(yet another) first time pool owner in need of advice

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PatsFan

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Aug 23, 2013
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First off, thanks for reading.

I am the proud owner of my first pool. We moved in about 2 months ago, since then the pool has been mostly ok, though never quite clear (a bit cloudy). 2 weeks ago we went on vacation (I loaded up on chlorine tablets beforehand...which I suspect was my mistake), and upon return the pool was a bit cloudier than it had been, I took sample to local pool place, was told to add muriatic acid and shock it, which I did. Now for the past 5 days my pool is green. I can see the bottom, but barely.

I found this site a few nights ago, did some reading and immediately ordered a test kit, it arrived today. Here's what i'm dealing with:

FC- 23
CC - 3
pH - 7.8
TA - 120
CH - 360
CYA - 100

Based on what i've read here, I think my CYA is way too high, and my CH is a little high, and that means I have to replace some of my water (about a third?)...I was hoping to avoid that as I hate wasting water, but if I have to, I will.

Before I do that, I just want to make sure I am not missing something, Thanks in advance for any help!

BTW, I already plan to stop using the tablets (at least not regularly) and switching to liquid chlorine, as I suspect those tablets (trichlor) are what raised the CYA level so high (I did have that little adjuster up pretty high on the feed tube while on vacation).
 
Welcome to tfp, PatsFan :wave:

Your CH isn't too bad, but you are right your cya is too high. The cya test starts to become quite inaccurate up at 100 ppm. I would repeat the test with half pool water and half cya free water (tap water is fine for this). The result you get will be ~half of your cya level, so multiply that by 2 to see what your real level is. If it is around 100 then you should do about 50% drain/refill since we would recommend you lower your cya to 50 ppm.

Next, your 3 ppm of CC indicates the need for the SLAM process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool I would lower your ph down to 7.2-7.4 before starting the SLAM process.

PatsFan said:
I suspect those tablets (trichlor) are what raised the CYA level so high
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Yep
 
Welcome to TFP :wave:

linen said:
Next, your 3 ppm of CC indicates the need for the SLAM process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool I would lower your ph down to 7.2-7.4 before starting the SLAM process.
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I agree with this, just want to point out that with an FC above 10 you will get an artificially high pH reading. You will have to let your FC come down and retest your pH and adjust accordingly.

You will want to bring your CYA down to 30-40 and then SLAM the pool. After you successfully complete your SLAM (all 3 criteria passed) you can use tablets occasionally, just keep an eye on your CYA level when you do and keep it under 50. After you get all the organics out and keep a proper FC/CYA ratio you will find your pool behaving much better!
 
Thanks all!

As much as I hated doing it (wasteful and expensive), I have drained about half the pool, still draining now as I figured I'd better just get it right the first time, so I'm targeting about 70%.

Linen, I took your advice and diluted with tap water and did another cya test, came out to 140.

In the meantime, I am reading pool school (again) and getting ready to slam this thing back into usefulness.
 
With a CYA of 140, draining 70% will get you down to right around 40 which will be great for doing a SLAM. It should also lower your FC below 10 so it would be a good time to check and adjust your PH as well.

Since you're in Florida, once you're all done and back to clear sparkling water, you've had a chance to get accustomed to your kit and maintaining your pool with bleach/liquid chlorine, and depending on your daily FC loss to sunlight, you might want to look at raising your CYA back up just a bit. If you find you're losing quite a bit of FC during the day bumping the CYA back up some could make maintenance easier.
 
Well, I'm more than a little disappointed. After draining what I estimated was 70% of the pool and refilling, I just retested, here are new results:

FC - 8.5
CC - 0.5
pH - 7.5
TA - 130
CH - 310
CYA - 60-70 (it was right in the middle)


It definitely lowered the CYA, but not as much as I had hoped it would. I am going to have to go with where it is and try to lower it over time with some smaller drains and refills as I don't want to waste all the water.

So now I am about to try to lower my pH to around 7.2 and then start the slam process. Wish me luck!
 
7.5 is OK for slam if you want to leave it there....7.2 is just fine, too.

SLAM at 60-70 CYA will consume a lot of chlorine but follow the process EXACTLY (you must keep your chlorine up around 30 ppm) and it will work.
 
PatsFan said:
Well, I'm more than a little disappointed. After draining what I estimated was 70% of the pool and refilling, I just retested, here are new results:

FC - 8.5
CC - 0.5
pH - 7.5
TA - 130
CH - 310
CYA - 60-70 (it was right in the middle)


It definitely lowered the CYA, but not as much as I had hoped it would. I am going to have to go with where it is and try to lower it over time with some smaller drains and refills as I don't want to waste all the water.

So now I am about to try to lower my pH to around 7.2 and then start the slam process. Wish me luck!
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Good luck. I feel your pain. I did two partial changes to get to a CYA level of 60. At least now you know what you are doing and how to avoid the problem in the future. A CYA of 60 is manageable as long as you stay on top of it. My water has never been clearer as it has the last month or so since I got a test kit and read Pool School.
 
I guess I added a little more chlorine than I needed ( I did use the pool calculator). I added it around 2 and 1/2 hours ago and just did a new fc test and it's at 34 (my target was 30). My pH now reads 8.2 (I started at 7.2), but if what I read is correct that is expected (a false high pH reading when FC is very high)...so in short, I think I am ok for now. Will give it a couple more hours and test again to see where I am.

Really hoping this works!!
 

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Really hoping this works!!
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It will. It has worked for thousands of us and it will work for you.

When it fails, it is virtually ALWAYS because folks do not keep the FC at proper value throughout the SLAM process. Don't forget to brush, vacuum. Run your pump 24/7 and clean your filter as necessary.

You are correct on pH. Absolutely no reason to test anything else except FC and CC until your SLAM is complete.
 
If you're sure that you're inputting the correct amount and percentage of chlorine in pool calculator yet its resulting in a higher than expected/targeted level then your pool volume estimate is a bit high. Try adjusting/reducing the volume in the pool calculator by a thousand or two gallons at a time until the results measured in the pool are closer to whats calculated.
 
duraleigh said:
It will. It has worked for thousands of us and it will work for you.
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Well, so far it is looking INFINITELY better! No more green!! It is still quite cloudy, but a huge improvement. I am going to keep the SLAM process up for now, and keep testing until it's nice and clear.

Thanks to all for the help!
 
PatsFan said:
duraleigh said:
It will. It has worked for thousands of us and it will work for you.
Click to expand...

Well, so far it is looking INFINITELY better! No more green!! It is still quite cloudy, but a huge improvement. I am going to keep the SLAM process up for now, and keep testing until it's nice and clear.

Thanks to all for the help!
Click to expand...

Yes. Stay on top of it and it WILL clear. As mentioned don't forget the manual labor of brushing and watching the filter. Get the stuff on the walls and bottom suspended in the water so the chlorine can do its job.

You're at the point where youre filtering dead stuff so keep those FC levels sustained and watch your filter pressure and clean/backwash as needed.

It works. You're water is not clear. Continue to SLAM as clear water is required to stop along with Cc .5 or less and importantly OCLT 1 or less. Once you pass all 3 you're done. Don't let up until you pass all 3.
 
spidey07 said:
PatsFan said:
duraleigh said:
It will. It has worked for thousands of us and it will work for you.
Click to expand...

Well, so far it is looking INFINITELY better! No more green!! It is still quite cloudy, but a huge improvement. I am going to keep the SLAM process up for now, and keep testing until it's nice and clear.

Thanks to all for the help!
Click to expand...

Yes. Stay on top of it and it WILL clear. As mentioned don't forget the manual labor of brushing and watching the filter. Get the stuff on the walls and bottom suspended in the water so the chlorine can do its job.

You're at the point where youre filtering dead stuff so keep those FC levels sustained and watch your filter pressure and clean/backwash as needed.

It works. You're water is not clear. Continue to SLAM as clear water is required to stop along with Cc .5 or less and importantly OCLT 1 or less. Once you pass all 3 you're done. Don't let up until you pass all 3.
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Yup, i'm following the written process to a T. Brushed today, checked pressure a couple times, and tested a sample after dark to compare with a sample tomorrow morning.
 
You're on your way to troublefreepool then.

Once you get past this all you need to do is keep your FC up for your CYA and watch your ph.

It's a daunting task at first but you are taking control of your pool. Soon you will be able to judge your water quickly by testing and how it looks.

I spend at most 2 hours a week keeping my pool troublefreepool. That includes vacuuming and cleaning. And testing.
 
spidey07 said:
You're on your way to troublefreepool then.

Once you get past this all you need to do is keep your FC up for your CYA and watch your ph.

It's a daunting task at first but you are taking control of your pool. Soon you will be able to judge your water quickly by testing and how it looks.

I spend at most 2 hours a week keeping my pool troublefreepool. That includes vacuuming and cleaning. And testing.
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I can't wait to be at that point!!
 

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