New pool owner - Cloudy pool w/ algae

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YellowYoshi

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Nov 23, 2013
7
Lake Mary, Florida
Hello, all!

I’ve been lurking around this forum for a little while absorbing as much as I can, and I think I’ve gathered enough information at this point that I’m comfortable with getting to work on my (soon to be) pool.

First, some chemistry as measured by a Taylor K-2006 test kit:

FC - 16ppm
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
TA - 80ppm
CH - 360ppm
CYA - A bit over 100 but I’m not sure by how much. I would guess it’s at 120 or 140. I wasn’t aware of the 1/2 tap water 1/2 pool water method when I performed the test for very high CYAs, but when I get a chance to get back to the pool I will take a more accurate measurement (I’m not full time in the house yet).

I would say that the bottom and sides of the pool are about 1/3 covered in algae right now. Also, the skimmers are completely underwater, and my understanding is that the water level should only go about 1/3 up the skimmer. This is about a 10,000 gallon pool, and I do not yet have a grasp on the condition of the DE filter. It reads 22 psi, but I have no idea what the “starting” pressure is.

So that’s where I am now. Here’s my plan of attack, with some questions sprinkled about:

I need to get the CYA down. My present understanding is that ~40 is a good goal, so I’m probably going to need to drain something like 60% of the pool, then fill it up again with water from the hose.

1) With a gunite pool there’s no problem with draining that 60% of water all at once right? The pool-ruining issues some people have to be careful with don’t apply to me when draining massive amounts of water?

2) I am afraid of doing the drain wrong and breaking my pool pump. I’ve read a bit here and there about “priming” water from the skimmers, but I don’t quite have a handle on how to keep that water there. Around the pump, I see a set of three pipes coming out of the ground, one labeled “Skim”, one labeled “Main”, and one that is not labeled. When I drain the pool, am I supposed to close the “Skim” pipe to keep priming water?

3) Also, I have a solar collector that I can divert the flow of water through. If I have the water going through the solar collector, then shut off the pump, is that going to drain all the water from the collector and cause an issue when I turn the pump back on? Is there a valve I’m supposed to close to keep that “primed” as well?

4) The FC is that high because that’s what’s appropriate for the high CYA, right? I know that the previous owner was using trichlor tablets (or their pool service, I don’t really know how it was taken care of).

5) The sight glass is totally green. Should I clean this out before tackling the algae problem I have?

6) I brushed the pool a bit with the long pool brush and noticed that a lot of stuff that looks like algae isn’t coming off. Is that going to require a more thorough cleaning, or is that just some leftover stain from algae that’s been there before and won’t come out?

7) By the way, when you drain a pool, you just send that out the “waste” pipe, right?

Thank you all for this wonderful forum, and thanks in advance for your time and patience with all these questions!
 
YellowYoshi said:
Hello, all!

I’ve been lurking around this forum for a little while absorbing as much as I can, and I think I’ve gathered enough information at this point that I’m comfortable with getting to work on my (soon to be) pool.
Click to expand...
Welcome! :wave:

First, some chemistry as measured by a Taylor K-2006 test kit:

FC - 16ppm
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
TA - 80ppm
CH - 360ppm
CYA - A bit over 100 but I’m not sure by how much. I would guess it’s at 120 or 140. I wasn’t aware of the 1/2 tap water 1/2 pool water method when I performed the test for very high CYAs, but when I get a chance to get back to the pool I will take a more accurate measurement (I’m not full time in the house yet).
Click to expand...
Excellent start. You have learned much, grasshopper.

I would say that the bottom and sides of the pool are about 1/3 covered in algae right now. Also, the skimmers are completely underwater, and my understanding is that the water level should only go about 1/3 up the skimmer. This is about a 10,000 gallon pool, and I do not yet have a grasp on the condition of the DE filter. It reads 22 psi, but I have no idea what the “starting” pressure is.
Click to expand...
Sounds a little high, very typical if it's clogged with algae. You'll know soon enough if the pressures climbs dramatically and the water flow is weak.

So that’s where I am now. Here’s my plan of attack, with some questions sprinkled about:

I need to get the CYA down. My present understanding is that ~40 is a good goal, so I’m probably going to need to drain something like 60% of the pool, then fill it up again with water from the hose.

1) With a gunite pool there’s no problem with draining that 60% of water all at once right? The pool-ruining issues some people have to be careful with don’t apply to me when draining massive amounts of water?
Click to expand...
WRONG. Florida tends to be low and wet, so the chances of floating your pool are greater than most. http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/68505-News-video-Pool-drained-floats-up-out-of-ground Maybe a quarter of the water at a time. It's less efficient, but it beats floating the pool.

2) I am afraid of doing the drain wrong and breaking my pool pump. I’ve read a bit here and there about “priming” water from the skimmers, but I don’t quite have a handle on how to keep that water there. Around the pump, I see a set of three pipes coming out of the ground, one labeled “Skim”, one labeled “Main”, and one that is not labeled. When I drain the pool, am I supposed to close the “Skim” pipe to keep priming water?
Click to expand...
If you set it to draw from "main" and shut the rest off, you're pulling from the very bottom of the pool and you won't lose prime by sucking air. You can brush all the stuff that way and have it sucked away. And if you have a "waste setting" you're set.

3) Also, I have a solar collector that I can divert the flow of water through. If I have the water going through the solar collector, then shut off the pump, is that going to drain all the water from the collector and cause an issue when I turn the pump back on? Is there a valve I’m supposed to close to keep that “primed” as well?
Click to expand...
I don't have solar. Can't help there.

4) The FC is that high because that’s what’s appropriate for the high CYA, right? I know that the previous owner was using trichlor tablets (or their pool service, I don’t really know how it was taken care of).
Click to expand...
They were probably trying to clear it before the sale.

5) The sight glass is totally green. Should I clean this out before tackling the algae problem I have?
Click to expand...
It should be clear before you try to backwash

6) I brushed the pool a bit with the long pool brush and noticed that a lot of stuff that looks like algae isn’t coming off. Is that going to require a more thorough cleaning, or is that just some leftover stain from algae that’s been there before and won’t come out?
Click to expand...
It could be scale or stains. Once the water is clear, you'll have a better idea. If you can post pictures, that's helpful. I know, too murky for pictures now.

7) By the way, when you drain a pool, you just send that out the “waste” pipe, right?
Click to expand...
yes.

Thank you all for this wonderful forum, and thanks in advance for your time and patience with all these questions!
Click to expand...
Take pictures! We love green-to-clean stories.
 
Thank you for the reply! You might have saved me a great deal of headache :) I'll look to be more safe than sorry and drain only a little bit at a time.

The pool really isn't as green as I made it out to be. In fact, you're right in your guess that they were trying to clear it before the sale. When I first walked up to the house it was a total swamp, and they actually got it most of the way clear. It's slowly reverting back to its old ways now, so I wanted to get a jump on it before it got totally out of hand.

Next time I get out to the house I'll take some pictures and post them. It should be plenty clear enough to give you guys an idea.

By the way, what's the standard way to tell whether a pipe is on or off? Is the water moving when the valve is turned perpendicular or parallel with the pipe? I'm not handy (yet) but this house is my opportunity to change my ways :p

You said that the sight glass should be clear before I try to backwash. Is that generally the case? Will it become clear as I treat the water, then once it's totally clear I'm safe to backwash?

Does anyone else here have a solar collector that can tell whether I should take extra care when turning the pump off and on?
 
Welcome to TFP!

Correctly installed solar panels are designed to drain when the pump is off.

Do you have pool valves or PVC ball valves? Pool valves say "closed" opposite the handle, so they are open when the handle is perpendicular. PVC ball valves are closed when the handle is perpendicular.

Take off the sight glass and clean it. You should only see water in it while backwashing, on waste, or on rinse.
 
YellowYoshi said:
I've brushed my pool pretty thoroughly and the water looks clear, but there's something left over that won't scrub away with my pool brush. Is this yellow mustard algae? It's growing primarily on the steps in my pool. The deep end seems mostly spared.

View attachment 27409
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That sort of looks like scale that's been stained with algae. Once the SLAM process is complete and you can let the FC drop below 10 so the pH reading is accurate, keep the pH towards the low end and brush that stuff with a stainless steel brush. If it is scale, it will dissolve at a glacial pace, but it will disappear. Think months, not days.
 
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