New member from Southern Indiana

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jwicker

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Jun 6, 2013
12
Hi all.
Been poking around your site and thought I'd register.

We moved into our current home in 1999.
Th pool was put in sometime in the late 80s (best guess).

Learned a lot thru the years...but still consider myself a novice pool owner.

Put a new liner in about 5 years ago.

Pool has been relatively easy to maintain....but we have had our share of issues.

2 years ago, the light niche finally gave way and let the backfill sand into the pool and behind the liner.
I pulled the liner loose and tunneled under the concrete deck to replace the niche. PITA
There are still a few small pebbles under the liner.
I'll eventually have to pull it out and vacuum it clean.

We have a mesh safety cover for off-season and start up with winter water, shock and algaecide.

All-in-all, we have had pretty good fortune with chemistry.

This year - NOPE....

I'll start another thread.... but in summary, we opened in March and until mid-May everything was clean and clear.

About 3 weeks ago, we had a green algae bloom and have not been able to get our chlorine level to hold more than 12 hours since.

I test for Chlorine and add 1 bag of powdered chlorinated shock and retest in ~6 hours.

This has been going on for over ~ 1 week.

Water is clear as glass...just no chlorine.
 
jwicker said:
I test for Chlorine and add 1 bag of powdered chlorinated shock and retest in ~6 hours.

This has been going on for over ~ 1 week.

Water is clear as glass...just no chlorine.
Click to expand...

Welcome to TFP!

6 hours is too long to wait between additions/tests when you have an issue. A bag of shock is just a minor annoyance to algae, and may not even get the chlorine to a maintenance level, depending on your pool size and CYA level. Check out Shocking Your Pool for details.
 
Ok - so I just ran to Leslie's for a water analysis.....
Chlorine levels HIGH ! (I put the last bag of powdered chlorine in around 6PM last night.
I'll also add that we put the solar over on after that.

Could the solar blanket have "held" the chlorine overnight?

Here are the stats as fund by Leslie's:

FAC - 5 (high)
TAC - 5 (high)
CH - 140 (low)
CYA - 99 (ok)
TA - 0 (low)
pH - 6.0 (low)
Base Demand - 30
Copper - 0
Iron - 0
TDS - 1000 (ok)
Pho - 100 (ok)

They suggested 10 lbs of Soda Ash to raise the pH and total alkalinity.

I went ahead and purchased it - to have it on hand if TFP concurs.

=== EDIT===
I'll also add that we removed the inline chlorinator some years ago because it was leaking and cracked.
We have used a floating 'shark' that holds 3" tabs.
==========

THoughts?

thanks
 
5ppm FC is LOW for a CYA level of 99ppm, which is too high.

I expect that they say 5ppm because they can't read any higher. Your pH is unlikely to be 6.0, and the pH test is probably being interfered with by your chlorine level.

140ppm is absolutely fine for your vinyl pool.

Pool stores in general and Leslie's in particular are terrible at water testing. Random guessing would be better than most of them.
 
I read the Shock Process, but don't know how to apply it to my situation.

The only test kit I have on hand is the Leslie's DPD Test Kit.
(Item 18-547)
It tests for free, combined, and total chlorine (0.5 to 5ppm), total bromine (1 to 10ppm), pH (6.8 to 8.2) with acid demand, and total alkalinity.

Considering that my random guesses are useless... are there any specific suggestions?
Should I skip the Soda Ash?
Keep the solar cover on/off?

Next immediate steps?

thanks in advance !
 
Skip the soda ash for now.

Get a jug of distilled water. Take a pool water sample and mix it with distilled water in parts. One tablespoon of pool water to one tablespoon of distilled for starters. Now test the mixture and double the reading. If that isn't enough, mix the water one part pool water to three parts distilled and multiply the reading by 4. It's not extremely accurate, but it will get you by.
 
I assume this is a personal/financial choice, but should I be looking to replace some water (1/3?) to lower the CYA so my shock will have a chance to kill the remaining algae (which I assume is still eating up my chlorine)?

Also - I'll look, but would be surprised if anyone had a CYA test kit in stock.
 

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jwicker said:
Another question - if I raise my FC to shock level (39 ppm).... how long do I have to keep it at that level?
Click to expand...

Until it holds overnight.

CYA tests are pretty easy to get. I've bought them at Walmart. They just don't have much reagent.
 
Ok. My lack of patience will certainly show up now.

I took another sample to another pool store. Family run since the 50s I think
They use a fancy computer gadget to analyze.

Here is what they found:
FC 3.99
TC 5.34
CC 1.35
pH below 6.3 unreadable.
Hardness 144
Alkalinity 0
CYA 74
Copper 0.7
Iron 0.1

I Drained approx 25% water and am refilling.
I added ~ 8 lbs of the soda ash.
I am nearly full and just tried a AquaChek strip test.
pH 7.8
FC 3
TA 80
Stabilizer 30-50

So...... Even tho I might have jumped the gun, I think I am at a good starting point.
I REALLY want to start the BBB route.

Am I at a good place to drop the 3" tabs and the weekly non Chlor shock?

I'll run a full test (picked up the CYA test at Wally world) again tomorrow after work.


I ran it once to double check the pool stores results. They were all the same.

The test only gives you enough reagent for 2 tests.

I'll be ordering some as recommended here.

Couple of questions:
- Should I start the shock process to Play it safe. In case the 25% replace didn't kill whatever was eating my chlorine?
- Can I put the solar cover to warm it up for swimming?


All input appreciated.
If I goofed up with my latest efforts please let me know !!!

I'm here to learn. But also resolve the issue as quickly and economically as I can.

Gotta make the wifey and kiddo happy.
:)

Thx
Jw
 
10k gal inground chemistry woes...

So, I'm a brand spanking new TFP member.
Bought this house in 1999 with the late-80's era inground.
It's just over 10,000 gallons (14x24x4) with an ~8 year old vinyl liner.

I'll readily admit that my 'routine' for these many years was to open with winter water (mesh safety cover); drain ~1/3 water and replace.
Shock the begeezus out of it; have it tested at Leslie's once; throw in the $80 worth of varying items they recommended; and toss in at least 1 bag of non-chlorinated powdered shock weekly (more if it rained much).

Since '99 we have only had ~3 algae blooms.

The past 2-3 years, I have opened in March/April with existing winter water and just poured in around 8 gallons of 12.5% liquid and a whole jug of Algaemycin 2000.
Testing was nil.

This year was business as usual (opened in late march) ; until the algae bloom 3 weeks ago.
I headed to the pool store (mom and pop shop) and had a test.
FC was 0. Pool was green.
Was told to throw 2 pucks in the skimmer and open up my floating 'shark' chlorinator (3" pucks) wide open.

1 week later... Still green. Zero FC.
Was sold a case of Ultima TKO chlorinated powder and a jug of AquaChek strips.
For ~ a week, i put in a bag after work and tested before bed. FC would be off the chart.
Check in the morning before work and zero.
Put in another bag and check after work. Zero.

Did that for 9 bags worth.
It finally held something overnight.
That day, I found TFP.

So, I had a Leslie's test and a mom/pop test done.

They can be found on my Introduce Yourself post.
new-member-from-southern-indiana-t62073.html

CYA was 80+.
Ph was LOW.
I got impatient and drained 25% and added approx 8 # soda ash.

AquaChek showed all numbers at the ideal levels.
I picked up a CYA test at a walmart and was in the clear.

THEN..... We get a gully-washer today and when I get home... FC was at 0.5 on the strips.
pH was at 7.8, TA 120+, CYA 30-50.

I don't have much CYA reagent left... So I used the strips.

I use the Pool Calc and added 1 gallon of 12.5 liquid.
I tested 1 hour later (9pm tonight):
FC 10+ ( looked to be around 13).
pH 7.7
CYA 48

I plan to test again before bed (sans CYA since I only have enough for 1 more test).

All comments and suggestions appreciated.


(I DID pick up some borax and baking soda after work )
I am learning a little bit in my short membership.
:)

Thanks in advance
JW
 
Re: 10k gal inground chemistry woes...

Welcome! :wave:

I'm happy to see you've finally had enough! But you're going to stay on this expensive merry-go-round unless you get a proper test kit and spend the time it takes to really study Pool School. Your pH has been all over the place, and some of those readings are iffy because the FC level was too high. Yup - it's true! accurate-ph-test-during-shock-levels-with-r-007-t61076.html

If you expect the rain to continue washing all your expensive chemicals over the side, stop wasting them. Let the rain stop and allow the water to circulate, get some trustworthy results, and attack it logically. Just as a for-instance: If pH is a little low and TA is high, then aeration will fix it, you won't need to add a thing. The Pool Calculator won't tell you that. You need some understanding to go with the tests.

Didn't you ever get scolded by your mother? "You can't find the time to do it right, but you can find the time to do it over?" :lol:
 
Re: 10k gal inground chemistry woes...

Thanks Richard.
I expect some smacked hands since I've been on my wayward path for so long.
JohnT has been a good resource to get me started.
I have also read thru Pool School.
It's tough to know exactly how to apply all of that info to varying circumstances.

I'm sure it will come in time.

I'll likely get the t100 test kit and CYA refills ordered tomorrow.

My choices locally are lacking to say the least.

I'm here to learn.

Thanks
Jw
 
Re: 10k gal inground chemistry woes...

But you're going to stay on this expensive merry-go-round unless you get a proper test kit and spend the time it takes to really study Pool School.
Click to expand...
Sometimes, words jump off the screen at me and these did....... "Expensive Merry Go Round" are great words and so true if you allow the Pool Store to offer you a ride.
 
Finally got my TF-100 kit ordered.

I've been using my existing test kits to keep track of what I can since I joined the forum.

I stopped the shock process since rain has been weekly (or more).
And my wife and kiddo wanted to swim today.
And - until I can check CC, CYS and FC accurately, I saw no reason to continue it.
I was guessing at best.

Last night at 9:45 PM, my AquaChek test strip showed:
pH - 7.2
FC - 3
TA - 120
CYA - 30-50

Water is clear.
 

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