Issues after AA treatment

[creekaddict]

Hi all,

Hoping to get some advice. I am having some issues maintaining FC after an AA treatment I did for some metal stains last Monday.

My current numbers -
FC - 2.5 (on the way to 0)
CC - 1
PH 7.6
TA - 110
CH - 150
CYA - 100+ =(

To start the AA treatment, I lowered my PH to 7.2 and added 10 lbs of anhydrous citric acid. Over 2 days all of my stains disappeared and my water was still crystal clear. On Thursday I added sequestrate and borax to bring ph back to 7.6. I also added 5 - 121 oz jugs of 8.25% bleach to try to start getting the chlorine going again. Since then I've added an additional 20 jugs of 8.25% bleach (total of 25 since the aa treatment). I can't get the FC to hold. How long should it take before I can get the FC to start holding? The water is just slightly cloudy but I can still see the bottom clearly. When I tested CC this morning, it was not detectable. Seems while the FC is being used by what I assume is the citric acid, the cc goes up slightly while the FC works its way back to 0. I'm about to add 5 more jugs of 8.25% but this is starting to get frustrating.

I did not use algecide, but the previous owner did just open the pool with a large amount of leslies algecide. Maybe I need to SLAM the pool??

 

[Swampwoman]

I wouldn't slam just yet -- you could bring the stains right back. (Slamming cn oxidize metals, as can high ph.)

Instead, gently, slowly but frequently bring your FC back up. It may take a few days.

In general, you don't want to slam for a week after adding sequestrant, per proteam (I asked.)
And in general, while the AA treatment works beautifully, having to slam afterward from low FC kind of undoes it - which is why people generally add polyquat 60 algaecide when doing the AA treatment per TFP instructions.

UPDATE - I just realized you have CYA at 100, which could mean its even higher.

Its unfortunate you did the AA treatment before correcting your CYA, but at the same time the stains are gone so it is what it Is and you ave a few things to consider now.

You need to do a partial drain and refill to get your CYA down to a manageable level (eg 50 ppm) for a number of reasons: the least of which I recently read that jack's Magic mfg says their sequestrants aren't as effective with high CYA.

But if you end up needing to slam, its very difficult to do so at such a high CYA. Regular daily sanitization is also difficult and expensive at high CYA levels.

So if you partially drain now, refill, and balance, the upside is that you will also reduce the leftover AA which is fighting your chlorine. So it should be easier to bring it up....then do an overnight chlorine loss test to see where you're at.

Have you read through pool school, AA treatment, and the CYA:FC chart? If not, please review, and keep us posted.

Cheers SW