Ok, first post, here goes...Sorry, it is so long...
A friend of mine recommended TFP and the BBB method last year, and I am only just this year implementing. I had some trouble with the filter last year, fuzzy water, lots of DE in the bottom. I ordered a whole replacement grid. Water cleared up, but I got algae. Followed the PS recommendation, and shocked and treated with algae chemical. Algae went away (as far as I could see). The rest of the year I battled chlorine. Being a non-BBB at the time, I didn't understand why my test strips showed no chlorine and the drop test showed off the chart. I now understand that the one was measuring FC and the other TC. I even spent $200 on 50lbs of lithium with no effect.
My pool is 20x40, vinyl lined, with DE filter, copper solar panels. I have an automatic cover that stays on all the time, or else I will have lots of critters floating in the skimmers in the morning (14 baby frogs in one skimmer is my record). I live in Kansas, and have only had about 2 weeks of constant sun so far this year, but it will stay sunny from now on. The pump is on a timer, from 8am until 6pm. I also have had a "death by puck" automatic feeder running for 3 years, and I immediately turned it off when I read that was why my CYA was off the chart.
This year before I opened, I read tons of posts, ordered my test kit and opened the pool. Here are my opening day readings:
Chlorine (drop test) 0.75
PH (drop test) 6.00 (best guess since it was so pale)
Free Chlorine 0.50
Combined Chlorine 6.5
Total Alkalinity 60
CH 600
CYA 110 (best guess as the water was about .2" from the 100 mark)
The pool calculator recommended I add Borax, baking soda, and of course bleach. I added
Borax: 20 lbs
Baking Soda: 24 lbs
Bleach: 4 gallons
Now before you tell me what I did wrong with adding all that baking soda, I already figured that one out. When I went back and read about CYA and the only way to reduce it was to drain, I went ahead and drained about 1/3 of the water (at least 2 feet) and refilled back more than I started with. The night I finished filling (it took 3 nights of after work filling), the CYA was only down to 100. Since then the past 2 days have not improved:
Yesterday:
Chlorine (drop test) 0.75
PH (drop test) 7.0
Free Chlorine 0.5
Combined Chlorine 3.0
Total Alkalinity 140
CYA 100
I added 11 gallons of bleach (all that I had on hand) and started aerating to get the PH up. I went to the store, and when I checked the water again 3 hours later these were the readings:
Free Chlorine 1.0
Combined Chlorine 3.0
Total Alkalinity 140
So I added 14 more gallons of bleach, trying to shock.
Tonight when I got home this was my reading:
Chlorine (drop test) 0.75
PH (drop test) 7.00
Free Chlorine 0.50
Combined Chlorine 3.0
Total Alkalinity 140
So I added another 16 gallons of bleach trying to get it to shock, and turned on the slide and pointed the returns up to aerate.
2 hours later, my readings were
Free Chlorine 1.0
Combined Chlorine 6.0
So I added the last of today's purchased bleach, which was another 14 gallons.
Just now, another 2 hours later my readings are
Free Chlorine 1.0
Combined Chlorine 2.0
I've put the pump on 24 hours. I haven't rechecked CYA because I read that it takes about a week for it to settle.
I have two main questions: Is there such a thing as too much bleach? According to the pool calculator, it should have only taken about 14 gallons of bleach to get my shock level up to 25. Why hasn't 50+ gallons over the last 2 days made any difference? Second, why hasn't my TA dropped with such a low PH level?
My husband wasn't confident in my switching to the BBB method, he was upset about me draining out 1/3 of the pool, and now I've poured 50 gallons of bleach in the pool with nothing to show for it. Do I keep adding bleach?
Oh, one more question, When I read that I want to get the shock level up to, say, 25. Is that the FC level, CC level, or the TC level?
A friend of mine recommended TFP and the BBB method last year, and I am only just this year implementing. I had some trouble with the filter last year, fuzzy water, lots of DE in the bottom. I ordered a whole replacement grid. Water cleared up, but I got algae. Followed the PS recommendation, and shocked and treated with algae chemical. Algae went away (as far as I could see). The rest of the year I battled chlorine. Being a non-BBB at the time, I didn't understand why my test strips showed no chlorine and the drop test showed off the chart. I now understand that the one was measuring FC and the other TC. I even spent $200 on 50lbs of lithium with no effect.
My pool is 20x40, vinyl lined, with DE filter, copper solar panels. I have an automatic cover that stays on all the time, or else I will have lots of critters floating in the skimmers in the morning (14 baby frogs in one skimmer is my record). I live in Kansas, and have only had about 2 weeks of constant sun so far this year, but it will stay sunny from now on. The pump is on a timer, from 8am until 6pm. I also have had a "death by puck" automatic feeder running for 3 years, and I immediately turned it off when I read that was why my CYA was off the chart.
This year before I opened, I read tons of posts, ordered my test kit and opened the pool. Here are my opening day readings:
Chlorine (drop test) 0.75
PH (drop test) 6.00 (best guess since it was so pale)
Free Chlorine 0.50
Combined Chlorine 6.5
Total Alkalinity 60
CH 600
CYA 110 (best guess as the water was about .2" from the 100 mark)
The pool calculator recommended I add Borax, baking soda, and of course bleach. I added
Borax: 20 lbs
Baking Soda: 24 lbs
Bleach: 4 gallons
Now before you tell me what I did wrong with adding all that baking soda, I already figured that one out. When I went back and read about CYA and the only way to reduce it was to drain, I went ahead and drained about 1/3 of the water (at least 2 feet) and refilled back more than I started with. The night I finished filling (it took 3 nights of after work filling), the CYA was only down to 100. Since then the past 2 days have not improved:
Yesterday:
Chlorine (drop test) 0.75
PH (drop test) 7.0
Free Chlorine 0.5
Combined Chlorine 3.0
Total Alkalinity 140
CYA 100
I added 11 gallons of bleach (all that I had on hand) and started aerating to get the PH up. I went to the store, and when I checked the water again 3 hours later these were the readings:
Free Chlorine 1.0
Combined Chlorine 3.0
Total Alkalinity 140
So I added 14 more gallons of bleach, trying to shock.
Tonight when I got home this was my reading:
Chlorine (drop test) 0.75
PH (drop test) 7.00
Free Chlorine 0.50
Combined Chlorine 3.0
Total Alkalinity 140
So I added another 16 gallons of bleach trying to get it to shock, and turned on the slide and pointed the returns up to aerate.
2 hours later, my readings were
Free Chlorine 1.0
Combined Chlorine 6.0
So I added the last of today's purchased bleach, which was another 14 gallons.
Just now, another 2 hours later my readings are
Free Chlorine 1.0
Combined Chlorine 2.0
I've put the pump on 24 hours. I haven't rechecked CYA because I read that it takes about a week for it to settle.
I have two main questions: Is there such a thing as too much bleach? According to the pool calculator, it should have only taken about 14 gallons of bleach to get my shock level up to 25. Why hasn't 50+ gallons over the last 2 days made any difference? Second, why hasn't my TA dropped with such a low PH level?
My husband wasn't confident in my switching to the BBB method, he was upset about me draining out 1/3 of the pool, and now I've poured 50 gallons of bleach in the pool with nothing to show for it. Do I keep adding bleach?
Oh, one more question, When I read that I want to get the shock level up to, say, 25. Is that the FC level, CC level, or the TC level?