CYA 0 on startup after closing at 90

[HoosierDaddy81]

Ive browsed this forum off and on for the better part of a year, we moved in last spring and the pool had been abused for years, filter clogged by somekind of algecide that turns into a goopy substance at bottom of pool clogged the filter, sand was replaced and about half the water before the year was over. Got it running and good numbers last year, but closed with a cya of 80 still. Opened this year and started shocking the beejebus out of it. Noticed it was just eating chlorine like there was no tomorrow. I have shocked overnight and during the day while cloudy/raining. It will not hold chlorine at all. There was a metric ton of organics in it though, we had a bad hail storm which perforated the pool cover and a couple trees down etc. When my swift self decided to stop dumping chlorine in and test everything else I noticed cya of 0, which still shouldn't matter on an overnight test i still should hold some fc. I have tested the cya three times myself and went to pool store for giggles. chlorine test i did oto and fas dpd. Is it still just consuming organics and the leftover walmart chems from the previous owner? Im getting ready to go buy about 70 bottles of 10% liquid chlorination and and shock this puppy till shes clear. I have a white foam, and cloudy water. Again i have used NO algecides or anything other than bleach/chlorine borax and soda ash in the past 18 months in it.

5 pounds of 56% cal hypo and 6 gallons of 10% was gone in about three hours, added three more gallons and it was gone in about 2 hours.
I am retired so ive got nothing but time on my hands plan is to get fc up to about 12/15 and keep pouring in chlorine and holding it there checking every couple hours 24/7 till it holds fc overnight.

Go ahead with the shock till it stops consuming chlorine overnight method? or am i missing something? For some reason it seems like a bad idea to add any cya till it holds fc overnight? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[spidey07]

That sounds like your CYA got converted to ammonia. The ammonia is what it so rapidly consuming chlorine. You're just going to have to keep dumping chlorine until it is gone unfortunately. If you want to test for ammonia you can get a cheap test kit from a fish store or pet store with aquarium supplies.

 

[ping]

It sounds like ammonia to me also. Read this thread to get some more insight, it-can-happen-to-anyone-zero-chlorine-cya-ammonia-t10974.html.

 

[HoosierDaddy81]

yep sounds like thats what it is thanks for the link, i was having problems determining the cause, i know i can solve the problem but, actually the cya reduction saved me a ton of money as we are on a well. Pump is only off for picture.


and the eye candy this is after 5 pounds cal hypo and 6 six gallons 10% but before anything else, just added 6 more 10% at o fc will post pics pics this evening of what it does.

 

[HoosierDaddy81]

ok so im holding fc at about 15 ppm, using 10% liquid chlorine, i did shock up to about 30 ppm for about 12 hours to take care of a majority of the problem, 4 days non stop filter and backwash as necessary, I am now holding chlorine with little to no problem, however water is still cloudy as all get out and progress has halted, ph is 7.6 all the rest of the numbers are within recomended levels execpt for the cya which is still 0 for the moment. Go ahead and try clarifier in it?

 

[duraleigh]

Clarifier is up to you but we never suggest it. Let your filter and the chlorine do the work. Clarifier can sometimes work and sometimes make matters worse....sometimes nothing. I would never put it in my pool.

Keep filtering and keep your chlorine up to shock value which should be about 6-8 ppm if you still have no CYA.

 

[JohnN]

I don't see where it says what type of filter you have. If you have a sand filter, you may want to add DE to it. There is a link in pool school about it.

 

[HoosierDaddy81]

I will edit sig shortly its a sand dollar sd 35 35 gpm 1.23 sq ft sand filter with D.E. added already. I know its small its in the budget for a new one it takes about 12 hours to turn the pool over once.

 

[duraleigh]

I know its small its in the budget for a new one it takes about 12 hours to turn the pool over once.

That's at least a portion of the problem and a clarifier, even if it worked, can't overcome that.

 

[HoosierDaddy81]

The store has a sd 60 on sale for 100.00 would that be adequate at 2.3 sq ft 60 gpm and 250 pounds of sand? it would turn over in about 9 hours.

 

[duraleigh]

What is the HP and service factor (SF) of your pump (it's on the nameplate)

 

[HoosierDaddy81]

my plumbing is all 1.5 inch

 

[jblizzle]

For your size pool, we would recommend at least 5.4sqft = 31" diameter. A smaller filter will require cleaning much more often and may not work well if your pump is too big.

The gpm listed on the filter has nothing to do with your actual flow rate, that depends on your pump and plumbing. The filter listing is a maximum, but they filter better at lower flow rates.

 

[duraleigh]

Yeah, that's a pretty strong pump and I would suggest a larger (than the one your looking at) filter as jblizzle explains above.

 

[HoosierDaddy81]

What kind of filter would you suggest with this in mind, we have 4 kids, 2 dogs, 2 adults that spend a majority of waking moment in the pool when possible (the 2 big kids literally about 6 to 8 hours a day during the summer and are surrounded by corn and soybean fields, lots of dust and pollen?

 

[duraleigh]

Sand filters generally do a bit better at handling pretty heavy loads like you describe. They use water during a backflush if water is precious.

 

[jblizzle]

With high usage and debris, you certainly want a large filter as I stated above. And sand is the easiest to clean as required.

 

[HoosierDaddy81]

Yes was a typo on my part, it is now corrected. i had total and free chlorine mixed up. The joys of being dyslexic normally i triple check but ive got a ton going on at the moment.

New numbers and new filter. my sd 35 exploded yes exploded hole in pool shed. i will post pictures, but not enough time right now. Replaced with ta 100d 4.9 sq ft filter, its not 5.3 but it what was in the budget at the moment. Water still cloudy, no improvement using measuring tape to judge clarity with the tip painted bright green.

the numbers, and checked with local pool store who tends to be on the money with my test results

total hardness 250
total chlorine 10
free chlorine 5
ph 7.8
alk 160- ive been aerating and adding a bit of muratic acid to lower the ph it (the ph) has been hanging steady and in 4 days Ive already lost 10ppm alk
cya still 0 just added 100 oz dry in socks.
phosphates 200 ppB
Total dissolved solids 2000ppm
ammonia .25

so time to try a little clarifier or hang off on that still?

 

[jblizzle]

Haven't you only been running for a few days? Need some POP (pool owner patience)

You still have other things to worry about before resorting to other methods to clearing the water. You are still showing ammonia and your TC and FC do not make sense (typo?) TC = FC + CC ... so free can not be > than total.

You need to follow the shock process.

 

[JohnN]

I just want to mention that you don't need to pay any attention to the phosphates or TDS. If you keep chlorine at the proper levels you can have very high phosphate levels. As far as TDS, the components that make it up are what matters.