Newbie trying to solve a few problems

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S

Smeade

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LifeTime Supporter
May 25, 2014
47
Ft. Wright, KY
Hi everyone! Just discovered TFP a few days ago when researching how to get stains out of my pool. So glad to have found you ( tired of being "pool-stored").

Here's what I can tell you about my pool:

24K gallon gunite pool with plaster (pool is 30 years old +/-, plaster redone two years ago)
DE filter replaced two years ago, pump older than that but can't remember offhand how old

Had huge algae problem at opening, used algaecide/liquid shock
Water tested at pool store, TA 52 (added TA Increaser), CH low, added CH increaser, CYA at 32, pH was 8.6 but I was told that fixing one of the other problems (don't remember which) would help with that.

Retested two days later, pH 8.4, TA 119, CH 211, CYA 12
Added pH decreaser, also purchased Stain Free and Metal Free to fix metal stains in bottom of pool (didn't help at all). Water looked beautiful but stains didn't!

Today (tested at home with non-approved TFP test kit):
Chlorine close to zero
pH 7.2
TA 90

I want to do Ascorbic Acid treatment, but am facing an algae bloom. Added algaecide this morning to try to keep it from getting out of hand. Will order appropriate test kit this afternoon but probably won't get it until the end of the week.

In what order should I attack these problems? Trying to get everything under control and swim ready by June 7 (party at my house).

Thanks in advance for advice!!

Stephanie
Ft. Wright, KY
 
Stephanie,
2 things to tackle out of the gate:
Order a good test kit (tf100 - see my signature or the link in pool school)
Read pool school and the abc's of water chemistry

Once you get your test kit and we have numbers we can trust we will guide you through clearing your pool.

... And skip the algaecide it's not needed.

The only chemistry you will likely use in the near future is bleach ( aka liquid chlorination or liquid shock at the pool store ) and muriatic acid.

Welcome to TFP!

Chris


Just saw that you ordered the test kit already ( missed that ... Sorry ).
 
With the fluctuating cya level ( which it wouldn't without 50% water replacement ) it's impossible to know what your CL level should be ... Much less your slam cl level. ... Typical pool store results, just can't trust them.

For what it is worth I would try to maintain a cl of 5 until the tf100 arrives. If cya is 12 that will help keep the algae at bay, if cya is 32 you are still in the range of "good"

Sorry for doing this in multiple posts ... I have a sleeping 3 month old in my arms and am working from an iPad :). It's a beautiful Sunday morning.
 
I'll add that if it were me I'd tackle the algae/SLAM first (once your test kit arrives) if you want to try to have the pool ready for June 7. The stains might be ugly but they wont hurt anyone. I'd get the water cleared up and beautiful and sparkly first...have a party :party:...then deal with the stains after that. :)
 
Welcome! :wave:

I can see you've been reading and picking up our lingo. :goodjob:

I'll just pile on and say clear algae-free water is priority. Those stains might even be organic and they could fade with the high FC levels needed to kill an algae bloom. Of course, they could also get worse if the pool store sold you any copper-based algaecide. Pretty neat trick, huh? Sell you something to create a mess, and then sell you something to clean it!
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I have been reading and trying to learn, but in some ways it's like trying to drink out of a fire hose. Lots of great info and very helpful people. I'm guilty of trying to do everything at once and want to see results immediately (put chemical in, stand at pool's edge waiting to see it work).

For now I have some chlorine and am ordering a good test kit. That will have to be enough for a few days until my kit comes in. Then the fun begins!
 
A picture of the stains in the shallow end of the pool. This was last week (Monday?). The scum is from algaecide



This picture is more or less the same thing, taken today. Again, scum is algaecide (bottle is empty, so no more of that!)



Last picture is the whole pool, cloudy water and everything, taken today.



One reason I think these are not organic stains is that I put a tri-chlor puck directly on the stain for half an hour or so and no bleaching at all. That should have been long enough to see some kind of change, yes?




.
 

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Okay. Finally got my test kit, assuming I tested correctly, my results are as follows:

FC 3.5
CC 0
CYA <30 (black dot got a little cloudy but didn't disappear before tube was full)
CH 250
TA 120
pH 7.8

Am I right to say that based on CYA (which is too low), chlorine is okay. Pool water is clear, no signs of algae. TA is high but not to worry for now. pH is high, need muriatic acid to lower, whatever pool math says is the right amount (I haven't plugged in the numbers yet). Any other thoughts/concerns? I'll test frequently in the beginning for practice (and its fun!) and keep an eye on things.

The secondary concern was the staining. And because I know you like pictures:
The pool overall



The most obvious/worst staining:



There's one big whiter blotch to the right of center in the picture where I put 250 500mg Vitamin C tablets in a sock and let them dissolve over 45 minutes or so. Left a dark gray patch in the middle of a whiter patch in the stain. You can also see the distinct outline of a leaf just below the center of the photo (there are a few other similar "outlines"). Would this lead one to believe I have a lot of scaling and a leaf was on the bottom of the pool so the scale didn't form there? Would the AA treatment be the best choice, or drop the pH to 6.8 and brush like a madwoman? With the party coming up, I don't want to start anything that would leave the water cloudy. I don't think anyone will be swimming, just admiring my crystal-clear water!

I originally thought the guy who did the replastering did a terrible job (Diamond Brite, lots of mottling, streaks, grey patches, white spots). Now I wonder if it was poor instructions for care after the refill and we should have done a better job with the water balancing. I guess it doesn't matter. It holds water. Maybe with time and good water chemistry we can get some of those stains out.

P.S. To clear up any confusion in my pool capacity, I found the original drawings of my pool (from 1975, two homeowners ago) which indicates 25,000 gallons. I fixed it in my signature, but older posts say 24k.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I have certainly learned a lot waiting for my kit and reading pretty much every post on the forum. Not all of them, but close!
 
I think the AA treatment is going to be the best course of action. Personally I would wait until after the party, it could take a bit (and algae bloom) to get the pool back under control after being FC 0 for the AA treatment.

Low pH and brushing like mad will help with scale ... but it really really takes time and a low CSI.

Bump your CYA up to 40 (small incitements here - add enough to bring it up 10 and test in a week) put the CYA in a sock - put the sock in a skimmer. squeeze it occasionally.

A little MA to bring your pH down to 7.5

looks good overall. just some fine tuning
:goodjob:
 
Okay, so I have my test kit, am getting comfortable with the process, getting over the need to test EVERYTHING every day (but it's fun!). Here are my numbers today:
FC 2.5, down from 4.5 this morning and 5.0 the night before (trying to keep it around 5-6 but still learning to finesse this part)
CC 0 (have not tested anything BUT zero in the week I've had my kit)
pH 7.0 (brought it down some from this morning's 7.6, but overshot a little, trying to keep it low to help lower TA)
TA steady at 120
CH at 260
CYA 40

Just back washed the filter because the water is looking a little cloudy in the deep end and I don't know why. Only one swimmer. We got quite a bit of rain the last couple of days, don't know if that's the problem or not. The water had been looking crystal clear. Do I need to SLAM or wait for the refreshed filter to take care of things?

Also, as I brush (every day that we don't have lightening), grey dust comes off the floor. Not great quantities, just a little every day (I don't vacuum every day, so could be the same dust, I'm just pushing it around).

Thoughts?
 
Keep doing what you're doing. If you always seem to come up short on FC, maybe you're not targeting high enough. Since you overshot on pH, I think your pool is smaller than you thought. Just work on fine tuning the dosing and keep brushing. I get an awful lot of dust in my pool that isn't really noticeable until someone stirs it up by swimming or brushing.
 
You're chlorine is low. I wouldn't necessarily SLAM but I'd go with an elevated chlorine level of 7ppm for the next few days to see how that clears it up. I would also keep brushing the pool, especially the deep end. :goodjob:
 
Thank you for your responses, Richard and Casey. Richard, overshooting the pH was probably user error and not measuring carefully. Good to know I don't need to SLAM quite yet. I'll keep a closer eye on the chlorine and target a little higher for a bit and see what happens. Thanks again!
 
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