Green Pool - Please Help

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Zegster

Zegster

0
Jun 5, 2014
89
Lincoln, NE
Ok, I had the store open up the pool. It didn't get clear. I had to put about 30 bags of shock into it to get the chlorine to hold. The pool store came and vaccumed out the bottom (while still cloudy) and put shock in it after words. It cleared after that. I had the pool company come back out and vaccum it when it was clear. They didn't have enough water to vaccum all to waste, so they vaccumed with the filter and backwashed. My pool turned into a green mess and 7 days later is still green. Chlorine Levels are holding. The pool store isn't giving any information other than might need to change sand. But it cleared already on its own a week ago. Below are my test Readings. I am in the process of upping the alkalinity and ph. I also was using Sam's chlorine shock, and thought the store brand might be better (since the pool company used there own shock to clear it last time and it did clear). My Levels are below:

Temp: 84
Sat Inx: -1
CYA: 70
Tot Chlorine: 7.9
Free Chlorine: 7.9 (haven't added shock in 5 days)
ph: 6.6
Tot Alkalinity: 75
Adj Alkalinity: 54
Tot Hardness: 276
 
Ok where to start.....
You don't add shock to your pool you shock your pool. You can use regular liquid bleach to add chlorine. Read the pool school section on this forums to get more details.

How long did you shock/SLAM the pool? You should SLAM until Complete chlorine is 0 and you have a overnight loss of 1.0ppm or less of chlorine.
read this: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl
 
I went through the shock process the first time around until it cleared. The second time it has been holding. I tested the water on 6/24/2014 and Tot Chlorine was 8 and Free Chlorine was 8. I tested the water today and it is 7.9/7.9. No shock was added.
 
Can I got the assume you got the numbers from the pool store? I say that because they are too precise and I believe very wrong. If you have a swamp/green pool it is almost impossible to have no CC (combined chlorine) as the FC oxidizes the algae.

Mixing the methods of the pool store and TFPC will not work. You will need to decide if you want to keep,calling them or if you want to take control and fix it.

If you want to take control, there are several things you will need to do.

First, order your own Test Kit. TFPC does not work without the correct one. A color match kit won't do it.

Read then re-read the Pool School. It has all,the information you need to take control

Stop using all forms of solid chlorine, be it pucks or bagged shock. They all contain stabilizer/CYA which is already too high in your pool. Your results say 70, but I am willing to bet with your own test kit you will find them much higher. Shocking your pool will not work, following the SLAM procedure will.

Signature
Please put the following information in your signature.

The size of your pool in gallons
If your pool is an AG (above ground) or IG (in ground)
If it's IG, tell us if it's vinyl, plaster/pebble, or fiberglass
The type of filter you have (sand, DE, cartridge) and, if you know, the brand and model of the filter.
If you know, please tell us the brand and model of the pump, and mention if is it a two speed or variable speed pump.
Date of pool build/install, particularly important if less then a year old.
Other significant accessories or options, such as a spa , SWG, or cleaner

Good luck, the folks here are willing to help!
 
At CYA = 70 your shock level is FC = 28 so you are not going to clear until you get the FC much much higher. When the pool is clear you need to keep FC between 5 and 8 at all times. But that will not clear the pool at this point, you need to get to shock levels. SLAM - shock level and maintain.
 
Ok, I am ordering the kit now. I still want to work on getting it clear with what I got now. I did a pool calculator and it says I need 6 bags of shock to get from 8 to 28 for a 21,000 gallon pool. I will put 8 bags of shock in it tonight and test tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help guys.
 
Zegster said:
Ok, I am ordering the kit now. I still want to work on getting it clear with what I got now. I did a pool calculator and it says I need 6 bags of shock to get from 8 to 28 for a 21,000 gallon pool. I will put 8 bags of shock in it tonight and test tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help guys.
Click to expand...

I would use liquid bleach/chlorine until you get your kit and see what your CYA really is
 
Zegster said:
Ok, I am ordering the kit now. I still want to work on getting it clear with what I got now. I did a pool calculator and it says I need 6 bags of shock to get from 8 to 28 for a 21,000 gallon pool. I will put 8 bags of shock in it tonight and test tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help guys.
Click to expand...
this is going to sound harsh, but you are not understanding what is being recommended.

First, continuing to throw granular shock in the pool is just going to drive up your CYA requiring higher & higher levels of FC to combat what is growing in your pool.

Second, the process recommended here is called a SLAM. The M stands for maintain. You need to get to the shock level and maintain it there constantly until three things happen
The pool is clear
The CC is less than .5
You pass an overnight chlorine loss test

Throwing in granular shock as a one time event won't work.
 
Ok, so after I throw in the shock. I'm going to get the water tested and see if it is above 28 Free Chlorine. Then I'll keep checking the levels daily, to see if it stays at this level. If it keeps dropping, add more shock. I am limited with testing because I work 8-5 job and the pool store is the most accurate test I got. But if I test at lunch. Then when it stays above 28 free chlorine for two consecutive days. And doesn't drop considerably, I should be good? I can't test overnight loss because I only have test strips and will need the pool store for accurate tests. Its not dropping more than .1 ppm right now anyways. Sorry guys I'm trying to work with what I got.
 
Again, I apologize if what I said before seemed harsh. We understand you are limited until you get a good test kit. But please stop using granular shock. For now the best you can do is put in some bleach a couple of times a day to try to hold things at bay, but even that is probably futile. Once a day testing just won't work.

We really doubt the pool store numbers, as they are invariably wrong. The number they get wrong the most is CYA, and that is what the TFPC system is based on. Without knowing what that number is you don't know how much bleach/liquid chlorine you need to add.
 

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Zegster said:
Ok, so after I throw in the shock. I'm going to get the water tested and see if it is above 28 Free Chlorine. Then I'll keep checking the levels daily, to see if it stays at this level. If it keeps dropping, add more shock. I am limited with testing because I work 8-5 job and the pool store is the most accurate test I got. But if I test at lunch. Then when it stays above 28 free chlorine for two consecutive days. And doesn't drop considerably, I should be good? I can't test overnight loss because I only have test strips and will need the pool store for accurate tests. Its not dropping more than .1 ppm right now anyways. Sorry guys I'm trying to work with what I got.
Click to expand...

What are you using to shock the pool? You might be doing harm or wasting $ if your CYA level is already high and you are adding to it.
 
Zegster, I highly recommend you buy a good test kit. The TF-100 is a great deal and will more than pay for itself in saving you $$$ from unnecessary purchases at the pool store. I would not trust the pool store's tests. It sounds like you will have hard time following the SLAM rules in Pool School with your schedule, but you should try to follow them the best you can. Just trying to be helpful here.
 
OK, in the meantime you need to get the pH up. Use Pool Math (link above) to figure out how much borax to add.

Please add you signature with pool specific information (see my post above).

Head out to Mahoney State Park and relax by the river with a bottle of wine form Glacial Till Winery until the kit comes in.

It will be a sparkling blue before you know it.
 
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