Pool party threatened by cloudy water...advice?

[1dhollister]

So, fairly new pool owner, and still struggling to figure out the chemicals. Last summer I had an algae explosion, thought I licked it before winter, opened up a clear pool this summer, and it stayed so, until a week ago. Shocked it, cleared it up, now three days ago cloudy again. Shocked again, but this time no progress. To give an idea of water, I can see the bottom in shallow end, but at about 6 ft. I can't see bottom. CYA was nothing, so added. Also added algaecide two days ago. Vacuum with a dolphin. My numbers this a.m.:

PH 7.2
ALK - 180
FC - 1.5
CC - .5
CH - 200
CYA - 25ish

So, I start reading, and it looks like the cloudy might be algae? So I read about the SLAM - If I understood pool calculator right, I added 3 gallons of 8.25 bleach -how long do I have to wait before getting readings? I checked at an hour, and got 22 FC!!! CC up to 1. So the questions - first, am I on the right track? Second, do I worry about TA being high? Mur. acid? How about calcium being low? And lastly, I'm supposed to be hosting a pool BDAY party saturday afternoon - will it be terrible if they swim with a little cloudy/algae? and what if my chlorine levels are still high from slamming - at what level do I keep them out of the pool? Should I save the slam process until after pool party? I bought a bottle of HTH super concetrated clarifier - should I skip this, or can it help? Do I need another trip to the pool store right away for CYA, or if I get there in two days, is my current 25 ok for now? I will do whatever I have to do, if there is any possibility of clear water by saturday afternoon (it is thursday noon right now)
Have I asked enough to have everyone completely blow off my post? Sorry, I'm stressin out here!

 

[Patrick_B]

Stop stressing Dennis, that's not allowed here.

Welcome, and do stop worrying. SLAM is the cure for this, but you need a correct FC kit to do it. What are you testing with now? We can help, and eliminate the guessing with other things like Clarifiers and such. No need for all that, I promise.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Forget the CH ... you do not need it in a vinyl pool
Forget the TA ... it is the least important parameter to keep a clean pool.

You need to follow the SLAM process as you discovered ... the more often you can test and keep the FC at shock level, the faster the process will go.

With a sand filter, you may consider Deep Cleaning your Sand Filter to make sure it is working well.

FYI, if you can not see the bottom. It is not safe to swim:
This is why we say

 

[1dhollister]

Kit is TF-100. It says it is the finest pool testing kit available - I hope I didn't get duped!

 

[jblizzle]

That IS the best kit ... and the one that most of us use

 

[1dhollister]

Well I did the deep clean on the sand filter - it actually wasn't that bad. I'm considering DE, but my pressure gauge is shot for the second time in two years (What am I doing wrong?) It's pegged on the wrong side of the needle, and remains so when I remove it, so no, its not under pressure. Last check FC was down to 14.5, CC .5. So, I put too much bleach to start the slam, so now I'm just monitoring every two hours and hoping for the best. Would love any further hints on clearing this thing by sat afternoon - it does appear it might be getting a bit better.....

 

[jblizzle]

Wish you knew that about the gauge, you could have gotten a really nice one shipped with the TF-100 for the cost of the junk you will find locally.

 

[chem geek]

FC - 1.5
CYA - 25ish

So I read about the SLAM - If I understood pool calculator right, I added 3 gallons of 8.25 bleach -how long do I have to wait before getting readings? I checked at an hour, and got 22 FC!!! CC up to 1.

This doesn't add up. 3 gallons of 8.25% bleach would increase FC by 9.6 ppm in your 27,000 gallon pool. If you started at 1.5, you should have ended up with around 11 ppm. Are you sure you didn't just count 22 drops in the FAS-DPD chlorine test? You need to multiply that number of drops by 0.5 (or divide by 2) assuming you used a 10 ml water sample size.

 

[1dhollister]

I don't know why it doesn't add up, but there are a few things I do know - I did use 10cc, and I did count over 40 drops - I did subsequent checks every two hours, and it slowly made its way down to where it is now - about 9 FC. More importantly than the math not adding up, is the crystal clear water! Party on! My 27k gallons is an estimate, but every calculator I've used has had me between 25-29k gallons - so I don't know? OK, as I type, I can think of something else it could be - when I first found my issues, I did a shock with the commerical chlorine shock powder, and I also left a few chlorine tabs in the skimmers, along with keeping auto chlorinator on the whole time - but those things have never made much of an impressive difference - I'd be surprised if that was enough to make such a big jump, but whatever, it seems to have worked. I'm new at trying to be good at this, and still working out the bugs (in my lack of experience.) Thanks for your input, I'm still learning...DJH

- - - Updated - - -

Wish you knew that about the gauge, you could have gotten a really nice one shipped with the TF-100 for the cost of the junk you will find locally.

So I shouldn't get something off amazon? The one I have now was a hayward, so I assumed it was decent for my hayward pump - I have no idea why it died. Input on what I should look for when replacing, or where to go? Thanks - DJH

 

[YippeeSkippy]

So I shouldn't get something off amazon? The one I have now was a hayward, so I assumed it was decent for my hayward pump - I have no idea why it died. Input on what I should look for when replacing, or where to go? Thanks - DJH

Re: the gauge- perhaps being that you live in CO it froze one too many times? Skippy replaced ours with an oil filled gauge and it also has bigger, easier to read numbers. Max 30 pounds, but that's enough. Been working well for us.

 

[cowboycasey]

So I shouldn't get something off amazon? The one I have now was a hayward, so I assumed it was decent for my hayward pump - I have no idea why it died. Input on what I should look for when replacing, or where to go? Thanks - DJH

you can get a good one at tftetskits TFTestkits.net or you could get one off amazon Amazon.com : Zenport LPG30 Zen-Tek Glycerin Liquid Filled Pressure Gauge, 30 PSI : Liquid Filled Air Gauge : Patio, Lawn Garden

 

[1dhollister]

Thanks so much, you all are the best! How refreshing that people will take time out of their days to help out strangers! I appreciate it so much...

 

[1dhollister]

For all who took a minute to help me out, and all still learning - I did the slam, took about 4 days total, I've got clear water, FC held overnight, CC at .5. SUCCESS! Thank you everybody....

 

[pooldv]

Awesome! Congrats on completing the slam. Thanks for the feedback.