Help!

[arin]

Thank you TFP for a helpful site. I have had my new pool for 5 months now without any headaches at all. On the other hand my neighbor has some issues from bad pool store advise and is finally ready to commit to the BBB method or from my experience Bleach Baking Soda and Acid. We tested early today: FC-0 ,CC-.4, TA-70, CYA-50, PH-7.2. He neglected his chemicals for a month with a solar cover on, when he pulled the cover off he had what he thought was calcification on his pool walls and along water line. His concrete pool sides felt rough to the touch and the water line had white around it. Un-named pool store starting with an 'L' tested his water gave him a bottle of calcium remover ($40.00) told him to run his FC to zero and maintain his PH. Our initial thought was to bring FC back inline (7) and see if the cloudy water would clear up. He also has a brown dust settling on benches in the pool. We bumped FC to 7 and the water didn't clear at all so we decided to SLAM and OCLT. Asking to see if we are on the right track and he has a built in spa which I don't have so we would like to know if while running pump 24hrs. should we also circulate spa. Thank you in advance for your advise!

 

[Richard320]

Hard to know without the CH reading. Did the L-store give you those results, or are those your own, and what tester did you use to get them?

Anytime you're treating the water you should treat all the water, so run the spa.

 

[arin]

Those are our test results today. I didn't do CH test today I assumed his calcification issue was from PH being neglected for a month in a pool thats 5 months old. New pool constantly climbing PH.

 

[arin]

Tested CH 380. FC dropped from 20 to 13.5 in a few hours added Chlorine to push FC back to 20.

 

[RobbieH]

So far it sounds like you are on the right track. A drop that drastic in weather this cool to me is indicative of an organic in the pool. CH of 380 is manageable. Richard is your expert on CH, that's for sure!

 

[arin]

Thanks for the advise! He tested FC this am. it dropped from 20 to 17.5 overnight, we pushed it back to 20 and will re-test at lunch. He also tested CH again and came back with 360? Don't understand that drop maybe just a testing error between the 360 and 380 result??

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for the advise! He tested FC this am. it dropped from 20 to 17.5 overnight, we pushed it back to 20 and will re-test at lunch. He also tested CH again and came back with 360? Don't understand that drop maybe just a testing error between the 360 and 380 result??

That's reasonable. For that matter, you can follow the extended directions and use a 10 ml sample which will save reagent and time and would likely produce a CH reading of 375.

Once you get the thing to hold FC and pass the overnight test, let the Fc drop below 10 and get another pH reading. Odds are, if the pool is brushed regularly and the pH is kept towards the low end, some of that roughness will dissolve.

 

[arin]

Thanks for the advice guys water is clearing nicely! Just to clarify Richard would say low end PH at 7.2-7.4 to help dissolve roughness?

 

[Richard320]

yes.

 

[arin]

Need a bit more direction. We are dealing with rain through the slam process which worries us because we are not sure we will get a good OCLT test. Also the brown dust thats settling on benches and bottom seems to be minimizing slightly but not going away. We are worried about potential mustard algae and and concerned? Any suggestions?

 

[Richard320]

Just keep SLAMming as well as you can through the storm. Once any algae is dead the drop will be slight, especially since there won't be a lot of sunlight, so bleach consumption should be minimal. Tip: use a short piece of 1/2" PVC pipe as a pipette to get your water sample from deep in the pool, away from the rain dilution.

 

[arin]

Thanks again Richard!!