12#s of Green-to-clean

[stillrunning]

Brief history here:

Opened my pool this spring and it was clear with fine dirt on the bottom. Vacuumed it up and the pool remained cloudy with a very small hint of green. I had some of HTH Green to Blue on hand so I used it and water became crystal clear again, but what I was vacuuming was like trying to suck up a cloud, it would just float "up" into the water never to settle.

I started following TFPs advice on BBB. I added the appropriate amount of chlorine and everything turned green within a day. I told the pool store what happened and they sold me 4#s of green-to-clean. It turned the water a milky blue. I double checked my levels and my clorine was nil (after two days of heavy shocking, chlorine was 8), I added some chlorine and again the pool turned green within a day. Rinse and repeat two more times for a total 12#s of green-to-clean within 6 weeks. I went to the green-to-clean website and they said in the FAQs that if the pool turns cloudy white, I very likely had a filtration problem and that my filter was a sand filter (I do have a sand filter). Well, OK. I take the top off my filter and do a huge flush and my ZeoSand (upsold at the pool store) was very gummy. I replaced the sand last year. I go back to the pool store and they tell me that they haven't had much luck with the ZeoSand feedback. I buy some plain jane filter sand and have discarded the ZeoSand.

I was complaining to a friend at work about my issue and he said that happened to him (about the pool turning green after adding chlorine), and he said that it was metals in the water oxidizing. A little research appears to verify this. The pool store then sold me Natural Chemistries Metal Free. The pool turned cloudy blue within a day. They also told me that my ph was too high and that I needed to added a quart of muratic acid every 12 hours until it returned to at least 7.8 so I can properly use their PhosFree Commercial product. I added a gallon of muratic acid over the course of two days. PH doesn't budge.

After doing some research about green-to-clean (I know - a little too late) - It appears that my pool is now essentially a bromine/bromide pool. Which makes complete sense. This would explain why I would have such low chlorine after a few days of shocking the pool.

So, here's my question, should I drain the pool to get rid of the bromine/bromide so I'm not constantly super shocking this thing just to maintain proper levels for the next few years?

My pool is currently clear for about 2', and then a deep hunter green thereafter.

26,000 gallons
Vinyl liner - replaced last March and has several wrinkles.
Sand Filter
FC/BR - 5
PH - 8.4
TA - 130
CH - 180
CYA - 100

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I intend on getting a game plan together tomorrow to drain the pool this week and start over before spending anymore money (I'm at a grand so far in chemicals this season ) Please advise. I'm near the fill-in-with-dirt phase.

Richard

 

[JasonLion]

What kind of test kit do you have? The rest of what I am about to write assumes you have a K-2006 or TF100. Do not attempt this with some other test kit.

The first thing is that you have to get the PH down to around 7.5. Add acid in steps that each lower the PH by about 0.7, wait half an hour for the acid to mix in, test the PH again, and repeat as many times as needed until the PH comes down. It is critical that you only do this if you have confirmed with a FAS-DPD chlorine test that FC is actually below 10.

Then you need to replace enough water to get the CYA down to around 50 to 60. One thing to watch out for, CYA levels over 100 tend to read as 100, so your actual CYA level might be far higher than you think it is.

Then you need to SLAM the pool, as described in Pool School (in the How To section).

Using Green to Clean was unfortunate, but isn't a huge problem. You will need to use more chlorine than you otherwise would need to use, but it doesn't require replacing water because of the Green to Clean.

 

[stillrunning]

Thanks Jason. I'm using the K-2006. I ran out of Reagent 0871 so I've been using the simple K-1001 (the one I initially bought a few years ago) just for the chlorine reading. I've already ordered some more 0871. Amazon tells me that it'll be here on Thursday. Would the high reading be skewed if the pool is heavy with bromine?

 

[JasonLion]

The problem is if the FC level is over 15, which can show as something like 5 on the K-1001 OTO chlorine test. If FC is really high, the PH reading can be wildly wrong, and you don't then want to do the PH adjustment. The FAS-DPD chlorine test can properly distinguish the FC level, while the OTO test can't.

 

[stillrunning]

Thanks Jason. I've replaced about 40% of my water to get CYA down (now at 60). I'm in the SLAMming process now. Is there a specific product you recommend for the metals in the pool? The water has turned to a grassy green within a few hours after pouring in some bleach.