PLEASE HELP green water, how to start using bleach method?

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D

dandyrandy

0
Jul 20, 2008
6
I’ve read several post on the BBB method and I am eager to get started. Our pool is 30” AG. About 21,000 gallons. It’s been green for a couple weeks. I know I need a new good test kit, for now I checked it using strips and the readings are
8.4 = ph
.5 ppm = FC
120 ppm = TA
150 ppm = stabilizer (cya)
Yesterday we dumped in 1 ½ gallons of bleach.
4 days ago I had it checked at pool store and had these readings:
Saturation Index = .27
Total dissolved solids = 500
Free chlorine = 2.3
Total chlorine = 2.6
Combined chlorine = 0.3
Ph = 7.7
Cyanuric acid = 39
Copper = 0
Iron = 0
Total alkalinity = 106
Adjusted Total alkalinity = 106
Calcium hardness = 259
I’ve noticed no change since yesterday, if anything it’s greener. Please advice me where to go from here? Should I dump in more bleach, and if so how much? Also is it safe to swim in after bleach is poured in, if not when can if be used after adding bleach?
 
Welcome to TFP!!

Thanks for the test #s - though there is some discrepency between them (especially the cya/ stabilizer #s :scratch: ) The pH tests are also strange, theirs shows you aon the higher side of OK, but yours has you way too high.

Please read the 3 links in my sig (In blue, just click on any of them to get to the link)
#1 is Pool School and gives the basics on pool care/ maintenance, methods (including clearing a green pool)
#2 is Dave's test kit (which is offered at a discount for paid TFP supporters) - Dave is great with shipping!! (if he receives a paid order by 2:00 PM, the order ships that day :thumleft: ) with a good kit (Taylor 2006K is another good one) you can post accurate numbers and we here can help you better.
#3 is Jason's Pool Calculator which can tell you how much of any given chem to add to make the change you want - a real lifesaver for pool owners who are caring for their own pools!

Again, welcome here - I hope you will do the reading, get a good kit, and make use of the calculator to get your pool 'trouble free' :-D

Feel free to ask any questions you may have! Stick with us and you'll be an expert on maintaining your pool by the end of the summer :goodjob:
 
If you have had algae for weeks then you are going to need way more chlorine than that. You are going to need to shock the pool, there is an article on how to do that in the Pool School area on this site.

It doesn't look like your test strips could possibly be very accurate. A top quality test kit will make everything much simpler. I recommend a kit from TF Test Kits, see the link in my signature. The Taylor K-2006 is also good. A good test kit is the best investment in your pool you can make.
 
Thanks for responding.
I don’t have the quality test kit at this time. Tomorrow I will take in a sample and report the results. From what I’ve read so far from the pool school, looks like I obviously need to shock it. My wife will most likely start that process after going to the pool store and buy the shock at the store.
I didn’t want a pool and it was agreed I would install it and she would do the chemical stuff. Now, here I am getting involved. I’m tired of giving money to the pool store and found this site.
I’ve already spent several hours reading post and wanted to ask a couple basic questions regarding the bleach or BBB method.
1. From what I read I assume I could use bleach to shock the pool when needed?
2. Once I get the water balanced, is it typical to add bleach daily?
These questions are probably obvious. Thanks for your time. I will get the test kit ordered soon.
 
You can shock with bleach and add it daily or every other day if you're lucky!
 
Hey, Randy,

The questions are not obvious and, in fact, are questions that are VERY frequently overlooked by our new guests as well as many of us that have been here a while.

1. Yes, shock the pool with bleach. "Shock" is an application of a very high dose of chlorine in your pool to kill contaminates and get your pool back into normal parameters. That very high dose of chlorine can be done with a variety of products but liquid chlorine (bleach) is the best of all.

2.
Once I get the water balanced, is it typical to add bleach daily?
Click to expand...
Absolutely. This one concept is the most commonly misunderstood aspect of pool water chemistry. Many newbies expect chlorine to stay in the pool and require no further adjustment......that's not how it works. Chlorine is a consumable and, as such, needs to be replenished one way or another on a daily basis.

There are at least 6 posts daily on this forum posted by people wondering where their chlorine has gone. Frequently, the respondent then overlooks that the OP doesn't understand that chlorine must be replenished. Invariably, this results in multiple posts back and forth about peripheral subjects before the OP finally gets the basic idea. Chlorine is consumable and must constantly be replenished in your pool.

Once that hurdle is crossed, the rest of the stuff falls into place rather quickly. I certainly didn't mean to point this diatribe at you and I hope you will not take it personally.......it's my pet peeve and we, as responders, must be cognizant of the fact that many newbies simply do not have a good grip on that concept yet.

Now, since I'm up on my high horse, whoever ends up managing your pool water deserves a good test kit. You will never regret that expenditure and the knowledge you'll gain about your pool will prove invaluable.
 
Welcome to TFP!

I just wanted to say hi and I concur with the above advice, read as much as you can in pool school and it will soon make sense. I would also add there's no reason your wife can't resume the chems, she can go to Pool School too and learn about BBB, so that she doesn't get pool stored anymore.

BBB and TFP is literally 5 minutes a day. Okay, maybe 10 when you get obsessive about it like alot of us....especially getting it all sparkly. Gotta get that last speck of sand.... :mrgreen:

I highly recommend a good test kit. Best investment you'll make, will give you and your wife total control of your pool. A Trouble Free pool!
 
The pool store checked our water today and here is the readings:
Saturation Index = .65
Total dissolved solids = 500
Free chlorine = .4
Total chlorine = .5
Combined chlorine = 0.1
Ph = 8.1
Cyanuric acid = 45
Copper = 0
Iron = 0
Total alkalinity = 106
Adjusted Total alkalinity = 106
Calcium hardness = 280

With the above readings can you tell me how much bleach is needed to shock it?
If I used the calculator correctly I came up with 687 oz., is this correct? Thanks for any help.
 
dandyrandy said:
The pool store checked our water today and here is the readings:
Saturation Index = .65
Total dissolved solids = 500
Free chlorine = .4
Total chlorine = .5
Combined chlorine = 0.1
Ph = 8.1
Cyanuric acid = 45
Copper = 0
Iron = 0
Total alkalinity = 106
Adjusted Total alkalinity = 106
Calcium hardness = 280

With the above readings can you tell me how much bleach is needed to shock it?
If I used the calculator correctly I came up with 687 oz., is this correct? Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Give or take, I got around that number. Remember to pour slowly, into the skimmer or in front of the return, leave the filter running 24/7 till your pool clears.

Your PH is too high. You need to lower it using Muratic Acid. I suggest around 7.2-7.3 because the chlorine will add some ph. The recommended range is 7.4-7.6. You can do the acid and then wait an hour and add the bleach. While shocking your ph will read higher, so do the acid, then shock, and wait until you complete the shocking process before you test the PH again.
 
Well, the wife bought 10 lbs shock at pool store and already started the process before I got home. Anyway, she did a wipe down and vacuum before adding shock. And it ran almost 24hrs. then she did another wipe down and vacuum. Although it’s not green now it is a milky color. The reading I just did is ph = 6.2, FC = 10, TA = 40, cya = 0.
Do I wait till the FC comes down before starting the daily bleach routine? Or what should be done next?
Thanks for the help.
 

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dandyrandy said:
Well, the wife bought 10 lbs shock at pool store and already started the process before I got home. Anyway, she did a wipe down and vacuum before adding shock. And it ran almost 24hrs. then she did another wipe down and vacuum. Although it’s not green now it is a milky color. The reading I just did is ph = 6.2, FC = 10, TA = 40, cya = 0.
Do I wait till the FC comes down before starting the daily bleach routine? Or what should be done next?
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Hi Again,

What were the ingredients in the "shock" that your wife added? I ask because your CH number is at 200 now and some shocks contain calcium, you don't want your CH to get too high it could lead to scaling issues.

What happened to your PH/TA result? :shock: They are soooo low now, do you recall how much Muratic Acid you added? How accurate is this test result, can I ask? Because most PH tests don't go lower than 6.8....so can you confirm this number for us...

What is "wipe down"? That is a term I'm unfamiliar with....

The pool store results you posted above show CYA is 39 and then 45. CYA doesn't dissappear, so how is it that your last post shows 0 CYA? Am I missing something? :?
:-D
 
Do you know your combined chlorine levels? Oftentimes with algae it is necessary to keep the chlorine level at shock level until the algae is completely killed. If your chlorine is below .5 and your FC level stays at the same level overnight, no chlorine being used, then the chlorine level can be lowered. Do you know what kind of shock she bought, BTW? There are three very common chlorine powdered shocks. Cal-hypo, which also adds calcium; dichlor, which adds CYA, and trichlor, which also adds CYA. You don't want your CYA level to get too high, but you do need an accurate reading.

You can keep the water at shock level with bleach. The cloudiness is your algae.
 
Hi Randy,

Just to add another test kit comment, the best investment we made in our pool was a good test kit! Here's a link to the kit comparisons: category/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

Most of us recommend the TF Test kit sold by duraleigh. It also comes with his famous customer service! You are getting excellent advice on clearing your pool.

Welcome to the forum. :-D
 
dandyrandy wrote:
Well, the wife bought 10 lbs shock at pool store and already started the process before I got home. Anyway, she did a wipe down and vacuum before adding shock. And it ran almost 24hrs. then she did another wipe down and vacuum. Although it’s not green now it is a milky color. The reading I just did is ph = 6.2, FC = 10, TA = 40, cya = 0.
Do I wait till the FC comes down before starting the daily bleach routine? Or what should be done next?
Thanks for the help.
......................
the above reading are bogus, today's readings from pool store are:
Saturation Index = -0.24
Total dissolved solids = 500
Free chlorine = 6
Total chlorine = 6
Combined chlorine = 0.0
Ph = 7.4
Cyanuric acid = 45
Copper = 0
Iron = 0
Total alkalinity = 68
Adjusted Total alkalinity = 68
Calcium hardness = 263
............................

reply:
What were the ingredients in the "shock" that your wife added? I ask because your CH number is at 200 now and some shocks contain calcium, you don't want your CH to get too high it could lead to scaling issues.
shock ingredients say 68% Active ingredient Calcium Hypochlorite
32% Other Ingredients. Available Chlorine 65%.


What is "wipe down"? That is a term I'm unfamiliar with....
wiping the sides down with a towel or brush.

sorry about bad readings from previous post, i need to get the test kit, and will only go by the pool store test results for now.
what should be done next? after looking at the latest test readings?
 
Your numbers look to be in order, but there's 1 thing the #s can't tell us --- How does the water look -- if it's still a little cloudy, keep the chlorine level up! Otherwise, I'd say you're ready to swim!

water is looking better but still cloudy.
do i need to bring up the chlorine level even higher than what it is now?
also if i need to shock it more to keep the chlorine level up, should we get more of the shock we started with or get some at walmart or is it ok to use bleach? would it hurt to mix the bleach with the original shock? or is it basically all the same stuff?

thanks for all the help.
 
If your water is still cloudy, then yes, keep your FC up to 16 which is your shock level. Use bleach, that's fine to add to your pool water and it's much cheaper than the cal-hypo shock your wife bought. Wal-mart ultra bleach is fine, the regular unscented stuff. Look on the label for the 6% sodium hypochlorite ingredient. Use the pool calculator to figure out how much to add.

Sodium Hypochlorite sold as "liquid Shock" in pool stores/departments at 10-12% strength is the same as laundry bleach sold in laundry aisles, 6% strength. Your wife bough Calcium Hypochlorite shock which is just granular chlorine and calcium. Its use is limited because you don't want your CH reading to get too high. So I'd stick with plain old bleach, its cheaper too. There was a thread today that Walmart had the small jugs on sale for $.95....that's cheap!
 

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