" fairy dust in the hopes that you can suit up soon!
Cheers!

 

[Txmat]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Before I started covering the pool for winter I had to go from swamp to sparkly clear each spring. Sometimes it takes what seems like forever. In my case the leaves I could not see and get out were a big contributor to it taking so long and using so much bleach. It is always a slow process. In your case your work is probably providing a strong headwind.

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Today I asked my daughter to help add some bleach (as long as she doesn't forget)-- I was leary of doing this last week without testing, but I feel that it would be okay to add a couple of jugs of bleach throughout the day while I am at work. Hopefully this will keep me moving towards sparkly water soon -- I can hardly wait. I just want to feel somewhat justified in the amount of money I have spent this summer (making that stupid pool store rich) by getting to actually enjoy the pool for a bit. At least being in SC, I should hopefully be able to enjoy until sometime in Oct.

Oh you are so right as well txmat -- I am definitely going to buy a cover this year! Since we have owned a pool (this is not our first -- we owned a smaller AGP before this one) we never covered in the winter and always fought the swamp in the spring but we never had the issues getting it clear as we did this year. I was told on one of my earlier trips to the local pool stores (I tried 2 different ones trying to get some satisfaction) that many people around here were having problems since we did not have a very cold winter. I mean we got down in the 20's and 30's but it did not last for a regular length of time like it normally does.

But having found such an informative site and such a great group of supportive people has finally given me hope that I can do this and I will see beautiful pool water soon!!

 

[Txmat]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

But having found such an informative site and such a great group of supportive people has finally given me hope that I can do this and I will see beautiful pool water soon!!

Thanks for the compliment. The group here really is a great bunch of people and some are truly experts. The rest of us have learned a little bit from the school of hard knocks and are paying back for the support we received and still receive. In no time you will have a great pool and your neighbors will be asking why your pool looks better than theirs. Then you can come on here and help some new folks.

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

I plan on paying it forward once I stop banging my head against the wall and finish my learning cycle!! I guess everyone has to go through an experience (or more) to gather the knowledge to continue on their own pool path and that will be able to help others in the future.

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

As of today, I have been doing the shocking process for 3 weeks and I am definitely losing POP since I still do not have a "clear" pool. My water color has been blue since last week and I will post some new pictures but I don't know if I should continue with the shocking process and/or try something different. I am looking for some guidance here as I have already used more than 140 96oz. bleach bottles. I did the OCLT 2 mornings this week and I lost 1.5 or 2 during the night. I did not check again this morning but I have not been showing any CC at all recently. I have added DE to my filter as well and I am not seeing a daily improvement like so many forums I have read have said I should be seeing a change each day. I am wondering if my CH is really the clarity issue?? Can someone give me some advice on what I should do? These test results are from where I ran them Mon. night since my FC had dropped to 9 while I was at work (sunny day and school started back so I didn't have someone to put in extra chlorine). Plus I have been trying to keep my shocking level at or near 18 per mustard algae chart recommendations just in case this was what I was dealing with. I realize that with a loss of 2 of FC at night that I am not officially done with the shock process but I should be seeing some improvement but I am not. My recent CH test I did not get as high results as I had earlier, but I did this one in the evening and was able to see it change to blue water faster and better than during the daytime inside near a window. I did not check my CYA level since it was evening but I was at 30 the week before and have probably lost some since we have had several rain storms and I have backwashed several times in the last week - which is probably why I am losing a lot of FC during the day.

Thanks to any that can provide some advice and/or encouragement.

TA - 90
PH -7.2
CH - 550
CYA - <30

 

[yeggim]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Let it drop down to regular shock level and do the OCLT. If it passes then maybe it is time to take a second look at CH.

 

[Swampwoman]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

My sparkly pool fairy dust I sent you does not appear to be working! ;(
It seems as if your filter just isn't able to handle it.
You're as blue as can be. I wonder if it might be worth trying a floc treatment. Maybe it would drag out some of that calcium?..?

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Thanks for the fairy dust I am not sure what is going on with my pump. Too early to be having trouble and we changed the sand back in July before I found this site. Maybe flocking would help. I have a bottle of Bioguard Powerfloc that the pool store gave me in July because I had already spent a boat load of money and they were not able to help me -- go figure?? I would like to head others comment on if this would possibly work if this is indeed a calcium issue. Maybe I do need to drain some of the water and hope that it will start to clear. It is getting near the end of pool season but luckily since I am in the south, I do have a longer season. Thanks for your input and hopefully I will hear from others as how to proceed this weekend.

 

[linen]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Let's see how your OCLT goes tonight (or tomorrow night if you have to started one tonight). Once you pass that well see how the water clarity looks.

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

According to the OCLT test from last night, I only lost 1fc at regular shock level (12-13). Still no change in clarity. Any suggestions?

 

[linen]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Your are passing the OCLT, and I am assuming you are still below 0.5 CC?

If yes, normally we would say give it a couple of days, since you just finished the organics off and now you need time to filter the carcasses.

If you do not have patience with that, then the next thing I would suggest is to do the DE in your filter again.

Refresh my memory, what pressure is your filter running when it is clean and at what pressure are you backwashing it at?

What size filter is it? What pump do you have?

Breaking it open and doing the deep cleaning with the hose would be my next recommendation. At that point you can see if you are getting clumping or channeling. If not, then lastly, a clarifier could be tried, but sometimes they do not help...and they are another expense.

 

[Txmat]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

I do not know if high calcium causes cloudiness in a pool. I know it causes scaling and for that reason should be reduced. Have you tested your fill water? If it has low calcium then partial draining and refilling would be a good idea to get the calcium level down. In the process you might get some clarity as well. I suspect your cloudiness is caused by dead organics. In my experience a sand filter takes awhile to clear the pool due to the small size of the dead organics, hence the reason for adding DE and not back washing too soon. Personally I would give it a little longer to clear before I flocked. If I were in your shoes I would do the following. 1. Test my fill water & if low in calcium - drain and refill according to the pool calculator. If fill water is high in calcium, I would not drain at this time. 2. Follow Linen's advice. 3. Keep shocking for another week and if it has not significantly cleared then flock.

The problem with flocking too soon is that it does not always work and you have to turn the pump off for a day to let everything settle. During this time algae can start up again. The filter will clear the pool, even if it seems like it never will.

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

I should have updated this long ago, but I wanted to give results so that anyone in the future going through such an ordeal and reading this topic will see that I did not give up and that it does work!!

As of my last posting, I had pretty colored water and was holding the overnight OCLT but still had extremely cloudy water. I was adding Bioguard Sparkle Up to my filter to try and help with the filtration because I had purchased this before I found this wonderful site. I was not noticing a daily change and thought it might have something to do with my high calcium level. As I questioned in my last posting, I was debating on adding clarifier to just see if it would make a difference. Well I had a bottle of Bioguard Polysheen Blue also on hand from an earlier trip and decided to go for it because there wasn't much time left in the pool season. I added the whole bottle that night! The next day, I noticed some white accumulation collecting in the center of the pool on the bottom and it did appear to not be as cloudy. I vacuumed to waste that evening. The next morning (Saturday morning now) there was more accumulation on the bottom but for the first time, I could actually start to see the bottom of the pool!! I vacuumed to waste that day and for a few more after that. It was looking better and better each day but still not crystal clear. The following Thursday (one week after I had added the clarifier), I made the choice to purchase another bottle of clarifier since I was convinced, I was right there at having the perfect pool and it was about to be Labor Day weekend and I wanted to rejoice in all of my obsession and enjoy my pool!! I was going to buy the same Bioguard Polysheen Blue, but the lady at the pool store made a suggestion of another clarifier which she had just convinced her store to carry -- Pro Team Microfloc Clarifier. I decided to give it a try even though it was a little more expensive than the Polysheen Blue. I wanted to put this in here for anyone in the future that may reference this posting because that is one product that I will say "is the bomb"!! It is supposed to be more powerful than regular clarifier so I added half the bottle that night. The next morning was a hugh difference!! I vacuumed to waste the white accumulation in the center which was much less than earlier in the week on both Friday and Saturday -- and I was also enjoying my pool each day! On Saturday night, I added the other half of the Microfloc and vacuumed to waste again on Sunday and Monday. By Monday afternoon (Labor Day), I had a beautiful, crystal clear pool!! (Now I did have to add some water to the pool maybe twice during this time period since I had been vacuuming to waste.)

All tests have been remaining good except my CH is still quite high (500-550) even though I had replaced some of the water and my phosphorus level still shows as high but this is my testimony that you can still get (and keep) a beautiful pool even with such test levels!! I am going to attach a few pictures of this for proof -- the last was taken this morning and I wanted to add this one to show that you can see the bottom since there are quite a few leaves currently there. I will be removing them today. Since I did fight with my pool most of the summer, I am not ready to say goodbye to pool season even though we are having an unusually cooler Sept. than normal (go figure). I have already purchased a winter cover so that we do not have the leaf problem again next Spring, but I am not sure when to cover it. I will probably be raising a new topic in the future asking questions about a proper closing as we get closer to that time.

Again, I want to shout "THIS PROCESS DOES WORK" and "YES, YOU DO NEED SOME PATIENCE AND YOU HAVE TO STICK WITH IT"!! Thanks again for the answers, advice, and support that I received!!

First Photo: Morning after 1st (whole) bottle of clarifier:[attachment=2:3qdhni9b]IMG_0201.JPG[/attachment:3qdhni9b][attachment=1:3qdhni9b]IMG_0205.JPG[/attachment:3qdhni9b]

Final Product:[attachment=0:3qdhni9b]IMG_0206.JPG[/attachment:3qdhni9b]

 

[Cokesbury1]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

As you see -- my last picture is of my pump and not my final result. I will try again to load the correct picture!![attachment=2:1ikpvga1]IMG_0260.JPG[/attachment:1ikpvga1][attachment=1:1ikpvga1]IMG_0262.JPG[/attachment:1ikpvga1]

And here you can even see the details of the dots in my liner on the bottom!![attachment=0:1ikpvga1]IMG_0264.JPG[/attachment:1ikpvga1]

 

[Swampwoman]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Excellent! Glad you made it. Now you're all set for next year Cheers!

 

[ndenunz]

Re: Fighting with pool all summer -- any advice before I dra

Very nice. Thanks for the update.