Thanks for confirming, Jesse. I'll test the water out again and ensure the level is to 10 throughout the evening, and write back in the morning!
Greenish cloudy water
- Thread starter Metsy10
- Start date
Ok we just retested the water and the free chlorine is now showing around 2 or 3. Seems like an awfully fast drop, no? We just added an additional 242 oz of bleach to raise it. I'll wait a bit and reconfirm the value hits 10 and add the stabilizer then (or should I add that now?)
The stabilizer will take a few days to dissolve. Add it ASAP.
You are planning to use the sock method, correct?
Through research on this forum, I'm finding there seems to be a split down the middle as to whether or not I need to use the sock method. If I dissolve and dump into the skimmer, since I have the filter running 24/7 right now, will that be a bad thing?
That is incorrect.
In Pool School-Recommended Pool Chemicals it says, "Solid cyanuric acid should be placed in a sock, and the sock put in the skimmer basket. After adding solid cyanuric acid you should leave the pump running for 24 hours and not backwash/clean the filter for a week. Solid cyanuric acid can take up to a week to fully register on the test, so it is best not to test the CYA level until one week after adding some."
It won't dissolve in a bucket.
I'm not going to waste half an hour hunting down the threads where people have clogged plumbing by pouring CYA in the skimmer basket, have strange noises coming from the pump because the granules have settled inside the impeller housing, have filled the filter with CYA, then had to backwash, and lost all the CYA they just bought, or tried to predissolve it, poured the mess in the pool, and created freckles in the pool surface where the acidic granules rested. These have all happened.
Whether you hang it in front of a return or set it in the skimmer, it still needs to be enclosed in a sock or nylon or pillowcase or something. I don't like the idea of restricting the intake to the pump at all.
I made a few of the mistakes Richard mentioned when I was just starting out. I must say, without question, the sock in front of the return is the best option. Even better if you have an the time to babysit the sock and squeeze it often. You want to squeeze it just enough that you see what looks like clear syrup flowing out through the fabric. If you squeeze too much bigger particles can escape and end up on the bottom.
Richard -
Thanks so much for the link to the pool school section on the addition of CYA; the original sets of search results I was finding were older threads and this nailed it!
I have 64 oz of the powder in the sock in the skimmer (lining the wall of it basically). I was afraid to hang it in front of the return for fear that it would disconnect. (If there was a test kit for my anxiety level with doing this in this pool, I would blow those numbers away!)
I know the pool calculator calls for double that number but I only had one bottle and couldn't figure out a way I would have gotten two of them in there anyway since we are already running out of real estate in there. The pool only has one skimmer, which leaves me at two weeks of the CYA addition process potentially. Based on Richard's advice I got that started just now, so I will start testing for CYA beginning of next week.
I just also did a retest of the free chlorine but seems that the number is maybe only running around 7. I know I'm supposed to keep it to a 10, but here's my question: when I do the free chlorine test, when i added the first 5 drops or so, it went to clear. A minute or two it showed up slightly pink again, I add more, etc. and this went on for about 15 minutes. I eventually got to 14 drops before no pink tinge snuck back in. Does that seem to be a valid test if that's happening? If it's not, and I count only the first time it goes to clear that means the chlorine is only around a 2.5 - and that's after adding 484 of 8.25% bleach today!
I have seriously got to find a store that carries more bleach than the grocery store does.
Lorraine
Thanks so much for the link to the pool school section on the addition of CYA; the original sets of search results I was finding were older threads and this nailed it!
I have 64 oz of the powder in the sock in the skimmer (lining the wall of it basically). I was afraid to hang it in front of the return for fear that it would disconnect. (If there was a test kit for my anxiety level with doing this in this pool, I would blow those numbers away!)
I know the pool calculator calls for double that number but I only had one bottle and couldn't figure out a way I would have gotten two of them in there anyway since we are already running out of real estate in there. The pool only has one skimmer, which leaves me at two weeks of the CYA addition process potentially. Based on Richard's advice I got that started just now, so I will start testing for CYA beginning of next week.
I just also did a retest of the free chlorine but seems that the number is maybe only running around 7. I know I'm supposed to keep it to a 10, but here's my question: when I do the free chlorine test, when i added the first 5 drops or so, it went to clear. A minute or two it showed up slightly pink again, I add more, etc. and this went on for about 15 minutes. I eventually got to 14 drops before no pink tinge snuck back in. Does that seem to be a valid test if that's happening? If it's not, and I count only the first time it goes to clear that means the chlorine is only around a 2.5 - and that's after adding 484 of 8.25% bleach today!
I have seriously got to find a store that carries more bleach than the grocery store does.
Lorraine
Your worst fear nailed it. It's pretty common that a minute or so after the FAS-DPD test goes clear that it turns back to pink. You count the first time it went clear as the FC.
Check out the big box home improvement stores. They usually sell "Pool Chlorione" or "Liquid shock" this time of year. Just avoid any faded, beaten up, old-looking boxes. It's usually 10 or 12.5%, which means fewer jugs to carry.
Richard -
I have about a half of tub of granulated Durachlor left from last pool season (July timeframe) so I could use the remainder of it to boost the chlorine levels tonight. Is that an okay option or do I want to pretend like this isn't sitting in my garage and wait for the stores to open tomorrow?
Lorraine
I have about a half of tub of granulated Durachlor left from last pool season (July timeframe) so I could use the remainder of it to boost the chlorine levels tonight. Is that an okay option or do I want to pretend like this isn't sitting in my garage and wait for the stores to open tomorrow?
Lorraine
Durachlor is dichlor. It adds CYA to the water. That will mean you will need to account for it and raise the SLAM level and the maintenance FC levels. Here's the MSDS for it. It will just cloud things - that pun was intentional, I meant confuse, not actually cloud the pool - so I would refrain from using that. Later on, when the pool is sparkling, if you want to raise CYA, it will be good for that.
For now,
Ok, great. I will reserve it for a job it's worthy of. A few posts ago you mentioned I could use a liquid shock from a big box, etc. Is liquid shock ultimately just a stronger bleach, hence why I'm sticking with that - is that an accurate statement ? And If I'm running at a 2.5 for FC, and I want to get to a 10 for SLAM levels, and I use the liquid shock, my assumption would be that the chlorine levels will be posted on the container so I calculate what I need with the pool calculator?
And really silly question - but if I have zero CYA now, and I'm only currently adding half the 'dosage' into the pool, and then can take a week to dissolve - would having a little extra boost be bad, or is it just that it would whack the other levels out? Nah never mind, I'll take your advice to heart - when it's sparkling and I'm still running low, I'll revisit that in a week
And really silly question - but if I have zero CYA now, and I'm only currently adding half the 'dosage' into the pool, and then can take a week to dissolve - would having a little extra boost be bad, or is it just that it would whack the other levels out? Nah never mind, I'll take your advice to heart - when it's sparkling and I'm still running low, I'll revisit that in a week
Yes, same stuff, different strengths. poolmath will let you select the strength to get the right dose.
Pool already looks a little clearer this morning with much thanks to all of you!
I bit the bullet and bought some liquid stabilizer this morning to kick start the CYA levels. According to Pool Calc, I need 370 oz of liquid stabilizer to get me to 40. I'm totally gunshy on that level so for now, I am only adding half of it. I also have the sock diluting the powder stuff in the skimmer. I am about to add 128 oz of it now, but I have two bottles of it so I could 256 oz total. Should I bite the bullet and just add both today? Or if I have the sock dissolving will that leave me with a worse problem of overage on the CYA by next week when combined with 256 oz the liquid stuff?
I'm also adding a gallon of 12.5 bleach/liquid shock from Leslie's to raise my levels from a FC of 2 to a 10 so that's 213 oz going in shortly as well. The husband is vacuuming now and will backwash as needed when he is done before I start everything.
I bit the bullet and bought some liquid stabilizer this morning to kick start the CYA levels. According to Pool Calc, I need 370 oz of liquid stabilizer to get me to 40. I'm totally gunshy on that level so for now, I am only adding half of it. I also have the sock diluting the powder stuff in the skimmer. I am about to add 128 oz of it now, but I have two bottles of it so I could 256 oz total. Should I bite the bullet and just add both today? Or if I have the sock dissolving will that leave me with a worse problem of overage on the CYA by next week when combined with 256 oz the liquid stuff?
I'm also adding a gallon of 12.5 bleach/liquid shock from Leslie's to raise my levels from a FC of 2 to a 10 so that's 213 oz going in shortly as well. The husband is vacuuming now and will backwash as needed when he is done before I start everything.
Slow down. You have some CYA in a sock already so you'll have at least enough to prevent FC burn off during the day. It's very easy to overshoot, especially if your pool volume estimate is too high. How did you arrive at your pool volume number?
It doesnt take week to dissolve, but to fully register on the cya test. DONT DO BOTH!!!
Thanks again everyone - here's my CYA recap: I started with 0 in the pool. I bought a 4 lb container of the powdered one and added that to the sock last night. That is 64oz of the recommended 143 oz based on the pool calculator. The size of my pool is 18 x 36 and is average of 5.5 feet deep leaving me with a gallonage estimation of 26700.
I then added only the *one* gallon container of liquid CYA this morning - that was 128 oz of the 370 total recommended by the pool calc. So I went about 1/3 on each of the granulated and the liquid. Am I okay at this point or should I remove the sock? It's been in there approximately 16 hours at this point.
Lorraine
I then added only the *one* gallon container of liquid CYA this morning - that was 128 oz of the 370 total recommended by the pool calc. So I went about 1/3 on each of the granulated and the liquid. Am I okay at this point or should I remove the sock? It's been in there approximately 16 hours at this point.
Lorraine
You're okay. Just remember to take the added CYA into account when you target the SLAM level.
Thanks Richard, I just did a FC and a CYA test so I could adjust the shock levels again to try to maintain the SLAM. I seem to not be getting high enough though, although the sun is now covering most of it so I may retain better.
I did the shock earlier this morning but I just tested the FC now and it's showing 2. For kicks, I did a CYA test to see if I could get anything to register. Yesterday when I did it, the tube remained crystal clear. When I did it just now, it showed something slightly cloudy but still nothing to count per se since I can still see the black button on the bottom of the tube it's just *slightly* cloudy.
So a few fundamental questions. My pool is 18 x 36 with 3 ft on the shallow end and a deep end of 8 ft. That averages to 5.5 feet. The pool calculator estimates 26700 gallons on that. Any chance it could be higher than that? I feel like with as much bleach as I'm dumping in here, I should be registering more than a 2 on the FC test.
To properly SLAM in coordination with the CYA, is there a base number I can use knowing that I added some even though the test is pretty sketchy still? To raise it from a 2 to a 10 based on the pool calc, I need two more gallons of the shock in there quick to get it back up again.
Since it's mostly the clarity issue that I'm fighting, is there a chance that the metals present in the water can make the water cloudy? My iron test is ordered already so I'll know more specifics on that in a few days.
I did the shock earlier this morning but I just tested the FC now and it's showing 2. For kicks, I did a CYA test to see if I could get anything to register. Yesterday when I did it, the tube remained crystal clear. When I did it just now, it showed something slightly cloudy but still nothing to count per se since I can still see the black button on the bottom of the tube it's just *slightly* cloudy.
So a few fundamental questions. My pool is 18 x 36 with 3 ft on the shallow end and a deep end of 8 ft. That averages to 5.5 feet. The pool calculator estimates 26700 gallons on that. Any chance it could be higher than that? I feel like with as much bleach as I'm dumping in here, I should be registering more than a 2 on the FC test.
To properly SLAM in coordination with the CYA, is there a base number I can use knowing that I added some even though the test is pretty sketchy still? To raise it from a 2 to a 10 based on the pool calc, I need two more gallons of the shock in there quick to get it back up again.
Since it's mostly the clarity issue that I'm fighting, is there a chance that the metals present in the water can make the water cloudy? My iron test is ordered already so I'll know more specifics on that in a few days.
Iron will make it turn colors, but won't make it cloudy.
With zero CYA, you'll basically lose all your FC in a hour. So what you're describing is perfectly normal. You have low CYA now, so it lasts a little longer, but it's still cloudy so I'm sure it's being used up killing algae, too.
With zero CYA, you'll basically lose all your FC in a hour. So what you're describing is perfectly normal. You have low CYA now, so it lasts a little longer, but it's still cloudy so I'm sure it's being used up killing algae, too.
Ok great, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't dumping stuff in for nothing Would it be worthwhile for me to utilize the other bottle of qiquid CYA at this point? With the other bottle of liquid stuff, I could boost the CYA up a bit but still be under what the original recommendations were. I could get more effectiveness with the shock that way and stand a fighting chance at getting the levels to - and keeping them at - 10? I can't effectively SLAM since the pool keeps eating the shock :/
Would it be worthwhile for me to utilize the other bottle of qiquid CYA at this point? With the other bottle of liquid stuff, I could boost the CYA up a bit but still be under what the original recommendations were. I could get more effectiveness with the shock that way and stand a fighting chance at getting the levels to - and keeping them at - 10? I can't effectively SLAM since the pool keeps eating the shock :/