New Pool Owner dealing with algae

[mike.stocker]

Good evening! New user here (and new pool owner), I’ve been scouring this website and forum for the past couple of days and it has been incredibly helpful in learning about how to maintain a pool. I’m still a bit confused on some things though and could use some advice on how to tackle my first SLAM.

So when I bought this house, the pool cover was torn. I had it removed the other day by a local pool company. They also tried to open the pool for me but were unsuccessful. They cleaned the pool, shocked it and then sprayed this stuff called Revive on the surface. The Revive was meant to coagulate the algae and drop it to the bottom (if my understanding is correct). The pool actually started turning blue right after the initial shock. 24 hours later though and it was green again. The Revive treatment didn’t seem to do anything so the pool is still very swampy. Given that they charged me almost $300 and the pool is still a swamp, I am opting to try and tackle this myself, now that I know about the SLAM method.

Today I took a water sample to my local Leslie pool store and the CYA measured at just 5. Is that possible? Also the pH came back very high at 8.5. Finally, copper came back at .4. How concerned should I be about the copper? It is a pretty large in-ground vinyl liner pool. And can I trust the CYA and pH results? I have a Taylor FAS-DPD testing kit on the way to confirm those measurements myself.

If it is safe to assume the above measurements are correct, how do I approach my SLAM? Do I need to lower my pH first or increase my CYA? Will adding CYA lower my pH enough as to not need muriatic acid? If I do need muriatic acid, do I add that first before the CYA or vice versa?

Finally, once my pH and CYA are where they need to be, do I just start adding chlorine to shock levels while running the pump on filter mode, and then brush, skim, vacuum etc. while maintaining the chlorine at shock levels?

Apologies for the long first post and thanks in advance for any help you can provide! And please let me know if you need any more information about the pool.

-Mike

 

[Texas Splash]

Good morning Mike, and welcome! The way I see it, this is your corrective actions path
1 - Copper is never good and the only way to remove it is by exchanging some water. This could be helpful to you in several ways:
** Lower the copper level
** Remove some of the Revive junk
** Remove some algae

For many, water is cheaper than chemicals, so a healthy water exchange might be better so you can start fresh. If you do this, do not drain all the water. The pool needs a good 1/4 to 1/3 for stability, but you get the idea.

From that point, it's a matter of adding stabilizer for a CYA goal of 30, lowering the pH to about 7.2, then increasing (and maintaining) the FC at "12" until you pass all 3 SLAM criteria. Follow that SLAM Process page and you'll do fine.

If you elect to not change some water, the process is just about the same as noted above, but could take longer and the elevated FC level "might" aggravate the copper. Just depends on how much copper is really in the water. Pool store testing is always questionable.

 

[Texas Splash]

Also, your signature is blank so we have no idea about your pool or equipment info. See my sig as an example. Those details are important. That Revive stuff needs to get vacuumed to waste if you have a sand or DE filter with a multiport valve. If not, you're stuck and may need to replace your filter media. You're learning now, but if you have any questions about products later, let us know.

Also go back to our Pool Care Basics for tons of great info.

 

[mike.stocker]

Good afternoon, thank you! My pool is a vinyl liner and I am on a septic tank so don’t really have any good cost effective options for draining and refilling the pool. That said, there will be some water exchange as I vacuum to waste.

I am wondering how I should proceed in the meantime as I do not yet have my test kit and my filter is leaking pretty badly. I did some research last night and I think it is an old Pac Fab PF-35 sand filter. There is also a small leak in the plumbing above the strainer basket. I haven’t been running the pump at all out of fear of damaging other components since I have such limited knowledge of how everything works still. I am trying to figure out if it is worth fixing that filter or just replacing it. In the meantime though, presumably it would be worth recirculating the water while brushing, skimming and vacuuming? Then start adding chemicals once I have my test kit?
I updated my signature as well as I could. I am guessing a bit on a couple of things but here are some photos of my setup. Last photo is where there appears to be that small leak in the plumbing.

 

[Texas Splash]

You can certainly run on recirculate. That leak at the PVC may need to be replaced, but if it's not bad maybe later. As for that filter, I'll ask @1poolman1 to see if he is familiar with that one.

 

[mike.stocker]

You can certainly run on recirculate. That leak at the PVC may need to be replaced, but if it's not bad maybe later. As for that filter, I'll ask @1poolman1 to see if he is familiar with that one.
Awesome, thank you!

 

[mike.stocker]

Thank you!