Multiple Chemical issues even though pool is crystal clear

[mamalou23]

I am testing my pool water today and it is acting very differently from ever before. Please help!

5/27/17 readings
Free/Combined Chlorine = no reading, gray sample, 4-5 dippers did not turn it pink. Can R-0870 powder go bad? Very odd, has never happened before.
pH = yellow, way below 7.0 mark, 60 drops to get it to 7.2 Add 50 oz. baking soda? Never had it this yellow before.
Alk. = no reading, red sample after r-007 and r-008 added. Don't even know what that means to do to it. Never had this before.
CYA = cloudy, way above 100 mark Has been this way for two weeks. Hoped excessive rain, cool temps and added water (without draining any) would help. Never had this before.

The pool cleared up quickly this year we thought because we started earlier and temps were cooler. We did it with a combination of bleach and 3" tablets in floater and skimmer basket. Added Borax and one box of baking soda two weeks ago.

Have had no tablets in for two weeks. Have added 2 gallons of bleach twice a week. Pump is running 24/7.


The pool is crystal clear with some algae accumulating occasionally but just wondering if it is about to mess up and/or what do I need to do to get the numbers right?

Thanks for any help.

 

[zea3]

Any algae accumulating is a sign there is not enough chlorine in the pool. Is your pH stable at this point? Have you measured TA since you brought pH up? Can you still see the dot in the CYA test? If you are unable to see the dot before it reaches the 100 mark on the test cylinder then you have very high CYA and will need to do a series of drain and refill cycles to bring it down. You will need to keep your FC at the recommended level for your pool. Use your test results and PoolMath to calculate what it should be. Test your FC daily to make sure it stays in range.

 

[Richard320]

Your pool is suffering from a trichlor overdose and an algae bloom.

The trichlor raised the CYA too high and crashed the pH and alkalinity. At this point, even if you fixed the low pH and TA, you'd still have algae that will be nearly impossible to kill with the high CYA. Shock level to kill algae at superhigh CYA levels may end up higher than any chlorine tester can read. It's virtually impossible.

Not what you want to hear, I'm sure, but you need to replace water. Lots of it. First thing to do is repeat the CYA test using the dilution method in Step 8 here: Pool School - CYA . When you have a feel for that, then you can figure out how much water to drain and replace. Then when CYA is somewhere between 30 and 50 you balance pH and TA and proceed with the SLAM Process to kill the algae.

 

[OTPirate]

. Can R-0870 powder go bad?

Thanks for any help.

R-0870 lasts up to 3 years if properly stored. You can test it by getting a small sample of diluted bleach and seeing if it turns pink.

 

[mamalou23]

Thanks all! I appreciate the help.