New to pool maintenence-The Great algae monster

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Got a full computer test from a local pool builder today. Here are the official results-my testing supplies will be here Friday :)

FC: 13.1
total chlorine: 13.1
CC: 0.0
Ph 6.8
Hardness 318
Alkalinity: 18
CYA: 86
Copper: 0
Iron: .13

She said there were some phosphates in the water but couldn't get a good read because the chlorine levels are high. They told me to add allclear alkalinity?!??? And a phosphate remover??
Is this something I should do?


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crdameron said:
Got a full computer test from a local pool builder today. Here are the official results-my testing supplies will be here Friday :)

FC: 13.1
total chlorine: 13.1
CC: 0.0
Ph 6.8
Hardness 318
Alkalinity: 18
CYA: 86
Copper: 0
Iron: .13

She said there were some phosphates in the water but couldn't get a good read because the chlorine levels are high. They told me to add allclear alkalinity?!??? And a phosphate remover??
Is this something I should do?
Click to expand...
Nope.

If you are in the middle of the Shock Level And Maintain process, all you worry about is FC & CC. The pH readings will be skewed by the high FC and the rest can wait. Phosphates are immaterial.

And didn't you wonder how the CYA jumped from 40 to 86? :scratch:

Bottom line: you can't trust any pool store results. Check Post #9

You also can't trust pool store advice. Phosphate remover is expensive and unnecessary and often clouds the pools. If you search phosfree and milky, you'll find many threads confirming this. AND if you click on the instruction link for Phos-free to see the popup window, you'll see this: "Important: Algae must be treated prior to testing and lowering phosphates. Chlorine must be under 5ppm before testing phosphates." They will have you dump fifty bucks' worth of snake-oil in, in direct contradiction to the manufacturer's explicit instructions for the sake of a sale!
 
I am reading the Chlorine/CYA chart about cya and chlorine. Am I correct In saying that I should have a shock level of 35 if my CYA is over 85? Do I round up?

I actually did wonder why it jumped so much overnight but I didn't question her because she was already giving me the stink eye because I told her my chlorine source was bleach. I am working on this chemistry stuff but I am not knowledgable enough to combat the angry pool contractor yet. I'm learning!

Have I said "I can't wait until my kit comes in" today? Because I can't wait!!!



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Ever since I started the bleach I have seen results. This was better than the pool guy could do. So I am committed to the BBB method. I have read and re-read and scoured this forum and I have seen the results so I cannot wait for the day when I get to give the stink eye to the pool guy and the pool store.


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If it was me I wouldn't dump another dime into the pool till I had test kit in hand and a full set of results. I would let the FC drop to whatever till it gets there. If it drops below 10, great, then you can get accurate results for Ph. From what I have learned here, first get PH established, get a good CYA value, once you get those two taken care of, then start your SLAM.

One thing that I have done with my pool is if I want to clean the stuff from the bottom of the pool, I leave the vacuum hooked up and bypass the skimmer. This sucks up the debris from the bottom of the pool and not just the top 6". Your inground vinyl might already pull from the bottom, but if not, leaving the vacuum brush hooked up really cleans up the bottom of my pool in short order after lots of swimmers or a rain shower dumps a bunch of dust/pollen/dirt into the pool.

Glenn
 
Do you have a main drain at the bottom of the deep end? If not then attach one end of the hose to the skimmer and the other end left at the bottom attached to the vacuum to keep it weighted down. This will help pull the dirty water into your filter faster. If you have a main drain at the bottom then disregard.

Did you get your test kit yet? You should watch some online video's regarding using it.

Test the CYA and FC first then post those results. The video will show you what to look for when testing the CYA since that is the basis for the amount of bleach needed.
 

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We went out tonight to check on the pool and found that someone-not anyone in our home had poured an entire bottle of clarifier into the pool. We found the empty bottle by the pool filter. We weren't home at the time. They also poured half a gallon of bleach into it. I have no idea who would have done this and why. I have some suspicions but that isn't useful for this thread.

Anyway-they poured an entire bottle of HTH Super Clarifier into the pool. Does this affect any chemical levels that I need to watch out for?


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What the heck? Renegade pool "help"?

I'd be pretty angry! It probably won't hurt anything. Probably won't help much either. Thankfully it wasn't a bottle of algaecide! That could add copper and the staining that goes with it and cause foaming!

New sign for fence:
"No Trespassing. Anyone caught dumping anything in this pool will be dumped in the pool themselves!"

Heck, you're in Texas. Anyone caught dumping anything in this pool will be shot! :)
 
Get an accurate test result for CYA when your TF-100 arrives. Then you'll know how to proceed with either a partial drain/refill/SLAM or just start the SLAM process. Stop even talking to the pool store folks, even testing the water there. It's only going to confuse the process. It's the TFP way or the pool store way. Mixing the advice is not advised and will lead to poor results.

You're taking control of the pool. Make sure they stay the **** out of it! Go back there in a few weeks when you've completely cleared it out and are in need of expensive pool toys or want to show them pictures of your sparkling pool.
 
JVTrain said:
Get an accurate test result for CYA when your TF-100 arrives. Then you'll know how to proceed with either a partial drain/refill/SLAM or just start the SLAM process. Stop even talking to the pool store folks, even testing the water there. It's only going to confuse the process. It's the TFP way or the pool store way. Mixing the advice is not advised and will lead to poor results.

You're taking control of the pool. Make sure they stay the **** out of it! Go back there in a few weeks when you've completely cleared it out and are in need of expensive pool toys or want to show them pictures of your sparkling pool.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I am doing. I have been getting the pool company testing simply to see what my real chlorine levels were until I get the test in. I had an algae bloom and wanted to make sure I was at least putting enough bleach in to kill or keep it at bay. Once the test arrives (can't it just be Friday already) I'll start the real slamming.

The pool guy was supposed to get us through this. He came in threw some stuff in told us the sand was bad and changed it out. Told us to call him when it got clear again-in a couple of days and he would come in and get his commercial vacuum and get the stuff up from the bottom. That was nearly 3 weeks ago. WE were patient gave the filter plenty of time to work but it just kept getting cloudier and cloudier so that is when I found this forum. That night I started using bleach and saw a marked difference in the pool. The next day we started sweeping and brushing the stuff and then started seeing more of a difference. I have just been trying to keep the chlorine levels high enough to keep the algae from coming back until the testing kit comes in.

I did call the pool guy this morning to see if he had come by. I didn't get to talk to him but I did talk to his wife and she said he was on our side of town so probably stopped by. I asked her to ask him why he poured an entire bottle of clarifier and half a bottle of bleach into the pool. Asked him to forward me his water testing results from last night. I highly doubt that he tested the water because if he had then he would have noticed the unusually high chlorine levels and wouldn;t have put another half of a bottle in.
 
Also-a partial drain isn't an option at all. Our area is under a stage 5 drought emergency.We can't use city water to top off the pools. We already paid a water truck to come by and top the pool off and that was really expensive but it is better than an empty rotting hole in our backyard. If I drain the water I couldn't fill it back up. It would cost me nearly 2K to refill the pool right now. So It is imperative that I learn how to maintain the pool in a safe effective way.

I am scouring the forum-watching videos and printing off tons of info. I have an entire notebook of TFP stuff printed out and have been carrying it with me at all times. I really appreciate the info you all have given me thus far. I am learning a ton!
 
You can manage a high CYA pool in your situation. Just ask Richard320. It requires more bleach and daily use of the FAS-DPD test, which is more expensive. But, with the tools here it can be done. Here's hoping your actual CYA is less than 100.

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Results:

FC-15
CYA-100
Ph-7.5
Alk-60-not positive on this one getting odd testing, I am assuming because of the chlorine levels

Pool Is blue and cloudy. Can barely see the bottom of the shallow end. Have been putting DE in the filter to help grab the stuff in water better. Can see some dirt at the bottom but not well. No major piles of stuff in the bottom.

We think the main drain is clogged as my husband dove down yesterday and pulled some gunk out of it but doesn't know if he got all of it.

I have kept the chlorine levels up very high for over a week and it has progressively gotten clearer. We just don't know if our filter is working as it should because of a possible main drain clog


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