You are on the right path. Please read "The "ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School. Even if you have already, it's a great idea to do it again and let it absorb. Again.....we'll all help keep us posted
CRAZY high CC! Pool company suggests $300 shock treatment????
- Thread starter Oskee2004
- Start date
Got my CYA in skimmer this afternoon, dosed per Pool Math Calculator to get me to 30ppm. Used sock method, went out and massaged a couple of times, was mostly disolved tonight. Sun is down in IL and I retested water; going to be cold tonight... FC down to 2.0 and CC up to 1.0-1.5. Added liquid chlorine per Pool Math to get FC up to 14ppm (I know 12 is the target but thought I would be a touch aggressive with sanitation). Will test in the morning to see what OCL looks like. Will let you know!
Sorry - that last post was from last night... evidently, I never "posted." That was ~8:30PM. Got cold (down to low-30's) in Illinois last night. Just tested the water and the CYA is back up to ~30. FC = 2.0 and CC = 6.5. Going to just keep plugging along, add another 10ppm of FC per Pool Math Calculator and check/add every couple of hours.
Just tested again... FC = 9.0; CC = 0.0-0.5. Will take FC back to 12, check again tonight, then check OCLT in the morning. Certainly positive, but I can't figure out how CC would be jumping then dropping.
Took it to FC=12ppm after testing this afternoon. Tested again at 8:15 PM. FC = 9.0; CC = 0.5-1.0. Taking it back to 12ppm FC and will check in the morning. Water still looks great.
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,578
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The fact you have no CC doesn't mean your out of the woods yet as the FC clearly drops essentially showing active algae. You need to brush twice a day and keep an eye on the filter pressure. Backwash only after a 25% increase from known clean filter pressure. Keep the slam level up there as often as possible to maintain slam and fight down what's consuming the chlorine. Don't let water clarity fool you , it'll be the test that tell you your next step.
Thanks - Tested again at 6:30 this AM. FC = 9.5; CC = 0.5-1.0. More liquid chlorine... back to FC 12ppm. Will start brushing 2x per day and just keep at it until it passes OCLT.
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,578
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Make sure to check any light niches, skimmer throats, ladders/zeroes, anywhere algae could be hiding without water flowing easily to it.
I've learned a ton reading through the forum topics and also the Pool School stuff. Getting a handle on what the chemicals do and what's really in the branded stuff, combined with the Pool Math Calculator has been pretty eye-opening. As I said in my original post to this thread, we're new to this... bought the house at the end of last summer and took most of my advice from the previous owner, who was a big proponent of liquid chlorine, but also using some other stuff. I thought I had gotten a pretty good handle on things by following some YouTube channels, etc., but boy do I wish I had found this forum over the winter to prepare for the season! Would have saved me quite a bit of money that's now sitting in a stock of chemicals I probably won't use (yeah... I fell for the "instant liquid chlorine" thing 
). Thanks for all the help!
). Thanks for all the help!
It is a sad state of affairs.
The pool store want's you to have "a shed filled with white bottles of pool chemicals that had mysterious names and purposes". Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. Go in to the store and tell them your Total Alkalinity (TA) is low and they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????
What do we propose? We base our pool care system on accurate testing and only adding what the pool needs, when it needs it. Which leads to
TFPC tenet - Never put chemistry in your pool when you do not know the outcome
For almost everything the pool store sells, there is a generic "twin" that you can get at your grocery store or big box store. Alkalinity low like I used as an example? You can go to the pool store and buy Alkalinity Up in a fancy bottle or you can stop by Walmart and pick up baking soda.
So, to control your pool you need to know what is going on. Many folks have a Saturday morning ritual, dip a bottle of water out of the pool and take it to the pool store (they give you the bottle for free). They test it and sell you what they say you need to "fix" what ails your pool. But, you will find not much credence is given to pool store testing around here. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Plus, the results of their "testing" is used to convince you that you need to buy things. Why do you think that testing is free?
The pool store want's you to have "a shed filled with white bottles of pool chemicals that had mysterious names and purposes". Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. Go in to the store and tell them your Total Alkalinity (TA) is low and they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????
What do we propose? We base our pool care system on accurate testing and only adding what the pool needs, when it needs it. Which leads to
TFPC tenet - Never put chemistry in your pool when you do not know the outcome
For almost everything the pool store sells, there is a generic "twin" that you can get at your grocery store or big box store. Alkalinity low like I used as an example? You can go to the pool store and buy Alkalinity Up in a fancy bottle or you can stop by Walmart and pick up baking soda.
So, to control your pool you need to know what is going on. Many folks have a Saturday morning ritual, dip a bottle of water out of the pool and take it to the pool store (they give you the bottle for free). They test it and sell you what they say you need to "fix" what ails your pool. But, you will find not much credence is given to pool store testing around here. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Plus, the results of their "testing" is used to convince you that you need to buy things. Why do you think that testing is free?
Tested last night, FC = 8.0; CC = 1.0-1.5... took FC back to 12ppm (after skimming a ridiculous amount of flowers from our beautiful trees, which were deposited in the pool thanks to a day of 25mph winds here!). Tested this morning, FC =11.0; CC = 0.5+. Water is clear but I can see dead algae on the pool floor. Hopefully, I'm getting close. Will continue to brush/vacuum and keep SLAMing today/tonight. Hopefully, I'm through this and can get on to a regular maintenance plan! We'll see in the morning.
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,578
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
FC only dropped 3ppm this afternoon, CC = 0.5+, water is clear. Took FC back up to 12ppm tonight... here's to hoping I get 11ppm in the morning! I do have a quick question on SLAM: If 1.) water is clear, 2.) pass OCLT, 3.) but I still get a 0.5 CC reading, am I done, or do I need to go until I get a CC of 0?
- May 3, 2014
- 59,326
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Heed my advice go it another day with slam for extra measure and a second OCLT just to be extra sure. After that it's clear 
Well... FC = 10.5 this morning (CC =0.5+). Almost there. Will keep plugging away for another day. I'm definitely in "better safe than sorry" mode.
I think we're good to go! Thanks for all the help!
