SLAM questions

[brianmott8]

A little background, a few weeks ago my pool turned the dreaded green. At that time I was relying on my pool store to help. So, I kept putting in pound after pound of the shock material I bought from them. It appeared as if all was dead. but the pool was not clearing up. They had me floc it which made the water crystal, for a couple of days. Then, the pH jumped and the water became cloudy. The next day, the green returned.

I found this site and decided to try to do it myself, based on the SLAM process. Since I did not have bleach yet and wanted to get a jump start, I dumped in a lot of the shock (5 lbs on Sunday morning, another 4 on Sunday night, and 5 more on Monday) without measuring chlorine. Normally this much would add about 28 ppm to my pool. Monday after my wife bought the bleach, the green was gone, replaced with the milky white of dead algae and the FC was only 10. (I was at work at the time.) I had them add bleach to get it to shock level (about FC=18 based on CYA=14). We kept it there all week (brushing sides and vacuuming) until finally we got CC=0 and overnight FC drop was negligible. The water had cleared up a bunch, but was still cloudy.

So, here we are now. Water is still cloudy, but much better. We can actually see the pool's main drain, but it is still hazy. My questions:

1. Should I still be maintaining shock levels of chlorine at this point, or can I let it come down to normal level?
2. When can we use the pool? Do we need to wait for the water to clear up? My kids ask ever day if they can swim. Is there anything I can do to speed up this portion of the process?
3. We had a bunch of thunderstorms yesterday. When I measured the FC levels, it had dropped significantly during the day. We still had some FC left, but not much. I added bleach to bring it up to normal FC level (FC=8). Could the rain bring down my FC level or do I still have a problem? Do I need to bring it back to shock level?
4. Not exactly algae, but my pool pH tends to go high. I am adding acid on a regular basis (nearly ever other day) to keep it down. What can be causing this?

Thanks all for your help in advance.

Brian

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol:

1. Yes, you should still be at shock value. You can stop the process when....

1. Your pool water is sparkling
2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less
3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.

2. You can swim any time you like in FC values up to shock level.

3. Rain has less affect on pools than most people think.

4. You need to post a complete set of test results for us to comment accurately on your pool water chemistry.

How did you get a CYA = 14 ppm? None of the dependable tests go that low.

Depending on what was in the "Shock" you dumped in, that may be contributing to your cloudiness. Done is done but you really should test and dose more carefully to be a BBB'r.

 

[Charlie_R]

Do you have your own test kit? Or are you relying on the PS for your testing? Where did you get the CYA of 14?

If your pool is still cloudy, you have not passed the OCLT.

What was in the "shock" product you were using?

1. yes

2. when you can CLEARLY see all of the bottom of the pool

3. bring it back to shock level

4. What is your TA and CH?

Please post valid test results, NOT from pool store or test strips.

Edit -- Looks like we both posted simultaneously, with essentially the same advice......

 

[karmabiker]

Keep SLAMing your pool until you pass all 3 of the tests outlined in the SLAM process.

Do you know what the chemical composition of the "shock" was?

Could you post a full set of test numbers? That will do the most to help us assist and to discern what effect the bags of "shock" had on your chemistry. Depending on the contents of the shock bags you may have an even higher target FC for SLAMing.


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[karmabiker]

Chuckle. 3 posts with basically the same advice less than 10 min from the OP at 6am. There are major software companies that would
KILL for that kind of tech support.


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[brianmott8]

Cya was 45. It was a misprint on my part. I have a Taylor kit, I think k-2005.

The shock product was a 65% available chlorine dichlor product. I used that last week Sunday and Monday morning. Used bleach the rest of the week to keep it at 18 ppm.

We will increase it back to 18 ppm until we get clear water.

I will post other numbers later today when I can test them. TA has always been around 100-120 and CH generally at 120-130. I will confirm these later by testing. I will also recheck CYA if I have enough reagent left.

Thanks for the quick responses. I figured I could count on all of you here for some good fast advice.

Brian

 

[Isaac-1]

Something sounds wrong here, in your size pool every 10 pounds of dichlor will raise CYA by 22 ppm, so far you have mentioned adding at least 15 pounds, and said this was after the pool store had you add, pound after pound.

 

[Donldson]

Isaac-1 is right, if you just added dichlor this weekend the effects probably wouldn't have shown up yet on the test and you may have a level more along the lines of 70. If so your shock level is more like 28 than 18, which would be slowing the process up. You are going to want to get more reagent if you need it, you need to recheck it your level for sure.

 

[techguy]

Right after adding CYA and for about a week, it won't appear in testing but it will effect your chlorine balance. Since you added so much stabilized chlorine you added that much stabilizer. For your shock levels, you need to use the higher FC targets or replace some of the water with fresh, clean fill water.

 

[brianmott8]

I need to get my facts straight. There were some old containers of dichlor around, but my shock is calcium hypo. That is what I had added.

Also, it was not last weekend when I added the shock product, it was the weekend before last.

My wife is trying the cya test. I also am going to pick up more reagent. I think I am going to get a better Cl test as well. Mine is not great for Cl > 5 ppm.

I will post all test results later.

Again, thanks for the help so far.

 

[techguy]

You may find the TF100 to be more cost effective than buying CYA reagent and a stand alone DPDFAS test. The TF kit includes a larger amount of reagent than most other brands kits.

If you were using a CalHypo shock, your CYA sounds like it may be OK, or at least better than feared. When you are doing the CYA, you can fill the tube, make a reading and then pour it back into the slacker and repeat the test as many times as you want, with as many people reading the test as you desire. I normally pour it back and forth 2-4 times. Until I get a consistent reading.

 

[Donldson]

Caught in your own web of lies Let that be a lesson

Yes, if you were adding cal-hypo then it's not as dire as if it was Dichlor. Running another CYA test is a good idea either way, make sure you are SLAMing at the right level.

So should I assume your CL test is OTO, as in "50 shades of yellow"? If yes you want an FAS/DPD test.

 

[brianmott8]

My wife says cya is less than 30 (the lowest mark on the tester). But there is some because the test solution is cloudy just not enough to "cover the dot".

I ordered the tf100 kit. As suggested, it looks more economical than buying the stand alone fas-dpd test.

I will keep bleach at shock level at least until I get the new test kit.

Just to confirm, we can swim even with it being a little cloudy without upsetting the SLAM process?

Once again, thanks.

 

[Butterfly]

You can swim up to normal shock level, as long as the water is clear enough to see swimmers underwater. Swimming during the SLAM process will just slow it down a little. Rinse off before and after the swim.

 

[techguy]

I say swim and keep up your passion for the pool. It will only motivate you as you see it get better looking during the slam process.

As stated, it's safe to swim up to shock levels for your CYA. Your new kit will allow you to measure down to 20 CYA but for now, assume you have 30PPM for your SLAM targets.

 

[Isaac-1]

Note lighting conditions are critical for good readings on the CYA test, it should be done outdoors in sunlight with the sun to your back, and view tube held at waist level.

 

[brianmott8]

Again, thanks for the help. Here is my current full results.

FC ~20
CC ~0
pH 8
TA 90
CH 130
CYA <30 (but there is some)

I should have my new kit tomorrow and can get more precise Cl measurements.

I can't seem to keep my pH down. But, I do know that bleach is a base, so adding it is part of the reason for the high pH.

Gonna keep SLAMing until I pass all three tests. Any other advice at this point?

 

[karmabiker]

Spot on, keep SLAMing. Keep in mind that your pH is probably not 8. The test is not accurate when the FC is in SLAM range. Adjust your pH after the pool comes back out of SLAM if it needs it.

 

[Isaac-1]

pH readings will likely be showing a false high reading anytime FC is above 10, our general advice is to ignore pH testing when at shock levels over 10 ppm