Please advise with help on pool

[PoolnTN]

That's what I've been wondering. So if that's the case then if I check it in the morning, bring it to shock level, go to work, check it in the evening, it's dipped quite a bit, bring back to shock level and repeat this daily process am I making headway or just see sawing back and forth? I check it much more often on the weekends but that's not possible during the work week.

(I'm not doubting the process at all, just trying to better understand how it works )

 

[bridgman]

The idea of a SLAM is to never let it get below shock level. Once you do, you get into "maybe it'll be OK, maybe it won't be" territory.

Any chance you could look at how bleach you need to add to cover the day's loss then arrange for someone to blindly pour in maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of that during the day while you are at work ? It would certainly stop the FC level from dropping so low.

 

[PoolnTN]

Thanks, I can possibly find someone to do that.

I have another question, though. Assuming you still have stuff eating chlorine, wouldn't, just a few moments after you raised it to shock levels, it would drop right back below? Then you'd immediately be back in the "maybe its ok, maybe its not" territory you described?

My SLAM will be going into week 3 this Friday and I'm wondering if there is something I'm missing about the process. I had a lot of progress right at first but for the past few days it seems stagnant.

 

[bridgman]

Yep, but (a) raising the FC a bit above shock level helps with that, and (b) in the early stages of a SLAM when FC is being used up quickly the recommendation is to test hourly or at least often enough that it doesn't drop much between tests.

As long as you keep the FC level up (typically during the evening and at night so work doesn't get in the way too much) the time-consuming stage of a SLAM doesn't seem to take very long.

EDIT -- looks like you were doing hourly testing/adjusting for the first day or two and making great progress (might have killed everything if not for all the leaves/sludge) but I get the impression you're not seeing the same kind of progress now. Is there still a lot of sludge on the bottom ? If so, wondering if it's worth brushing (so the filter can get it) or vacuuming to try and get it out ?

 

[PoolnTN]

Yes, I started it the Friday before Memorial Day so I'd have several days where I could check it regularly, which I did. Right now I'm seeing about a 3-4ppm drop during the day while at work.

Hopefully my concern is for nothing and its just the fact that as someone prior mentioned d that my sand filter is undersized for my pool and its just taking a while to filter it all out. Also I have one skimmer that has been clogged since we've had the pool so I'm sure that hampers it too.

Is my time doing the SLAM pretty typical so far?

I thought about adding some Diatomaceous Earth. How much would that help?

 

[bridgman]

Right now I'm seeing about a 3-4ppm drop during the day while at work.

That's not bad. My impression from the last pic was that you still had stuff growing in the water, so I would have actually expected more than 3-4 ppm drop during the day. I'm not sure how to interpret that.

Is the pool still dark green ? Any chance of a current pic ? Folks love them here

My thought would be to (a) double-check the CYA level so you know exactly what FC level to target, (b) raise the FC level a couple of ppm above the target in the morning, (c) check and adjust a couple of times during the evening. I realize it's very likely you are already doing that, just wanted to be sure.

Given the comments about your filter being a bit undersized, wondering if it would be a good idea to put a nylon stocking over the skimmer basket to help catch more gunk and keep it out of your filter ?

Do you think there is still a bunch 'o sludge on the bottom ?

 

[PoolnTN]

Yesterday during the day it was actually 5, I was just averaging the two test together. It may be more accurate to say 2-3ppm loss at night, 4-5ppm loss during the day.

It is not still dark green. It's more of an aqua blue-green, with a hint of gray if that makes any sense. I've included some pictures from today.

Glad to see we are thinking alike. I did double check CYA and it's at 35. I also added a skimmer net. Typically I check it in the morning, in the evening, and then again before bed. On the weekends I've been checking more frequently.

Your last question is what I'm concerned about. I've scooped and vacuumed a lot and it'll feel like I've gotten everything. Then I'll throw the robot in and it'll come back full of leaves and sludge.

 

[bridgman]

That is looking better. I would brush the steps regularly just because they look like they want to grow algae

 

[PAGirl]

Wondering if you should take your chlorine level the 4-5 ppm (average loss for the day) higher above your slam level during the morning dose to keep it from falling below your target?

 

[PoolnTN]

That is looking better. I would brush the steps regularly just because they look like they want to grow algae

Lol, I think your right. I think the whole pool does actually but you can just tell it on the steps.

- - - Updated - - -

Wondering if you should take your chlorine level the 4-5 ppm (average loss for the day) higher above your slam level during the morning dose to keep it from falling below your target?

I have been wondering about that too. I wonder if there is a way to estimate at what FC level damage could occur as a result of too high chlorine concentration. For example "20FC if CYA is 30". I know it would be an estimate as each pool has different components. Or is that what I'm doing already by calculating the shock level?

 

[PAGirl]

I don't think I know enough to be able to answer that, unfortunately. You do probably need to err on the side of caution with a vinyl liner.

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi, I hate to hear you arent making progress as quickly as we all had hoped.

To answer your question about raising the FC above SLAM level. It wont hurt anything to aim a few ppm above slam. Its recommened quite often.

The thing about high FC causing damage is actually about keeping it that way for an extended period of time. A few hours or a few days would not be siginificant one way or the other. The other thing about high FC is that it would be unhealthy to be in the water at levels above slam.

Unfortunately, I havent been able to read the many posts of the thread, so I am chiming in late. ...

So I am wondering if perhaps your sand filter isnt being as effective as it it should be.
Have you checked to make sure the sand hasnt channeled and need deep cleaning? The way to know is to time how long it takes for the backwash to turn clear. If its fairly quickly, then the sand probably needs cleaning. Has anyone mentioned this yet?

DE would definitely help too.

I wonder if there is a way to estimate at what FC level damage could occur as a result of too high chlorine concentration.

 

[PoolnTN]

Thanks for chiming in. Assuming Shock FC is 14 what PPM do you suggest adjusting to? We certainly won't be getting into the water so that is not a concern.

I did a deep clean before the start of the SLAM and another one about a week into it. I'm not certain on the condition of the laterals, though. I've seen a few white, thin "needles" float out during a deep clean and wondered if they were fins in a lateral or just some sort of debris from something in the pool.

 

[JVTrain]

You could safely go a few points over 14 and be fine with a pool that's steadily consuming chlorine over normal demand, which you should be in a pool that still has evident algae. Going up to 20 regularly probably wouldn't be a good idea though.

Unfortunately the only sure way to know if you have a laterals issue is to drain the filter, remove the sand and inspect them. Short of that, you could tie off a sock on a return and see if your getting a significant amount of sand after several hours.

 

[PoolnTN]

I just adjusted FC to 18 and added accordingly. My shock level is 14 given my CYA. I have noticed some sand in the bottom of the pool the last few years but I didn't know if that was due to runoff (pea gravel surrounding it) or the filter. When I've deep cleaned the sand level seems between 1/3 and 3/4, which from what I understand is acceptable.

I'm going to get some DE on order. We're going out of town for a few days, which hopefully won't impede progress too much (I'm going to get get someone to add a few gallons each day, but no testing). I'm not going to add the DE until I get back so I can monitor PSI closely myself.

 

[PoolnTN]

Thought I'd give a bit of an update. The pool survived the week with us gone pretty well. Then the next week I had to go out of town but my wife was able to test and add bleach as necessary. Now that I'm back I'm going to resume adding DE, running the pool cleaner, using a skimmer net, and vacuuming, so the progress should go more quickly. Even still, I think progress has been made during the last two weeks. You easily see the pool cleaner when it is in the shallow end and you can make out the liner pattern (you can't in the following picture because I just stirred everything up by vacuuming).