Sebring FL pool recovery - cleaning a total mess

[SebringDon]

Quick question: My solar cover finally arrived, blue w/bubbles type. On or off while I'm in shock mode, or does it matter? I thought it might save me some chlorine if I keep it on.

 

[Pauls234]

It will definitely save you some chlorine keeping it on. I believe that chlorine does, over the longer term, degrade those covers, but they are exposed to chlorine all of the time. I wouldn't think that exposure to shock levels as opposed to normal levels would materially shorten the life. I'd leave it on.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Quick question: My solar cover finally arrived, blue w/bubbles type. On or off while I'm in shock mode, or does it matter? I thought it might save me some chlorine if I keep it on.

if you keep it on all the time you lose the benefits of the sun on chloramines. I'd take it off a few hours every few days at minimum. This is entirely based on what I have read here not personal experience.


- Sent using Tapatalk

 

[SebringDon]

Quick question: My solar cover finally arrived, blue w/bubbles type. On or off while I'm in shock mode, or does it matter? I thought it might save me some chlorine if I keep it on.

if you keep it on all the time you lose the benefits of the sun on chloramines. I'd take it off a few hours every few days at minimum. This is entirely based on what I have read here not personal experience.


- Sent using Tapatalk

I'll be taking it off for my wall-scrubbing sessions until everything is clear, and for using the pool, so it should have plenty of open time. Thanks for pointing out the chloramines issue.

 

[Pauls234]

Yes good call UWV, forgot about the CC

 

[SebringDon]

Got back from my trip away, and the pool looks even better. The black algae, if that's what it is, will be gone in another day or two. I shocked to 15 before I left and was still at 12 when I got back.

Thanks again for all the help from everybody, particularly Vanya.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Got back from my trip away, and the pool looks even better. The black algae, if that's what it is, will be gone in another day or two. I shocked to 15 before I left and was still at 12 when I got back.

Thanks again for all the help from everybody, particularly Vanya.

We are all happy to pay it forward - most of us were in your shoes before we found this place.

 

[SebringDon]

I've got an equipment question, but I understand it's best to keep all my questions together while I'm getting the pool set up.

Our 36' * 12' pool has steps and a rail on one end, and a ladder on the side half-way along the 36' side. Personally, we'd rather not have the ladder, and rely on the stairs for access. It's essentially a lap pool, with the deepest spot in the center, not on either end, so it's standing depth everywhere along the wall, reducing the need for the ladder, since you can walk to the steps from where the ladder is now. Is there any legal requirement that we keep that ladder in place? Is it possible to easily attach and remove it, so if we have a party or kids over we can drop it in place for their use?

 

[SebringDon]

Final recovery numbers:

FC 4.0, CC 0, pH 7.5, CYA 20, TA 95, CH 320

CSI = .07

Now that I've got the pool cleaned up, I'll raise that CYA to 30 and leave the rest alone, I guess.

Thanks again for the help. I would have never gotten here without TFP.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Final recovery numbers:

FC 4.0, CC 0, pH 7.5, CYA 20, TA 95, CH 320

CSI = .07

Now that I've got the pool cleaned up, I'll raise that CYA to 30 and leave the rest alone, I guess.

Thanks again for the help. I would have never gotten here without TFP.

Fantastic!
Glad it all worked so well. Did you track how much bleach you used during the process? How many bags of debris - that sort of thing? An inventory of the nails, bags of leaves, etc would be interesting.

 

[SebringDon]

Final recovery numbers:

FC 4.0, CC 0, pH 7.5, CYA 20, TA 95, CH 320

CSI = .07

Now that I've got the pool cleaned up, I'll raise that CYA to 30 and leave the rest alone, I guess.

Thanks again for the help. I would have never gotten here without TFP.

Fantastic!
Glad it all worked so well. Did you track how much bleach you used during the process? How many bags of debris - that sort of thing? An inventory of the nails, bags of leaves, etc would be interesting.

I just did some quick tallies, and they are interesting. Before I started keeping records I had dumped in a few gallons of bleach to get some die off and had started shoveling. All together I got around 3 wheelbarrows of junk out of the bottom, but it was almost entirely plant growth other than a few beer cans. My initial chlorine level I wrote down was 1.5 on 10/11.

This was all 10% bleach from Pinch-A-Penny, at $.15 cl/oz. The consumption curve is obvious. In the first 3 days I used 840 oz, the next 4 days burned 666 oz, the next 7 ate 486 oz, and in the last two weeks I've used 351. I'm now at FC 4.0 and did almost all of the shock period above 10, with CYA below or about 20.

Total 2343 oz: 18.3 US Gallons or 7 1/3 Pinch-A-Penny containers, at $4.75 each or roughly $35.

Those total groupings may seem arbitrary but I just totaled each page of my log, and more frequent readings in the early days ate up pages fast.

Also around 5 lbs of CYA. I think that's all.

Of course, a bazillion dollars in pool poles, nets, brushes, hose, vacuum, cover, floaties, towels, etc.

And finally, about half the consumables in my test kit, without which this whole thing would not have been possible.

 

[SebringDon]

Okay, if anybody's interested, here's the per/day usage, in ounces, of 10% chlorine I used to clear a 14,500 pool in south-central FL. The 171 oz on the first day was an evening boost to my 10% target, and I didn't get serious with testing until the next day. I occasionally bumped as high as 13 because I had to be away, but very rarely dropped below 10 during the whole period. I think the 221 was a cloudy day early in the process. The rest follow some general progression as the algae gets killed off. I had some particularly ugly black stuff on the wall that took a while to beat.

171,458,221,316,207,135,144,90,81,54,63,0,108,0,27,0,99,0,27,72,45,36,27,18

 

[MonsterPoolMan]

Nice job!