Massive algae bloom

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Ok, I'm going to do a full drain/refill while I wait for the already-ordered test kit. I agree it is about a wash in terms of the cost of the bleach compared to the pump rental again.

As long as I don't have to do a 3rd pumping, I've not thrown good money after bad in terms of spending $60 at Harbor Freight to purchase a pump and $20 more on another length of hose. If all this works I won't really NEED a pump each season, so my life is in your hands!

After work, the steps:

1. Rent pump.
2. Finish draining
3. Bleach wash the walls
4. Remove as much debris in the bottom as possible (I have a wet vac)
5. Begin refill

ADVICE NEEDED: With this clean water to be refilled, at what point during the refill (?) do I test the water, even with my test strips for a basic view, and add something? Do I just let it go as-is until the good test kit arises, filling up and leaving it? Do I add some liquid chlorine based on the test strip measurements to help insure some level of protection? The last thing I want to see is another bloom in progress before the test kit arrives, but I really do not know how long tap water can sit in a pool before it starts to turn.

With a full refill, and basically no CYA, I see here the recommendation to add some. I've seen it for sale in home centers as a product. Is it better to buy some of that or to maybe use just one tablet to get that amount of CYA to buffer the liquid chlorine? One tablet, part of a tablet, buy the product and put some in that way - what would you suggest here?
 
While you're pumping the water out you can test the fill water. The biggest things to look for are pH high or low, and TA high or low.

Once you know that you can buy what you need to adjust it. You'll also need about 6 lbs of stabilizer and I'd get about 5 or 6 jugs lf bleach.

Once it full enough to run he pump you'll need to put about 2 quarts of bleach in it. Pour it slowly in front of a running return. Then hang the CYA in front of a return in an old sock. Squeeze it once in a while so it readily dissolves. That will get you started.
 
Just posted a file with the pic of the skimmer as related to the bottom drain function, and just FYI a pic of the current state of the partially-drained pool. It's amazing that last Thursday this water was cloudy but not green.
 

Attachments

  • PoolPics.pdf
    168.8 KB · Views: 24
Nothing. No brand name or model #, no other #s anywhere, not on the basket, lid or assembly. AND, I just noticed why the 'flapper' is missing - broken-off hinge.

There is some tile missing inside the skimmer hole in front of the skimmer assembly which I haven't yet repaired. In this case I don't even have the tile (side wall tiles, I had and was able to epoxy them in place as a temp fix as I could not afford complete replacement of the tile this year).

So, I had planned to use the underwater epoxy, which works quite well I was happy to see, to patch the section where the tile is gone. I had wondered if calcium had been leaching from that area or something, just as I started putting all this together into cause-and-effect relationship.
 
Dave, also..."full enough to run the pump" - without that cover plate in the skimmer to draft from the bottom drain, the pump won't draft any water until the pool is 95% or more full anyway. The rubber grommet looks to be in good shape though who knows if it will fall apart when (if) I touch it.

Tell me why, oh why, one doesn't use a tablet or two for the CYA level set, rather than buying the same thing in another form to do it? It's already in the tablet so...what's the difference? Time-release nature of the tablet versus a small box of the stuff?

Is this stuff good enough?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HTH-4-lb-Sta ... ifications
 
Looks like that skimmer takes the spaceship looking diverter. You can probably find one at a local pool store. Or order one onlline.

Some people use Trichlor or Dichlor to maintain the FC and raise the CYA. We don't recommend it because you have to be careful to monitor the amount of it you use and you have to monitor two parameters at the same time. The "Effects of Adding Chemicals" section at the bottom of the Pool Calc will allow you to do that if you want to take a stab at it.

The stabilizer you linked to is the correct stuff. Whatever you get just make sure it's greater than 90% Cyanuric Acid.
 
djbilo said:
Dave, also..."full enough to run the pump" - without that cover plate in the skimmer to draft from the bottom drain, the pump won't draft any water until the pool is 95% or more full anyway. The rubber grommet looks to be in good shape though who knows if it will fall apart when (if) I touch it.

Tell me why, oh why, one doesn't use a tablet or two for the CYA level set, rather than buying the same thing in another form to do it? It's already in the tablet so...what's the difference? Time-release nature of the tablet versus a small box of the stuff?

Is this stuff good enough?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HTH-4-lb-Sta ... ifications
Click to expand...

CYA is easier and faster for a new fill. The pucks take too long for fresh fill. You need to get CYA and chlorine in as soon as you have circulation. The CYA to keep the sun from burning out your bleach immediately and the bleach to keep algae at bay.

Some people save the pucks for vacation time or gentle nudges of their CYA level. This is where the good record keeping comes into play. The exact CYA level will not show up immediately on the test. You have to trust your record keeping and hold off from adding more until you are absolutely sure you have good numbers. The pool calculator is great for this.

Better too little at first then too much CYA. You can always add more CYA later. You might use a little more bleach up front while you tweak your CYA level but bleach is cheap in comparison to changing water again.
 
Ok, so the latest data in the saga...

While the pool continues to drain, I walked down into it and got down close to the plaster surface. Took my wire brush and started brushing and noticed quite a build-up of white powder.

Got a test kit water reservoir and ran my tap water and got these results:

TH: 0
FC/BR: 0/0
pH: 7.2-7.5 (color in between)
TA: 40
CYA: 0

Then, being careful not to contaminate the powder, in the second tube of the reservoir I scooped some up and put it in the tap water, covered, and shook for 30 seconds. Figured since it wasn't dissolved in the pool it probably would only become a suspension, but perhaps something would go into solution.

New measurements (remember, this is just the test strips for now):

TH: 0
FC/BR: 0/0
pH: 8.4 <---
TA: 180 <--
CYA: 30-50 by color match <-------

Hmmm. Is the entire surface of my pool coated with CYA? Filling up with fresh water without a massive effort to scrape or pressure wash, or even acid wash, seems.....counter productive?

COMMENTS?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
What you scraped off was most likely calcium scale and when you mixed it with water it clouded and affected the CYA test. You can acid wash the pool to get rid of some of it if you want. Or you can leave it and by keeping the pH low it will dissolve.
 
I'm refilling without acid washing - most opinions are negative on the benefits of an acid wash on plaster, and since I do not know how old this surface is....

When I am done I will have a fairly good idea of the capacity of this pool. I measured the hose flow rate per gallon and based on a 1/2 second margin of error I'll come close to knowing based on the time it takes to fill. Unfortunately I have no way to adjust for pressure differences over the next 12 to 24 hours so I'll have to just take it as an average.

The strip measurements of the "puddle" that has accumulated in the bottom of the pool, with the water hose up at the other end, so washing over a large surface of the pool's bottom, are:

TH: 0
FC/BR: 0
pH: 7.2
Alk: 140 (seems odd to me but...that's what it appears to show)
CYA: 0, or 0-20 (tough to tell; probably 0 or close to it).

Flushed a bunch of debris (looks mostly like calcium buildup) out of the pool bottom drain pipe - took 4 flush/vac cycles to clear it.

Anything else I should consider at this point, for the next 12 to 18 hours?
 
I've been digging around the site for the better part of an hour trying to find an answer to the question:

When refilling a pool from draining due to a massive algae bloom, at what point is it time to add anything to the water?

Nothing until water can circulate through the pump, or something until it can (what?)
 
You are going to have to SLAM anyway once it is full ... assuming the drain was to lower the CYA. Refilling does not take that long ... so you can wait. Or put chlorine in and brush it around.
 
I'd be with Jason, as far as adding small amounts of bleach while filling, and manually mixing.

You stared with a pool full of algae, and I doubt you would want to see a green tinge to the water while filling, since you went to the trouble of washing down the surfaces. Some algae could still remain, and I wouldn't want it to get a foothold again.

Yes, in order to complete the process, you will have to SLAM the pool when full, but it should go much quicker if you add bleach while filling.
 
OK, bleach added and am waiting for a bit of daylight to see water tint color. Too dark to tell even with a flashlight.

2 gal bleach didn't even bump the FC...test strips, even after a stir with the pole and large (wide) brush, showed zero.

Maybe that is a sign of bad mixing or oxidation of background growth occurring.

Under local rules currently in effect I have to stop the fill 10 am to 6 pm. Any concerns about an 8 hour pause?
 
How much water is in the pool now? I wouldn't be overly concerned about it.

I'd keep adding bleach and stirring until you see about 1 or 2 ppm FC. Bear in mind that it won't last long in the sun since there's no CYA in the pool yet.
 
Estimating 4500 gallons filled so far (10 hours, about 450 gals/hour calculated based on thrice-measured hose flow rate).

2 gal bleach.

Test strip measurements just now:

TH: 0
FC/BR: 1/2
pH: 7.5
Alk: 150-180 (any concerns here?)
CYA: 0

Attached is a photo-the coloring of the water is good. Massive calcium deposits (impractical to scale; pressure washing helped but would take days). Careful, thorough high pressure rinse during draining and every single drop of old water removed).
 

Attachments

  • Pool Refill.pdf
    62.1 KB · Views: 21

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