Total Newby - No chlorine level, Algae, Can't Keep Pressure

[macra440]

I bought a house about 2 months ago and have been maintaining the 28' circular pool (4.5' deep - city water) what I thought was fairly well. There was a period of time of about a month between the house being sold and us moving in where it wasn't touched. After vacuuming a couple of times and cleaning out the filter, we got it to look pretty nice. The problem I'm running into is 3 fold:

1) Until today, I have never registered a chlorine level. The pool has a frogger system and I have adjusted it to no avail. I took samples into the pool store weekly just to make sure I was doing everything right. Every time I've taken the water to get tested, the local pool store just keeps telling me to shock it as the chlorine is 0 but everything else (pH, etc) is where it should be. Every time. Today I have a meager chlorine level because I put an additional disk in the skimmer last night due to problem #2. Is there something else I need to be doing to register a chlorine level? The pool is uncovered and exposed to the sun for a good portion of the day.

2) The water began to get cloudy a couple days ago and then I noticed there was algae floating around. I shocked it last night and then an algaecide today. Yes...I'm the guy desperately throwing stuff into the pool realizing I should have come here first. I wanted to go to the pool store but I think I know their answer. "Shock it". As it stands, I can barely see the floor.

3) We can't maintain pressure. We have a cartridge filter that I need to clean out every 2-3 days to get the pressure going. I have been fairly diligent about keeping the pressure up. We keep it running 24/7 and when it's first cleaned out, it blows really well and gets a great current going.


I can't help but think the 3 are related and I just don't have the right chemical solution. I've listed where I currently stand below with the cheap strips (heading to pick up a more complete testing kit). The only other part I left out is that it does have a solar heater that has been fairly ineffective due to a mild summer and the aforementioned battle with the pump pressure. Any help is greatly appreciated.

As of 08/25/2014
pH: 6.8
Free Chlorine: 0.5
Total Alkalinity: 180
Stabilizer: 0

 

[RobbieH]

Welcome to TFP!

The frog is not recommended around here. Plain bleach or liquid chlorine is the recommended method of bringing up FC. With your stabilizer at zero, your FC is going to rapidly drop.

I doubt the three are related. In fact, if you kill the algae, you are going to create pressure in the system, not the other way around.

I recommend digging into Pool School and doing some reading. You should probably start with this:
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

 

[AimeeH]

Welcome to TFP

Step one is a proper test kit. It may be hard to find locally but you will need one with the FAS-DPD chlorine test. The link in my signature is my preferred test kit but the Taylor k-2006 will work as well (just less reagents included)

Your steps after that are going to depend on those test results. I'm very suspect of that 0 stabilizer reading (stabilizer =CYA).

Have you read the ABC's of pool water chemistry in pool school? That is a good start. The link to Pool School should be in the upper right hand corner of the site. Or here for ABC's. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/123-abc-of-pool-water-chemistry

 

[macra440]

Thanks for the replies and warm welcome. I read the recommended links and have a very basic understanding of the chemistry surrounding the pool. Proper testing equipment will be here later this week which I get is going to help. I guess what I'm struggling with is the order. My pH could stand to come up a little, the chlorine needs to come way up, alkalinity down, and stabilizer up. Which do I address first? My gut says address the chlorine by using bleach but history shows my gut is kind of an idiot. Am I okay to do bleach/chlorine and CYA at the same time? I know I have some learning to do and it's a delicate dance but hoping for a band-aid as I'm in Ohio and we don't have many more warm days. Winter is coming.

 

[one_knight4u]

Now that you have read some of Pool School, take a look at Pool Math.
This calculator is your best friend once you get to know how to use it.

Getting your pH in order would be a wise thing in preparation of a SLAM. Your post shows 6.8 but since your using test strips, im thinking that that might be as low as they test so your true pH is lower than that.
For your size of pool (20,000 gal.) you will need to add 1 3/4 boxes (136 oz by weight) of "20 Mule Team Borax". It can be found in your laundry isle at your favorite supermarket or walmart. I would suggest getting 3 boxes because as i stated earlier, i have a feeling your pH is alot lower than 6.8. Start with one box, and using a 5 gallon pail or container, mix until dissolved, if it wont all dissolve, pour off water into pool at the return jet and add more water and mix until dissolved. At this point i would just add one box and wait for 30-60 min and test the pH. If your test shows still 6.8, add the second box in the same manner as the first. Because you are using test strips (which are not recommended) getting your pH to 7.0 would be a start so as you dont over shoot and have to use acid to bring it back down. Once you get it in the neighborhood of 7.0-7.2 move on to Chlorine.

As far as chlorine, using Pool Math again, 2 bottles of 121 oz laundry bleach with a strength of 8.25% will raise your FC by 8 initially, I suspect it will burn off quite quickly since you have organics (algae) and your CYA (Stabilizer) is really unknown. Dumping 2 gallons of bleach per day until you get a test kit would hopefully keep things at bay.

I would not add any stabilizer at this time untill you properly test it. Reason being is that if you overshoot, your only recourse is to drain and refill a portion of the water to lower it and test strips are horrible at testing CYA. The higher your CYA, the more bleach it will take to accomplish the SLAM.

 

[macra440]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, one_knight4u!! I will do just that this evening and will let you know what I come up with!