My beautiful green swamp that has turned yellow

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mdb_007

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Jul 13, 2013
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Kind of new to pool maintenance. My pool has been green for months and I started the shocking process a month ago and have wasted a lot of money because I was ignorant to my pool size now that I know what it is and have a good test kit (Taylor k-2006). I have read a lot about FC and CC and TC. Currently my CC is higher than my FC and I have seen where you need to raise your chlorine to 10 times your CC, with my current readings this seems too high, any info is much appreciated.

FC 9.0
CC 10
pH 7.6
TA 200
CH 400
CYA < 30

Starting out today TC and FC was zero. Since then within 5 hours the following have been added:

484 fl oz of 8.25% Bleach
540 fl oz of Outdoor Bleach (percentage unknown)
2 lbs of Pool Time Shock Extra Blue (63.05% Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione)
 
Welcome to TFP!

Mostly it sounds like you are off to a good start. However, you don't want to be using outdoor bleach. It contains additives that you are better off not putting in the pool and has a lower percentage of chlorine. You also should work on getting CYA up to about 30. With CYA really low you will be losing a lot of your chlorine to sunlight instead of fighting algae (at least when the sun is up).

The entire 10x the CC level rule is complete nonsense, just a myth that is based on a misunderstanding. What you should be doing is mainlining the pool at shock level, which is based on your CYA level. With CYA where it is, shock level is around 10.
 
mdb_007 said:
Kind of new to pool maintenance. My pool has been green for months and I started the shocking process a month ago and have wasted a lot of money because I was ignorant to my pool size now that I know what it is and have a good test kit (Taylor k-2006). I have read a lot about FC and CC and TC. Currently my CC is higher than my FC and I have seen where you need to raise your chlorine to 10 times your CC, with my current readings this seems too high, any info is much appreciated.Was this from Pool School?

FC 9.0
CC 10
pH 7.6
TA 200
CH 400
CYA < 30need to get this up a bit

Starting out today TC and FC was zero. Since then within 5 hours the following have been added:

484 fl oz of 8.25% Bleach
540 fl oz of Outdoor Bleach (percentage unknown)Not a good thing, unless you like foam in your pool
2 lbs of Pool Time Shock Extra Blue (63.05% Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione)
Click to expand...

You are on the right track with the bleach, just not the outdoor stuff. That has additives like detergents and thickeners that you don't want in your pool (at least I don't want in mine!).
 
Hey thanks for the quick reply. Should I increase CYA to around 30 or should I try to maintain shock level at 10, or do both and if I get CYA to around 30 what would the shock level be? Is shock level reading FC, CC, or TC?
 
So I added Cyanuric Acid the amount required to bring it up to 30, assuming it was somewhere around 20 b/c my test kit would not register the level but the black dot was slightly visible at 30. I have still been adding bleach and the FC is staying around 2-4 ppm, I can't get it up to 13ppm, and the CC is dropping it is currently 8 ppm I am guessing the CYA level is still below 30. The water is a cloudy greyish color now. I have been brushing the sides and bottoms, I just brushed the bottom with a net to pull up debris brushed off and there was some green/brown algae that stuck to the net.

From what I have read when you test your FC at night then again in the morning and it holds all the algae is dead. If my pool is gray does that mean that currently my shock level is around 3 ppm and my CYA level is more than likely around 5-10?
If my FC holds around 3 ppm till in the morning can I flock the pool and have it clear up faster. I am trying to get it clear by Tuesday night. Is this possible?
Should I add chlorine tablets so that it adds chlorine and CYA?
 
You have drifted off course. You should be SLAMming the pool with high dosages of chlorine. Get it to 13 ppm.

read "SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain" in the How To section of Pool School. Follow it precisely.
 
I have been adding the recommended amount of bleach using the pool calculator and the FC is not increasing, I just used the calculator and it said add 1 gallon, well I added 2 we will see what happens.
 

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pwrstrk said:
That means something is eating the chlorine up.
Click to expand...

I agree--there is something organic in your water that is using up all that chlorine that you are putting in. Your CYA is [eta: just below] 30, just like you tested. The CYA will not prevent the chlorine from going up. That's not how it works. It helps keep chlorine in reserve when the UV from the sun tries to gobble it up, but that reserve chlorine will also show up on the test. So, that doesn't explain the low chlorine test result. There's something that is using up the chlorine.

Chlorine works by attacking organic matter (algae, leaves, pollen, and so forth). You have something clouding up your pool water. Just keep checking the chlorine like the SLAM instructions say to and keep adding bleach according to the PoolCalculator.

Eventually, you will see higher FC numbers because the chlorine will have killed whatever it is that is clouding up your pool. Keep the faith, you're on the right track!
 

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