Battling a green pool, low FC

Jump to latest Follow Reply
J

Jimstinger5

0
Jun 2, 2008
26
Dracut, MA
I am a first timer on this forum and i've already read plenty of great tips!


I'm looking for some help with the following problem. I opened my pool 2 days ago and it's still very green. I have a 32,000 gal gunite pool that's probably 25 years old with a sand filter. I've added 1 gal of algecide, 4 gal of liquid super shock. I've brushed, brushed, vacuumed, vac some more, backwashed and rinsed a bunch of times, vac some more, etc.


Last year, we had a similar problem and the pool company recommended a bunch of chemicals that changed our green problem to a cloudy/misty problem that lasted for half the summer!


I tested the water tonight and here are the ugly #'s:



CYA: 67
TC: 8.5
FC: 0.2
ph: 7.4
TA: 120
Hardness: 156


The pool store said they want to do a more complete chlorine test tomorrow that will take an hour or so to get the results. As you can probably tell, i am a novice in need of some guidance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

Jim
 
Welcome to TFP!

You are going to need a lot of chlorine. I suspect they are planning to try and figure out just how much.

I suggest you start by reading this article on cleaning up a green pool.

It would be a huge help if you had your own test kit, especially a top quality test kit that can reliably measure high FC levels. I recommend the TF Test Kit.

You are also going to need to stock up on chlorine. Normally I recommend bleach, but you need to get your calcium level up so it might be better to use cal-hypo for a little while.
 
Hey, Jim,

Welcome! Take Jason literally....you'll need a LOT of chlorine.....LOT"S of it!! :lol: :lol:

You can get that pool crystal clear with help from this forum but the pool store will most likely argue with the techniques we'll suggest. Before too long, you'll have to make a decision which path to follow but I can promise the path from the forum does work and you'll spend a lot less money....no cloudy water, either.
 
Thanks for the scoop.

I am willing to give the triple B a go!!! I've been following the pool store blindly for a while without good results.

The assault on my grocery stores' bleach supply will begin tomorrow!

As Jason recommended, i will also try the cal-hypo to start things off.
 
Well, i heard back from the pool company today and they recommended buying either 42 pounds of CLC II or 42 pds of burnout.

I also purchased a TF test kit online today, so the only numbers I have are from the pool store. The latest test results are at the beginning of the thread.

Jason recommended cal-hypo-i'm not sure what that is.

Does anyone have any idea if one of these products is the way to go? I have a couple of gallons of liquid super shock left and I am tempted to use them first.

Any ideas???
 
Jimstinger5,

Does anyone have any idea if one of these products is the way to go? I have a couple of gallons of liquid super shock left and I am tempted to use them first.
Click to expand...

Chlorine is the way to go. You MIGHT be able to use the "liquid super shock" that you have, but you should read the label and post back here what the label says. Then we'll be able to advise you whether you should add this to your pool.

In general, you should KNOW exactly what chemical you are putting into your pool. In general, you should avoid "combo" packages of chemicals. Adding a single chemical at a time, and KNOWING why you are adding that chemical, is the approach preferred by this message board.

Good luck!

Titanium
 
Jimstinger5 said:
Jason recommended cal-hypo-i'm not sure what that is.
Click to expand...
Calcium Hypochlorite
That would be the powdered "shock" (the kind with chlorine, check the ingredients) they sell at pool stores

Bleach and the liquid kind they sell is Sodium Hypochlorite
 
New to this site too so I don't know much but....... my husband was adding algaecide, shock and anything else they sold us like it was sugar in sweet tea. Our CYA level was 170 when I came to this site for help. (We had been battling each other and black alage for months.) We replaced 2/3 of our water to get the CYA back down to 70. I think the CYA came from all the "Instant Cures" we dumped into the pool. My pool in now sparkling clean from following their advice. It did take longer than I thought it would, but it was worth the wait. It is so clear and clean :thumleft:
 
Burn Out Extreme is cal-hypo, calcium hypochlorite. The liquid shock is bleach, though the percentage may well be higher than the usual 6% you find at the grocery store, or not. You might want to compare prices on the cal-hypo. Leslie's has a 50 lb bucket of 73% for an attractive price.

Given the quantities that are likely to be involved, it would be good to do a bucket test to double check the pool store estimate. That means getting a five gallon bucket of pool water, add one teaspoon of 6% bleach, mix, wait 30 minutes, and test the FC level. Repeat this process until the FC level is 10 or higher. From the number of teaspoons of bleach required we can get an estimate of the amount of chlorine you will need. This may be what the pool store did, but you never know.
 
Thanks for the advice, the burn-out got rid of my green color overnight. I'm looking at a nice blue misty color now- much better than the green i've had!

My TF test kit just arrived and my first numbers are:

CYA: 70
TC: 8.5
FC: 6.1
TA: 61
ph: 6.7
Hardness: 151

Being a new convert to the BBB method, my question is which level should I address first? The pool calculator advises putting quite a bit of borax and baking soda into the pool. My pool company recommended 8 gallons of liquid shock(12.5%).

Does anyone have any ideas about which reading to work on first? Is shock the way to go?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
In the following order I would....

1. Use 20 mule team borax to increase the pH up to 7.2 (Use Jason's calc in my sig if you haven't already)
(you can do #2 immediately after #1)
2. Using either Cal Hypo or Clorox or liquid chlorine, I would bring the FC up to 25ppm and HOLD IT THERE.

The process is complete when:
A. You hold FC loss to 1.0 or less overnite
B. Your CC's test .5 or less
C. Your water is sparkling

Jim your CYA is very high for a non-SWG pool but it is manageable......just don't use any chlorine source that would make it higher (pucks and di-chlor). The high levels of FC will rid your pool of the CC's and clear your pool water to sparkling....promise.

Tell us how your water looks right now?
 
The water is not that bad- it is slightly misty. I can see about 3 steps down. The green is completely gone.

Is sodium hypoclorite the same as the liquid bleach you mentioned? I do have plenty of that (in the form of super shock 12.5) and I have regular chlorox bleach(6% i think).

I'm off to clean out my local store of 20 mule team!!!
 
I'm off to clean out my local store of 20 mule team!!!
Click to expand...

Yikes!! Someone grab his car keys!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Jim, It'll probably only take a couple of boxes...(use Jason's calc in my sig.)

Yes, Sodium Hypochlorite is liquid chlorine or bleach....all the same.

Sounds to me like you're getting close to a clear pool. I was somewhat skeptical you would take the BBB plunge in my first post to you but you have gotten a good grasp and embraced the concept......Very nice work...you have a sparkling pool in your future.
 
The BBB method seems to be working. I just tested the water and the new numbers are encouraging. My pool has lost any trace of green, but now the water is cloudy. I can see about 3 feet into the pool before it clouds over.

Any suggestions on my next move?

My water results were:

TA: 130
ph: 7.5
TC: 9.5
FC: 8.5
CC: 1.0
CH: 170
CYA: 30
 
You still have CC above 0.5, so I would maintain shock level, FC at 13 or higher, for at least another day and then see where you are.

Once the algae is all dead it can still take up to a week for the filter to clear the pool. Keep an eye on the filter pressure and clean/backwash the filter as needed.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply