New to Pool maintenance still trying to Clear up Cloudy water...

[max2k]

We have well water..

Then you'd need to stock up on Pool Owner Patience as we call it here, no quick fix is possible, sorry.

I understand pool was abandoned for 5+ years, then you bought the house and then- how pool was filled? After 5+ years it would be bone dry I think. I'm trying to get some history of the water in the pool before start of this thread.

We still need to see your CYA number. Please try to follow dilution 1:1 described at that link above so we could come up with target FC for your pool. It's best if you can use distilled water for dilution to eliminate any impurities which can be in your tap water.

 

[EssieMae]

Then you'd need to stock up on Pool Owner Patience as we call it here, no quick fix is possible, sorry.

I understand pool was abandoned for 5+ years, then you bought the house and then- how pool was filled? After 5+ years it would be bone dry I think. I'm trying to get some history of the water in the pool before start of this thread No, AMAZINGLY the pool has ALWAYS been full of water, the lowest was only a couple of inches below the skimmer I will try to post pictures soon of what it looked like.

We still need to see your CYA number. Please try to follow dilution 1:1 described at that link above so we could come up with target FC for your pool. It's best if you can use distilled water for dilution to eliminate any impurities which can be in your tap water.

I have retested the CYA and I still get 100 with the dilution test (I also used bottle water). So what target FC do ya'll think?
I am thinking of shocking at the 100 CYA level which I believe said it would be FC 39...I know this would be close to 8 gallons of bleach (according to the poolcalculator) from the current FC level which was 8 (as of last night). I know that's a lot of bleach and it's not "recommended" by the chart but will this really hurt my pool? If I do this, will it speed up the clearing process? Its getting clearer everyday but I'm trying to keep up my "P.O.P." lol, it's getting hard

Thanks!

 

[max2k]

I have retested the CYA and I still get 100 with the dilution test (I also used bottle water). So what target FC do ya'll think?
I am thinking of shocking at the 100 CYA level which I believe said it would be FC 39...I know this would be close to 8 gallons of bleach (according to the poolcalculator) from the current FC level which was 8 (as of last night). I know that's a lot of bleach and it's not "recommended" by the chart but will this really hurt my pool? If I do this, will it speed up the clearing process? Its getting clearer everyday but I'm trying to keep up my "P.O.P." lol, it's getting hard

Thanks!

Your dilution test indicates your CYA is at least 200 but it can be anything above 200. Can you do more dilution, like 3:1 by taking pool water in a cup, putting it into clean container and then adding 3 of the same cups filled to the same level to the same container? Mix it up in the container and take your test sample from the container. This way you'd need to multiply your result by 4 and will be able to measure CYA content up to 400 ppm.

You can try to SLAM at that level if 70% water replacement is not an option. We usually recommend to decrease your CYA first to normal level by water replacement as all the science works there, not at such high CYA concentrations. OTOH there's no harm in trying if drain/refill is out of question. In the worst case you'll end up where you are minus few gal of bleach.

I personally survived CYA= 300 for a year but I never had green or cloudy water to begin with, so I have no idea if it will work or not. Good news it seems to be clearing even at your current FC=8 so I'd go ahead with your plan at this point. I was maintaining FC in 13-16 ppm during that year. This was maintenance level, not shock.

 

[EssieMae]

Your dilution test indicates your CYA is at least 200 but it can be anything above 200. I'm sorry I think I caused a misunderstanding by not making myself clear. When I noted the dilution test results as 100 in the previous post that was after multiplying by 2 (the tube read at 50). So the CYA is 100 then correct? If not I can try your 3:1. Can you do more dilution, like 3:1 by taking pool water in a cup, putting it into clean container and then adding 3 of the same cups filled to the same level to the same container? Mix it up in the container and take your test sample from the container. This way you'd need to multiply your result by 4 and will be able to measure CYA content up to 400 ppm.

You can try to SLAM at that level if 70% water replacement is not an option. We usually recommend to decrease your CYA first to normal level by water replacement as all the science works there, not at such high CYA concentrations. OTOH there's no harm in trying if drain/refill is out of question. In the worst case you'll end up where you are minus few gal of bleach.

I personally survived CYA= 300 for a year but I never had green or cloudy water to begin with, so I have no idea if it will work or not. Good news it seems to be clearing even at your current FC=8 so I'd go ahead with your plan at this point. I was maintaining FC in 13-16 ppm during that year. This was maintenance level, not shock.

That is good to hear of your experience, I added at the SLAM level we discussed. I'll post how it is going hopefully tomorrow. I can't believe I am seeing shallow end pool bottom and almost halfway down the slope!

 

[EssieMae]

This what we started with...Always been full of water Is looking TOTALLY different now

 

[MarianParoo]

Holy cow! Those plants are in the pool. Yikes! You cut them back, right?

 

[EssieMae]

lol virginia creeper...they were actually just barely in the water but yes, ALL gone now

 

[EssieMae]

sooooo been slammin going on 3 days ....can see around 6.5' in deep end an shadows of deepest part

A couple Q's:

I read about SLAM process and about oxidation an such, but jus to clarify so that I understand..
How come the pool is losing so much chlorine during this process but my CC's are staying usually .5 or 1 at most?? Is everything goin as it should?

Also when testing with the "practice pool water" in my tf100 kit I tested the water to read 30 where it says it should read 50 give or take 5ppm. Wonder why this is???
So is it possible my 100 result could be wrong as well? Just curious ...

And lastly, when adding de to my sand filter, shouldn't it contribute to making the backwash water even dirtier???
With no de when the guage gets to normal backwash pressure (for mine), the water always gets to a chocolate milk looking brown before returning clear, But when I added the de and the guage got up to normal backwash pressure, it never changed color it stayed clear...Why?? I am not understanding...



Thanks again!

 

[Vickery]

You may need to deep clean your filter:Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter. Channels can occur in the sand, diverting the water around the sand. DE closes up the filter paths, pushing the water to the channels. Cabarrus County well water is usually full of metals - iron and sulfur at least (my family is from Concord) so if you replace water to drop your CYA read up on metals FIRST! Water softening as well as filtration is helpful. Simple dissolved iron can be precipitated out, usually sunlight will help it, but before adding more chlorine.

 

[max2k]

sooooo been slammin going on 3 days ....can see around 6.5' in deep end an shadows of deepest part

A couple Q's:

I read about SLAM process and about oxidation an such, but jus to clarify so that I understand..
How come the pool is losing so much chlorine during this process but my CC's are staying usually .5 or 1 at most?? Is everything goin as it should?

I don't know why exactly but it is normal, we very rarely see CC number higher.

Also when testing with the "practice pool water" in my tf100 kit I tested the water to read 30 where it says it should read 50 give or take 5ppm. Wonder why this is???
So is it possible my 100 result could be wrong as well? Just curious ...

That test is hard to get right. You need to develop technique to get close to 50 ppm on the provided sample and then using the same technique test your water. When you add reagent to the 50 ppm sample and it turns cloudy you can use the mix multiple times to 'train' yourself, just shake it up before each try. Other members reported reading it at 40 tops so it's common to misread it low.
Since you're getting 100 on your pool sample and it's top of the range you need to use dilution to get it in the test range: try to dilute your pool sample 1:1 with distilled water and test that mix instead of straight pool sample. With 1;1 dilution you'd need to multiply result by x2.

And lastly, when adding de to my sand filter, shouldn't it contribute to making the backwash water even dirtier???
With no de when the guage gets to normal backwash pressure (for mine), the water always gets to a chocolate milk looking brown before returning clear, But when I added the de and the guage got up to normal backwash pressure, it never changed color it stayed clear...Why?? I am not understanding...

I think you're backwashing too soon after adding DE- you should add 15% to the pressure after adding DE, not initial pressure after backwash.

 

[EssieMae]

ok thanks ya'll!!