new to pool school

[Bebe]

Hello All!
I have a 28' round above ground pool, 17,000 gal. sand filter. Just had a new liner installed and 3 truckloads of water. Water is clear but algae on bottom (not much). Added 6 gal of liquid chlorine, vacummed, backwashed still there. I am new to the BBB method and new taking care of the pool and am feeling overwhelmed. Bought test kit TF 100. Do I test everything at this point? MY CYA is non existent. I would really appreciate any help. thanks.

 

[AimeeH]

Can you post test results?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Yup. Test everything and post the results ... well, no need to test CYA since you know it is zero. Here is more info: Extended Test Instructions and there are You Tube videos on the tftestkits.net website.

First step is likely to get some CYA in the water.

 

[maryj0w]

They will take good care of you here. You will be amazed after you get familiar to it all, how easy it is to maintain your pool! And much cheaper.

 

[crek31]

Use the Pool Calculator to figure out how much CYA to add to get to your recommended CYA target (30 to 40). If using powdered CYA, add it to a cotton sock and hang it in front of the return. After a few hours, massage it a bit. Do so periodically until it has all seeped out in clouds, dissolved. Once it is out of the sock and in your water, assume it is working and adjust your FC accordingly. The CYA will not show on a test for a week or so, but dose your chlorine as though it is there.

6 gallons of chlorine sounds like a ton - what was your target FC, and did you use the Pool Calculator to guide you to 6 gallons?

A full set of test results will help (as stated above, no need to test CYA, but tell us what you used as your CYA target).

Also, add your pool specs to your signature so that as you post people can readily see what you have and won't have to keep scrolling up to your initial post to see your specs. Welcome, and don't worry - we were all where you are: overwhelmed. You'll be a pro in no time!

 

[Bebe]

I tested Chlorine this afternoon and my water turned very pink - went to next step to add drops so water turned clear again (I'm sorry I'm at work and don't know the names yet) anyway, I got to 30 drops and the water is still pink. Should I have kept going? I'll try again when I get home later today.

 

[jblizzle]

Did you use 10ml or 25ml of water? If 10ml, like we recommend, then 30 drops would have been a FC of 15ppm ... which may not be that high depending on what you have added.

Although with zero CYA, I am a little surprised that the FC would still be so high. How strong was the liquid chlorine you added?
If 10%, that 6 gallons (why did you add so much???) would have raise the FC by 35ppm ... which is WAY WAY WAY too high for a pool with no CYA in it ... that likely shortened the life of your liner.

 

[Bluechip]

Yes, you should have kept going. We know that you have at least 15ppm Cl in your pool. If you used the 10ml sample then each drop counts as .5 ppm. Post up your full set of numbers when you get home and then someone will help you interpret the results. It's really pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

 

[maryj0w]

I am maybe thinking that its a total of six gallons of bleach since you started the process. Not 6 gallons all together at once.

 

[Bebe]

I tested the water as you suggested and here are the results:

Total Chlorine - 12
Total Alkalinity - 300
CYA - 0

You are right about the 6 gallons - it wasn't all at once but over the course of a week. Added 1 lb. of granular stabilizer yesterday - pump running 24 hours.

I want to thank all that responded. It really does help to know someones out there that has been through this and can help. So thank you.

______________________________________

28' round above ground, 17,000 gallons with sand filter. Test Kit - TF-100

 

[crek31]

Posting TC does not help us (Total Chlorine is the total of Free Chlorine (FC) and Combined Chlorine (CC) -- we need to know the breakdown whenever possible. If you have received your TFTest Kit, post the following results:

FC
CC
pH
CYA
any other results if you ran more tests.

If your FC is above 10, your pH number will not be accurate, but post it anyway.

Thanks for putting your pool specs in the signature - that will help.

Why did you report your CYA as zero: because it did not show up on a test and you added some less than a week ago; or because you have not yet added any? You need to buy some and dose it according to the pool calculator so you get to 30.

edit: oops, just noticed you said you added CYA yesterday. What was your target value, that is, what did you calculate your CYA would be by adding what you added?

 

[Bebe]

FC - 12
CC - 0



28' round 17,000 gallons, sand filter, test kit TF-100

 

[crek31]

In a 17,000 gallon pool, to get from 0 to 30 CYA you'd need to add 4 pounds, 4 ounces of stabilizer.

 

[Bebe]

So I added 3 lbs. granular stabilizer per your suggestion today. Here are my test results.

FC - 2.5
CC - stayed clear so I'm not sure how to register that
Alkalinity - 350
CYA - didn't register anything (but I only had added 1lb originally)
PH - 7.8

Please let me know if there is anything else I should be doing. Will run pump 24 hours to distribute stabilizer. For my size pool, what should my goal be for FC , CC, and CYA? Thank you.


28' round above ground
Sand Filter
17,000 gallons

 

[crek31]

If the stabilizer has dissolved, you need to consider it active and doing its thing, even though it will not register on a test for a week or so.

You have now added 4 pounds of stabilzer, so you should assume your CYA is 30. Where do you live? Once you get your water crystal clear, have completed any necessary shock process, and have a good understanding of the testing and chemistry part of all this (you are just about there!), you'll want to figure out if 30 CYA is the right amount for you. If you live in a very hot, sunny part of the world and don't get much shade, you might determine you want even more "sunscreen" for your chlorine (which is sort of what CYA is). For many situations, however 30 is a good number -- it protects the CYA a bit but keeps your shock value reasonable if the pool gets out of whack. Fine tuning your CYA can be done later.

So, with a CYA of 30, you need to NEVER let your FC fall below 2 and should dose with a target of 4 - with the idea being if you add to an FC of 4, you can swim (which will leave junk in the pool that will eat up FC) and you will lose some to sunlight - but normally starting with 4 will still leave you at or above 2 by the next daily testing/dosing schedule. You can cheat up to 5 as a target without a problem but you cannot fudge on the minimum number of 2 FC. The Chlorine/CYA chart can be found in Pool School.

When testing for CC, if the sample stays clear after you've added the five drops from the yellow-topped reagent (I can't recall the number - but not OTO) - if it stays clear, that means you have zero CC. Zero is great, as is .5. Anything over .5 is a sign you need to do go through the shock process.

What does your water look like now? In your initial post you mentioned you had algae on the floor. Have you figured out the Pool Calculator (link to it from Pool School)? Have you read How to Complete the Shock Process in Pool School? If your water is not crystal clear AND you have no more than .5 CC AND you lose no more than 1 FC in the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, you need to continue (or start) the shock process.

If you are going to start the shock process, be sure to read through that article a few times; be sure you have a lot of bleach on hand; be sure to get your pH to a good starting point (usually closer to 7.2 than 7.8) because once you get an FC over 10, your pH number can't be trusted.

 

[Bebe]

Checked water today (getting a little better at that).

FC - 4
CC - 0
Alkalinity 300
CYA - 50

The water is crystal clear. So, from what you said it's good that the CC is 0, right? how about the Total Chlorine or FC? What should that be at? and is 50 to high for CYA? I live in the midwest. Should I add anything at this point? I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help.

 

[jblizzle]

Your CYA is at the top of the recommended range, so should be fine as long as you stick to only bleach.

According to the chart in Pool School: pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

your MINIMUM FC is 4ppm ... so you should be targeting 6-7ppm each day so it does not drop below 4ppm by the next day.

What is your pH? With a TA that high, your pH may be rising quickly and require muriatic acid to keep it in range.

 

[Bebe]

Results from today:

FC - 8
CC - 0
Alkalinity - 270
CYA - 40
PH 7.5
Calcium - 300
________________________

2 days ago:

FC - 4
CC - 0
Alkalinity 300
CYA 50
________________________

If I'm reading things correctly my target range for should be 6 - 7 FC (should not drop below 4) correct?
When I'm using Pool Calculator I'm not sure how I get the target ranges. Also, with the readings being what they are now, should I be adding anything else? Once I know my target ranges the pool calculator will tell me what if anything I need to add, is that right? And when you say stick to only bleach, liquid chlorine is the same? Will bleach ruin our new liner? So confused about this. Can I send you a private message jason? and how do I do that?

 

[jblizzle]

If you set the pool type, target type, and chlorine type toward the bottom of the calculator, then it will display the Goal value suggestions. You have to input what your NOW readings are and what you want the TARGET to be and it will tell you what would have to be added to achieve that goal.

Besides the TA being high, everything looks fine. Keeping the pH in range will slowly lower the TA.

Bleach and liquid chlorine are the same thing. Perfectly safe for your pool. Just pour it slowly in front of a return jet and let the pump circulate for 30-60 minutes.

Keep your questions here, although at this point seems like you should be swimming

 

[Bebe]

There was some algae in the pool today so I vacuumed. The results are:

FC - 8.5
CC - 5.5
Alkalinity - 280
CYA - 40
PH - 7.5

The Pool Calculator says shock 15 - mustard algae shock 24. Do I have to add that? Do you know why I might have algae? Not sure what I'm doing wrong. i appreciate your help. Thanks.