light blue cloud, looow FC

[allagash827]

Hi everybody, I am new to the BBB method and board. I am having a problem with my pool water. It is a cloudy light blue color. I can not get the chlorine to register. I have used the pool calculator and added the recommended chemicals (96 oz of 8.25 bleach) plus an additional 90 0z of same and 121 oz of 12% liquid shock. but I still get only a .5 FC. My levels are as follows now:

FC - .5
CC - 2
pH -7.6
TA - 70
CH - 120
CYA - 40 (stabilizer)
Should I add more shock?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
25000, vinyl, sand,

 

[harleysilo]

What are you testing with? The CC levels indicate you are fighting some algae. What level of chlorine were you targeting with each of those additions?

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

You might have some ammonia, or you just have a hardy strain of algae.

But the solution is still the same. Bleach. Liquid shock. Whatever you want to call Sodium Hypochlorite. they're the same stuff, just different concentrations. It will take a whole lot at first, but as you start to get ahead of the algae growth, the demand will reduce. But hit it hard and knock it down and kick it while it's down until it's all dead. Just keep pouring and rechecking every hour or so and adding whatever it takes to get it to 15 (shock level for 40 CYA) Ignore everything but FC and CC water clarity, and pump pressure for now. Also, anything you can get out of the pool manually - leaves, etc, do it. Saves bleach, speeds the process. pool-school/defeating_algae

You still have time to clear this mess up before Fourth of July!

 

[allagash827]

Thanks folks. For now I am testing throu the pool store and a simple home kit, until my new one arrives. Should I expect to get to this level of 15 in one day or will it take several days to achieve? Thanks.

 

[Richard320]

Thanks folks. For now I am testing throu the pool store and a simple home kit, until my new one arrives. Should I expect to get to this level of 15 in one day or will it take several days to achieve? Thanks.

You want to get it to 15 NOW. That's - gulp - 4½ gallons, call it five 121 oz jugs of 8.25% bleach. For the first dose. You may need that much again for the second, maybe even the third, depending on how diligent/obsessive you are with it. Then the amounts should start decreasing.

A little inspiration:
first-time-shocking-with-bleach-t45074.html Check out the pictures!
pretty-black-pool-t58442.html
first-time-pool-owner-t61565.html
a-little-encouragement-for-those-with-algae-and-new-to-bbb-t57137.html
frog-filled-green-swamp-to-oasis-work-in-progress-t48213-20.html be sure to look at page 2
before-and-after-t36785.html
a-final-picture-set-of-how-well-the-bbb-method-works-t33199.html

 

[PridgNYC]

As Richard said, you can get to 15 in 30 minutes if you have a proper test kit and use the pool calculator to determine how much bleach to add. Keeping it at 15 throughout the day and night is the hard part and requires constant testing and additions of bleach

 

[allagash827]

OK, Hard to believe but after adding 6 gallons of 8.25 bleach my chlorine is still at .5. These are my numbers as tested prior to adding the 6.
FC-0
TC-0
ph-7.7
TA-100
CYA-25 (seems to have dropped from original post)
CH-110
I have been adding at least 4 gallons a night since the original post (6/23). The water is clearing but man that's a lot of chlorine! Does this sound about right? I'm now in the process of adding possibly another 4-6 gallons. The people at the store think I'm drinking it.

 

[allagash827]

Problem. My water has turned a shade of light green, not cloudy, over night. My CYA has shot up to 90 from 25 unless my test is wrong. I have been dumping bleach in but still have a very low chlorine level. My numbers are:
FC-.6
CC-1.2
PH-7.7
TA-110
CYA-90
Need help.

 

[durandetto]

I'd say you need a better test kit or you misread it somehow. If you're just adding bleach your cya shouldn't change at all. And don't trust the pool store tests.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[allagash827]

I just had the CYA read at a pool store. They tell me it's at 40 ppm. I'm using one of the recommended Taylor kits. So, I'll chock "my" high CYA reading up to poor eye sight. The pool store has just sold me 4 bags of Fresh 'n clear. According to Leslies, I have too much dead chlorine in the pool. This stuff is some type of potassium something or other that should remove the dead chlorine. My new numbers according to the store, prior to adding fresh 'n clear, are:
FC-0
TAC-0
CC-1.2
PH-7.8
TA-100
CYA-40
CH-120
TDS-750
My question is, should I add this fresh 'n clear? If not what do I do?

 

[RobbieH]

There's no such thing as "Dead Chlorine".

Fresh N Clear is an oxidizer, you won't need it.

You've been Pool Stored. Recommend you take it back.

Right now you have to decide whether to follow the pool store's directions, or the instruction you get here. The two won't mix.

 

[allagash827]

I don't know if I've been pool stored but I still have greenish water overnight after adding gallons of chlorine. Sooo something is going wrong.

 

[RobbieH]

When you say you are using a recommended taylor kit, to measure FC are you using a scoop of powder and then drops to turn from pink to clear, or are you using a color block then using drops to turn the water from clear to yellow or red? The tests are very different, and it's possible that the ones that use color blocks, especially the red, will not give you accurate measurements at high FC levels.

It is also possible you have metals in the pool. Can you post a picture of the water? Do you fill from a city source or from a well?

It's common for the folks at the pool store to not know how to use the test equipment (even the ones with lasers), and most the time they've never maintained a pool.

 

[RobbieH]

Been thinking, I bet by "dead chlorine" they are thinking CCs. Plain old bleach and sunlight will cure that issue. But you need to fix the cause of the CCs, not just Band-Aid fix the symptom (CCs in pool).

 

[allagash827]

I'm using Taylor k-2006 with the scoop. My numbers closely match the pool store, with the exception of CYA. I'll assume my read was off on that one. I've tried to add a photo. Not sure if it comes out.

 

[allagash827]

Can anyone offer some advice for this issue or is this so unique of a problem it's beyond the board abilities. Or am I looking in the wrong spot. I thought the idea of this board and the BBB method was to offer solutions for the "pool stored" consumer? I'm given the choice on this board of the pool store advice or the boards. What advice have you given so far? That's my point. It's agravating to turn to this board only to get no advice in a time of need. I'm not trying to be critical just looking for help and answers. This goes for today's post not earlier ones. I've followed earlier advice.

 

[Soupy]

Now that you have a proper test kit, you need to follow the shock process in pool school. All the chlorine you've added to the pool has been used up killing algae. To get the best results when shocking the pool you need to repeatedly test for chlorine and add more chlorine, and do it as often as you can, hourly when possible. You don't kill algae by adding chlorine and walking away, you kill algae by keeping the pool at shock level. Initially the chlorine will be used up as quickly as you add it, which is why you need to test and dose frequently at first.

That's why it's basically impossible to shock properly until you got a proper test kit, because you need to test and add faster than the algae uses up chlorine, which isn't really possible without a good test kit. Now that you have the K2006, you are good to go!

 

[allagash827]

Is it possible that there is too much chlorine in the pool? If so could this give me a false low chlorine reading? Thanks for your advice. Pools can be very trying at times.

 

[alanpaul]

Allagash,
Your problem is not at all unique. It is the most common issue on the forum, always.

First off, if your posted test levels are correct, you have NO Free Chlorine in your pool. Free Chlorine is what kills the algae. You have none.

You DO have Combined Chlorine. That indicates your Free Chlorine has been used up killing algae.

As long as you've little or no Free Chlorine in the water, the algae is GROWING, faster and faster. The only way to get rid of it is to kill it faster than it grows. Here, that's currently called The Shock Process.

On June 25 you were told what to do. Right? To get the Free Chlorine level to 15, and hold it there, by continually adding chlorine. To check it by testing. We thought you understood.

Then you disappeared for nearly a week, and returned aggravated. Totally frustrated. And it's understandable.

You see, we have no idea what, if anything, you may have done during that time.

Did you follow The Shock Process in Pool School?

Have you read Pool School? It takes several readings to understand the information. That is the basis for everything discussed and recommended here. It's not magic. But it does require some learning. And some work.

The only solution for you, the Pool-Stored consumer is to take charge of your pool yourself, with acquired knowledge from Pool School, and this forum to guide you as you learn.

But first you must decide whether you wish to be responsible for your pool, or you want somebody else to be responsible.

The assistance you require is not beyond the board's abilities. In fact, it's a multiple-times-daily occurrence.
If you require assistance, please continue to provide current test results, and report back what you are doing/have done, and what is changing.

Read Pool School, with special attention to THE SHOCK PROCESS. Take notes or print it out for your use.

That's where you start. THE SHOCK PROCESS. Read it. Do it. Use Pool Calculator.

NOTE: . . .Shock is not a one-day bag of powder to toss into your pool, unless you're a store owner who wants to rip off customers. (That kind of product is to toss in after high bather load to give a little boost to your chlorine; no different than several ounces of bleach.)

We've all been exactly where you are. Now you are here, and we are here for you.

You're moving in the right direction!

 

[allagash827]

Well for starters I have followed the advice and printed it out along with ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and the Basic Pool Care Schedule. After the initial post I stopped adding huge amounts for a day or two, until my new tester arrived. Since it arrive I have been adding chlorine at a rate of almost 6-8.25% gallons per night. Only to be stopped by mosquitos and darkness. Really I did not disappear. Still I can not get the levels above .5 or up to 15 as suggested. My concern is that my pool has gone from cloudy blue to almost clear to now clear with a sudden greenish tint. Should I start adding chlorine to the tune of 10 or 15 gallons per night to bring up the levels? According to the calculator I only needed 240 oz or so to reach 15. I added 720 ounces and still didn't get a chlorine reading. I am trying to give this thing the time it needs. I just don't want to go overboard with more than the recommended dose suggested by the calculator. Is it possible to be adding too much chlorine?