I am new to the forum so this is a little long on background (and laughable rookie mistakes and impatience).
Took over pool from landlord this season. Used all of the non-BBB methods to get an awful green swamp perfect by 5/26 (lots of cal-hypo).
I got complacent w/ the crystal clear water. Added a puck or two per week at most (with no water testing) and the water still looked good (to me).
Noticed some algae just starting to form on 6/13 before our vacation. It covered the floor, but still pretty blue and visible to the main drain. Scrubbed the pool and swept it to the main drain. Added three 1lb bags of 73% Cal-Hypo on 6/13 and two 3" (8oz?) trichlor pucks in the skimmer. Had the house sitter add 2 more pucks on 6/18 and add some water.
Returned on 6/21 to a smooth green pool (of course).
My TF100 arrives today, but here's the confession:
I decided to SLAM on Sunday using a "visual approach" (after having a BioGuard strip-based pool store test showing as follows: FC 1.3, pH 7.6, TA 86, CH 170, and CYA 61).
Chose a target FC of around 17 (because I was cheap and lazy). Bought 12 121oz bottles of Clorox 8.25%.
At 4pm: Backwashed and added 4 jugs; added one 1lb bag of 73% Cal-Hypo to skimmer.
At 5pm: Maybe a tad less brilliant, less pukey green. Added 2 jugs and one 1lb bag of Cal-Hypo to skimmer (learned at 7:15pm that that bag was a 53% trichlor bag instead, as I stupidly assumed I had inherited Cal-Hypo bags from landlord to go with my other Cal-Hypo bags). Also, turned on the water as it was a getting a little low (we have a mild leak but that's another post).
Got water tested again at 5:30: Total Chlorine 10 (top limit of test?), FC 8.6, pH 8.2, TA 96, CH 157, and CYA 95 (?!).
At 6pm: Added 2 more jugs to the returns, nice and slow. Turned off the water at around 6:30.
At 7:15pm: Added 2 more jugs and one 1lb bag of Cal-Hypo (see note above--it was actually a trichlor bag).
At 8:30pm: Added 2 more jugs.
From 4pm to 8:30pm, I added 12 121 oz jugs of 8.25%, 1 1lb bag of 73% Cal-Hypo, and 2 1lb bags of 53% trichlor.
This AM: The water is still green, although not the swampy puke green. It's a very dull, lake-type green, especially in the deep. The shallow is a little less green, more visible, and more grayish/bluish. Didn't add anything this AM other than about 1 hour of water. The PSI on the pump is still more or less at its normal level (12psi).
Questions:
1. How has yesterday's blind chemical dump impacted my ability to start over today and do a SLAM the right way, with a TF100 as my guide?
2. Can I still do reliable-enough pre-SLAM tests of CYA to determine FC shock targets and tests of pH to know I can start, or would the dump throw TF100 tests all out of whack for SLAM purposes?
3. If it is going to rain this afternoon and maybe this evening, then should I hold off on the SLAM? I plan on starting at 6pm and spending as many (rainy) hours into the night as it takes, if advisable.
Basically, I was too impatient to wait a single day for the TF100 to arrive, dumped a ton of stuff in there, and would like to start over the proper way, as early as this afternoon, if possible. Willing to buy all new bleach, drain out water, etc. Whatever it takes. Lessons learned.
Thanks!
Took over pool from landlord this season. Used all of the non-BBB methods to get an awful green swamp perfect by 5/26 (lots of cal-hypo).
I got complacent w/ the crystal clear water. Added a puck or two per week at most (with no water testing) and the water still looked good (to me).
Noticed some algae just starting to form on 6/13 before our vacation. It covered the floor, but still pretty blue and visible to the main drain. Scrubbed the pool and swept it to the main drain. Added three 1lb bags of 73% Cal-Hypo on 6/13 and two 3" (8oz?) trichlor pucks in the skimmer. Had the house sitter add 2 more pucks on 6/18 and add some water.
Returned on 6/21 to a smooth green pool (of course).
My TF100 arrives today, but here's the confession:
I decided to SLAM on Sunday using a "visual approach" (after having a BioGuard strip-based pool store test showing as follows: FC 1.3, pH 7.6, TA 86, CH 170, and CYA 61).
Chose a target FC of around 17 (because I was cheap and lazy). Bought 12 121oz bottles of Clorox 8.25%.
At 4pm: Backwashed and added 4 jugs; added one 1lb bag of 73% Cal-Hypo to skimmer.
At 5pm: Maybe a tad less brilliant, less pukey green. Added 2 jugs and one 1lb bag of Cal-Hypo to skimmer (learned at 7:15pm that that bag was a 53% trichlor bag instead, as I stupidly assumed I had inherited Cal-Hypo bags from landlord to go with my other Cal-Hypo bags). Also, turned on the water as it was a getting a little low (we have a mild leak but that's another post).
Got water tested again at 5:30: Total Chlorine 10 (top limit of test?), FC 8.6, pH 8.2, TA 96, CH 157, and CYA 95 (?!).
At 6pm: Added 2 more jugs to the returns, nice and slow. Turned off the water at around 6:30.
At 7:15pm: Added 2 more jugs and one 1lb bag of Cal-Hypo (see note above--it was actually a trichlor bag).
At 8:30pm: Added 2 more jugs.
From 4pm to 8:30pm, I added 12 121 oz jugs of 8.25%, 1 1lb bag of 73% Cal-Hypo, and 2 1lb bags of 53% trichlor.
This AM: The water is still green, although not the swampy puke green. It's a very dull, lake-type green, especially in the deep. The shallow is a little less green, more visible, and more grayish/bluish. Didn't add anything this AM other than about 1 hour of water. The PSI on the pump is still more or less at its normal level (12psi).
Questions:
1. How has yesterday's blind chemical dump impacted my ability to start over today and do a SLAM the right way, with a TF100 as my guide?
2. Can I still do reliable-enough pre-SLAM tests of CYA to determine FC shock targets and tests of pH to know I can start, or would the dump throw TF100 tests all out of whack for SLAM purposes?
3. If it is going to rain this afternoon and maybe this evening, then should I hold off on the SLAM? I plan on starting at 6pm and spending as many (rainy) hours into the night as it takes, if advisable.
Basically, I was too impatient to wait a single day for the TF100 to arrive, dumped a ton of stuff in there, and would like to start over the proper way, as early as this afternoon, if possible. Willing to buy all new bleach, drain out water, etc. Whatever it takes. Lessons learned.
Thanks!