Maintaining pool first year - general questions

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Heavy rain for days - draining needed?

Hi again,
As of 1 week ago tonight, it has rained almost every day and very heavily. The water is now above the skimmer, about 2 inches below the top of the pool. Should I drain any water out of the pool? I do have a shop vac with a hose drain connection so perhaps I could use that. I did search from draining, raining etc but couldn't find any relevant advice. I will backwash Saturday (supposed to be nice) and retest. I assume it is ok to test 24 hours after the rain stops. The pool looks pretty clean, just a few leaves etc. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Karen
 
If there's not much danger of it overflowing, I think I'd backwash as soon as possible and just let that handle the excess water. You should be able to get a really good backwash that way and won't have to refill to make up for it. That's what I call a win, win situation. :)

If you have a waste setting on your multiport you can use that to drain water out if there's a chance of it raining more and overflowing the pool.
 
Backwashing

Dave,
Thanks for your quick reply. Should I clean the pool of leaves and debris (very minor) prior to backwashing or backwash first then clean the pool? Also, should I do my retest of the chemical balance later today after the backwashing and cleaning? I would assume so. It's so nice to see the sun out today!
Karen
 
Hi,

Here's the results from my tests taken today. Please advise if you have any ideas. We went on vacation and although the pool cleaner ran 4 hours a day, it wasn't on the highest speed and some algae formed. We easily scrubbed it off upon our return but some comes back daily for the last week and the pool is very, very slightly cloudy. It was cool here for most of August -- 70's to low 80's. This week we've had high 80's and hitting 90. It's been incredibly sunny though -- our solar numbers are the best in a long time.

The SWG shows all green lights and 4 green dots which means optimum salt -- like 3500 ppm so I can't believe I need salt - but who knows?

1) K-1766 (18 x 2 = 3600)
2) K-1000 (Chlorine = 0, Bromine = 0, pH = 6.8) This test is hard for me to believe and I did it 3 times today
3) Chlorine Drop Test (FC = 0.5pp, TC = 1.0)
4) Total Alkalinity Test (7.5 drops x 10 = 75)
5) Calcium Hardness Test (12 x 10 = 120)
6) CYA Test (25) As the test states, this one is hard to "get"

Any help is appreciated.

Karen
 
The pump speed and the vacuum running have nothing to do with why you got algae. You got algae because the FC dropped too low.

You need to SLAM the pool and generally that is done without the SWG running. [slam:1m9qygls][/slam:1m9qygls]

After you pass the 3 criteria to stop, then you should really raise the CYA up to at least 70ppm as recommended for the SWG.
 
Oh my sounds pretty bad.

Does CC mean chlorine? The simplest things can be complicated if never defined.

I have the Test Kit and Stirrer. What is the FAS-DPD Test? Do I have to order that?

I just read the SLAM Document and the OCLT Document and sounds pretty darn complicated but I will try and muddle through it.

I have guests coming tomorrow for 5 days - not sure what to do about swimming.

Karen
 
Have you read Pool School?
CC is defined here: pool-school/pool_water_chemistry
FAS-DPD is the chlorine test that uses the powder.

Well, either swim in a green potentially unsafe pool, or don't swim. Or at LEAST elevate the FC in the pool and swim in the green (assuming you can see the bottom ... if you can not see the bottom, then no one should swim). There is no magic cure to clear the pool ... so your guests may be out of luck.

SLAMing is easy. Test, use the poolcalculator.com, add the require bleach, wait at least an hour, do it all again.
 

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[attachment=0:320cxkey]POOLCAL082113.pdf[/attachment:320cxkey]

Hi again,

OCLT - I have already performed the FAS-DPD test today, so I don't have to worry about the OCLT test till the morning.

I will now go to the store and buy 6% bleach - two 96 oz sizes. (Please see the uploaded attachment which is the pool calculator results. If someone could look that over I would appreciate it).

SLAM - there is no debris in the pool. (BTW - I did a couple of pH tests today and one was 7.5 and one was 6.8). Should I take a few more shots at this test before SLAMing? Since the FC level is 0.5, I assume I add the 131 oz of bleach recommended.

I will test again in the morning.

Is this a good approach?

Karen
 

Attachments

  • POOLCAL082113.pdf
    299.5 KB · Views: 5
You see green. You need to SLAM the pool. You need a lot more than 2 bottle of bleach. Read the process again. Shock level is a FC of 10ppm using a CYA of 30ppm. Then you have to keep it at 10ppm until you pass the 3 criteria.

The OCLT is not needed until after the pool is clear (you see NO green) and your CC are still low. Then you test after dark and before the sun comes up.
 
Hi,

The Pool Calculator said to put in 131 oz of 6% Chlorine. At the store I could only find 8.5% - 121 oz. Should I put in more than one bottle tonight?

As to the CC definition: here was my confusion. The test kit TF-100 says CC is Combined Chloramines and TC is Total Chlorine. The ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry say CC is Combined Chlorine. According to the test kit, the total of FC and CC should be recorded as Total Chlorine (TC). The test kit says after you test for FC, add 5 drops of R-0003 to the clear solution and swirl. If remains clear, you have no CC's. The ABCs say if you have CC over 0.5 that indicates a problem. My test results today as stated in the earlier post were FC=0.5pp, TC=1.0. I never mentioned CC but will post that result going forward.

So am I right in assuming the GOAL is to have a CC level of zero? Today the CC = 0.5, which is not over 0.5 obviously.

Other than the 2% green factor in the pool and the very slight cloudiness, which, if any, readings were so alarming? I'm trying to learn and get a feel for things but there are many abbreviations and lots of details. I agree the pool strips are worthless, but even the test kit is difficult to interpret sometimes - for instance I think the K-1766 is very difficult to read on yellow side.

Any advice, and whether one bottle is enough tonight, is appreciated.

Karen
 
You need to target a FC of 10ppm, not sure why you are not getting that. Change the % on the calculator to 8.25.

So don't use the yellow OTO test, that is why you have a FAS-DPD test, no color matching.
 
Thanks, that's helpful.

The Recommended Levels on this site say for a Vinyl Pool with SWG I should be looking for 3-5, but in any case, 0.5 is way too low, so I understand you now about needing to add more bleach.

I'll test in the morning and then add until we get there.

Karen
 
Karen, that you are seeing any green implies algae. Think of it as if your pool has strept throat. You can take a days worth of penicillin and some tylenol (bleach) and maybe some of the pain goes away and you're fooled into thinking you're cured, but if you don't really treat that strept throat with a full course of antibiotics (the SLAM treatment) you haven't cured anything and may even have worse problems down the road because of it.

Your available chlorine is far too low. Your pool isn't entirely healthy, but it isn't so sick that you're convinced enough to treat it.
Get your chlorine level up first and foremost before that entire pool is green. If you decide to treat it with a SLAM, turn the SWG off and use just liquid bleach (in whatever concentration-just use the pool calculator to tell you how much) and pour it in, brush those walls and all nooks and crevices and keep retesting. Each hour or so you retest and find your level dropped below the SLAM level needed use the calculator to advise you on how much *more* bleach to add to again bring it up to SLAM level. You want to keep it elevated to kill off all those resistant cooties. It is *not* a one dose done-deal! It is a regimen just like that strept throat treatment is.....

Pool lovers here all want you to get the most pleasure out of your pool possible. We *love* our pools! But it takes commitment on your part to learn how. Read Pool School repeatedly- it all makes more sense as you go along. Reading posts here help too.

Good luck!
 
Ok, last night I put in 121 oz of 8.25% bleach.

This morning the FAS-DPD results were:

FC = 2.5 ppm
CC = 0.5
TC = 3.0

I then used the pool calculator for 18,000 gallons, 8.25% bleach and it's telling me to put in 41 oz of bleach which is about 1/3 of a jug. I will put that in now. The SWG is not running and the pump is running 24/7 until this is over. The pool looks better - very clear, but a few green spots. My partner will scrub it today.

I have to go to NYC today and won't be back till 8 pm and I will retest then and repeat this analysis.

Thanks,
Karen
 

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