At a loss...where do I go from here?

[JulieS1007]

Sigh... Been a while since I've been on here. We were following TFP for a while with pretty good results. But, then life happens. I did most of the pool cleaning and testing. And then got pregnant. During the summer...in Houston. And it was my worst pregnancy yet. Soooo....things weren't getting done as well as they needed to be. Then with a newborn and our oldest starting Kinder, it just really fell by the way-side. By winter last year, the pool was back to being a pond. Finally told my husband we just needed to hire someone. Hired the people that have been taking care of the neighbor's pool for years. They came and did a drain and clean. But we couldn't get it filled fast enough (we're on a well) and had a torrential rain and it floated up about 2". After it finally sank back down, ended up only needing to replace the skimmer, thank god. But for whatever reason, we decided to keep the same company to continue with weekly maintenance because I just haven't been able to keep up with 3 kids and work and the house AND the pool. And now our numbers are just all out of whack. Here's what I got on our note from today's cleaning:
TC: .5
PH: 8.2
TA: 100
CYA: over 100
Says they added 3 tablets and 3lb shock. Our PH has been over 8 for at least a month. And CYA keeps going up...they're obviously using stabilized tablets and/or shock. We're still getting algae growth between weekly cleanings. And our CH is only like 150, but apparently they don't handle that part of keeping up with chemicals??

I just don't even know where to go from here. We're pre-paid with them through like December. Do I just wait it out, or fire them and try to get back any money from pre-paying?? Has anyone tried that new powder stuff to lower CYA? After our pool floated, we can't risk draining it any more to lower it that way!! These people just seem so incompetent about keeping pool chemistry correct...and they're a pool cleaning company! Ugh, I'm just so frustrated!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

My goodness, I just read some of your old posts along with this. This pool has certainly been a challenge for you, hasn't it?

Have you ever updated the reagents in your TF-100 test kit? If not, I would do that first. TFTtestkits.net

Then decide how you're going to drain some water out and order a truck of water to refill, since you had iron in your water before and you don't want to repeat risking the pool floating.

After a refill, do a proper SLAM and get the pool clear and clean.

Then I would suggest buying a SWG system to handle the chlorine needs, and a robot for cleaning. Then fire the pool company who isn't doing anything but emptying your wallet. The SWG and robot will do a LOT to take over much of the labor of a pool. You will have to test the water every day or two though.

My two cents

Maddie

 

[JulieS1007]

We had contemplated converting to SWG before, but just couldn't figure out if we could or how it would be better converting to salt from chlorine. We decided to get an in-line chlorinator instead for the time being. But then the valve on it broke like 2-3 times within a year so it was constantly leaking and not releasing the correct amount of chlorine so we ditched that. We did get an auto vacuum which helped a lot, but when it was up to my husband to put it in and take it out, it got left in the pool for over a month...and the pump was turned off. Which is when it turned to a pond over the winter. Not sure if it actually works anymore now!

 

[DeanP66]

That in-line chlorinator is no doubt the reason that your CYA is up over 100. That as well as all the bags of shock that have been used. A SWG takes the salt and converts it to chlorine. In hindsight, you would have been much better off with a SWG.

What kind of test kit are you using? If you don't have either a TF-100 or a Taylor K2006C, I would highly recommend that you get one. If you have one of the above, repeat the CYA test and this time do the diluted test so we can actually see how high that result is. The test is only good to 100. Anything over will not show it unless you dilute the test and double the result.

I would definitely get your pH lowered between 7.2-7.4 with muriatic acid so the chlorine will be most effective when you're ready to SLAM. The pool will probably require partial drains and refills though to reduce CYA to a more manageable level.