Can never get FC level maintained

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Next twist. Checked levels today and FC 2.4 and TC 3.0. So that means the SWG is working as I did not add any chlorine last night and yesterday evening after sweeping the pool it was close to zero. Which leads to my next problem.

I swept the pool and today it is almost just as dirty as it was before. Their is a cream residue on the floor of the pool. Looks like sand from the surface, and it lays just like sand would at the bottom of the pool, but if you put your hand in it, it feels somewhat slimy and if you brush your hand thru it, it instantly dissolves back into the water. I also noticed where my sweeper hose was laying after I took it out of the pool a sandy/salty type residue on the concrete that was in the hose. With I dry hand when I pick it up it almost feels like sand. However it to dissolves into water if I add a little water to my hand.

What could it be and why is my pool dirty again after sweeping last night?
 
That seems to be everybody's answer to everything. My walls are not slimy, my water is crystal clear. I describe this residue as slimy only because it looks like sand but does not feel gritty like sand.

Whatever it is why is it back in the pool today after sweeping last night?
 
Could be pollen. You could do an overnight chlorine loss test to determine if you have algae.

You might also do the sock test on one of your returns to see if the residue is coming from the filter. Turn off the pump, have someone hold a sock over a return, then turn the pump back on. I find this is more revealing if the pump has been off a few hours before turning it back on.
 
Have you ran and passed the OCLT yet?

The reason everybody suggests shocking is because everything you post leads to the conclusion that you have something growing in the water. If you really want to find out what it is and fix it you're going to have to follow the advice.

Get yourself a good test kit, run the OCLT and post the numbers. If you fail the OCLT then you'll have to shock. If you pass the OCLT then we can go about figuring out where it's coming from.
 
RobbieH said:
Could be pollen. You could do an overnight chlorine loss test to determine if you have algae.

You might also do the sock test on one of your returns to see if the residue is coming from the filter. Turn off the pump, have someone hold a sock over a return, then turn the pump back on. I find this is more revealing if the pump has been off a few hours before turning it back on.
Click to expand...

RobbieH said:
Could be pollen. You could do an overnight chlorine loss test to determine if you have algae.
Click to expand...

Robbie,
I doubt it is pollen because the pool is covered all the time. How is all that pollen getting in a covered pool overnight. He has also stated that he puts in pounds of chlorine some evenings and has the SWG at 100% and it gone the next morning. Something is using up the chlorine.

Racestud,

Shocking is not everyones answer to everything. It is everyones answer algea growing in the water. It will kill everything and give you a fresh start. As far the pool being clear I suspect that has something to do with the pool being covered all the time. I think it is possible the lack of sunlight is limiting the ability of the algea to produce chlorophyl. If you left the pool open a few days it might turn green in a hurry.

Shocking the pool is not some over the top extreme solution. It is nothing more than killing the bad stuff that is growing in your water. What you were doing to solve the problem before you came here wasn't working.

If you are worrying about the cost of shocking, think about it this way. It's either give the money to the power company running the pump and SWG non stop from now till god knows when and still have a problem, or give it to Wally World for bleach one time and this problem and possibly other unknown problems will be gone.

Lastly
I personally have the TFT-100 test kit and love it. But if you don't have time to wait the couple of days for it to come in you can find the Taylor kit people are recommending at a pool store. I also think leslies has an equivalent kit as well. If you go the local route just let one of the guys here give you the test kit number you need so you get the right one.

Please excuse any typos. The auto correct on this phone is CRAZY


Good Luck
 
Okay three questions.

Is it safe for little kids to swim now..It shows about 2.4 FC?

How much bleach will I need to dump in given my latest levels posted above?

If I wait another 6 weeks and just close the pool for the winter. Will the winter freeze kill whatever is causing the problem?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Racestud said:
How much bleach will I need to dump in given my latest numbers posted above to get to shock levels?
Click to expand...
As mentioned previously, you need to get a good/believable number for you CYA. That requires the appropriate test kit: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison. If you believe your last CYA value of 95, that is right on the edge of needing to drain and refill. At CYA of 95 poolcalculator gives me 24 ppm FC for shock. That is ~10 gallons of 6% bleach for your 26500 gallon pool. You will need to get more bleach than that since you will need to hold it above 24 ppm until you pass: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/overnight_fc_test
I might wait to do this until you have a test kit...
 
Dalandlord said:
Lastly
I personally have the TFT-100 test kit and love it. But if you don't have time to wait the couple of days for it to come in you can find the Taylor kit people are recommending at a pool store. I also think leslies has an equivalent kit as well. If you go the local route just let one of the guys here give you the test kit number you need so you get the right one.

Please excuse any typos. The auto correct on this phone is CRAZY


Good Luck
Click to expand...

I second all of that Dalandlord said.

I also want to point out that every test kit purchased from Leslie's and reported back here at the forum has turned out to be a Taylor K-2005, which is NOT the FAS-DPD kit that you need.

It has most of what you need in it, but there's one glaring difference. K-2005 can only test up to 5ppm chlorine. It can tell you both TC and FC, with a CC result. But ONLY under 5ppm.

It also has the older style CH and TA reagents with other reagents designed to calculate what you need to add to the pool to adjust your results. You do not need these extra reagents, the pool calculator does all that for you.

In a pinch, you can add the FAS-DPD kit from TFTestkits.net and have a very good full kit. But it's an overall better choice to get the kit you need with the proper reagents. It's also good to buy from a reliable source who cares about you and your pool. Leslie's has proven time and again they only wish to take pool owners money by selling unnecessary and expensive pool products that won't work and the most glaring indication that they prefer their customers to be in the dark is by continuing to sell K-2005's instead of K-2006's. They don't deserve our money... IMO.
 
Doubtful that the winter freeze will kill anything. Might put it in a suspended animation. You'll just have the same problem when you open back up next spring, the secret is to kill it all now. If your cya is as high as you think it is, the best best is to drain some of the water and get it to a manageable level. You are not killing any algae or bacteria with the amount of chlorine you are using at that cya level, you might barely be stunting it's growth.
 
Dude, you're not listening.
We can't help unless we have good numbers. We need at a minimum pH, FC, TA & CYA. Those are important.

The winter freeze will not fix your problem. It's also not safe to swim in until you know is sanitary.

If closing is all you're interested in, then just turn everything off and let it go swamp. Deal with it next year, or not!

Whenever you're ready to listen and follow the advice given, we'll be more than happy to help. The questions we ask, the info we ask for and the advice we give, is to help you. We're not asking for money or anything else just that you do what we ask.
 
I'm going to put my two cents in. I am new here but
I have had the same problem with my SWG since the end of last summer.
I am currently following the advice that all of these guys have given about shocking the pool.
I was two steps away from replacing the whole SWG and that would have gotten me nowhere.
I see a DRAMATIC difference in the pool water in just 3 days. What I THOUGHT was clear turned out to be
just plain yuck. The winter freeze did NOTHING for the problem. And I had three blizzards of freeze this past year.
LISTEN to the people on this board. They KNOW what they are talking about.
 
Yeah, winter won't help. There is a reason why most folk's pools are nasty at opening in the spring.
Your SWG is working, or your chlorine would have been at zero a long time ago, and your pool would be a swamp. It is struggling to supply enough chlorine for you to still have some to measure after the ick growing in your water has it's way with it.
What you need is a high enough chlorine level to kill the organics in your water, and hold the level long enough to allow it to finish it's job. This is analogous to taking an antibiotic. You need a strong enough dose to be able to kill bacteria and take it long enough to fully wipe it out. In the case of chlorine, the proper level is determined by the CYA level. CYA essentially reduces the effectiveness of chlorine, so the more CYA you have, the higher your chlorine level needs to be to have a given effective result.

As for safety, chlorine is safe to swim in up to shock levels for a given CYA level. Water with who-knows-what growing in it may not be safe. It may be unsanitary, or it may be deadly, no one could know for certain.

Honestly, we really are trying to help.
 
Racestud said:
Okay think I am going to shock it.
Click to expand...
Excellent, we can help you through it :goodjob:

Question. I have a couple gallons of pool chlorine. Does 1 gal of Chlorox regular bleach equal 1 gal of pool chlorine?
Click to expand...
No, you need to read the label. Liquid Chlorine typically comes in 10%, 12%, or 12.5% (at least, that is what i have seen around here). Bleach comes in 6%, and 5% typically. Just use the pool calculator to calculate how much you need. You put in the concentration percentage (to the left of the % sign in the FC section), and it will tell you how much you need.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply