Sebring FL pool recovery - cleaning a total mess

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Okay, here's an update for those interested. I shocked again up to 10 to make sure things are all killed off, and I have a nice milky-white blueish pool. I had to be out of town for a day, but when I got back it was still nicely colored -- and my new filter cartridge arrived!! I have it in place now, and I'm getting ready to check chlorine and bring it back up to 10. I'll fake holding that color on my drop kit until my test kit comes in, hopefully tomorrow, but probably not until Monday. (I ordered it yesterday afternoon from TFTestKits.com) At that point I'll be able to test everything and find out what my real shock level should be. I'm using 10 because that dose (180 oz of 10% liquid chlorine) from zero chlorine appeared to do a kill-off of the algae in the pool.

Finally I can run the filter for extended periods of time. The old cartridge was basically shot; I could clean it down to about 15 pounds of pressure, and within 15 mins it was up to 30. With the brand new cart, I'm down to about 12 pounds at startup and it's been 20 minutes with no increase in pressure yet. I'm hopeful I'll get an hour or more between cleanings now, even with all the dead algae to be cleaned out. I also found that even without a cartridge in place, keeping the system running helps keep the chlorine circulating. I'm going to run 24/7 whether I have a cart in or not while I'm doing this cleanup.

Hopefully I'll have something to brag about in a few days. :)

I also found out from the previous owner that the two jets by the seat are controlled by a (currently leaking when turned) two-way diverter valve. I'll get a rebuild kit and have that fixed in short order. He also said his pool guy had some way to pump to waste, but he hasn't a clue. He's promised to put me in touch with said pool guy.
 
SebringDon said:
Finally I can run the filter for extended periods of time. The old cartridge was basically shot; I could clean it down to about 15 pounds of pressure, and within 15 mins it was up to 30. With the brand new cart, I'm down to about 12 pounds at startup and it's been 20 minutes with no increase in pressure yet. I'm hopeful I'll get an hour or more between cleanings now, even with all the dead algae to be cleaned out. I also found that even without a cartridge in place, keeping the system running helps keep the chlorine circulating. I'm going to run 24/7 whether I have a cart in or not while I'm doing this cleanup.
Click to expand...

??? I would think a shot cartridge would have low pressure - failing to catch things - sounds like this one needs a good soak in a cleaner.
 
UnderWaterVanya said:
??? I would think a shot cartridge would have low pressure - failing to catch things - sounds like this one needs a good soak in a cleaner.
Click to expand...
No rips or tears, but it's definitely filthy, and no amount of water pressure will take it all off. I've got some Aqua Chem filter cleaner, but spray on and wait then rinse off didn't do a lot. I'll read the directions for soaking and give that a shot, and let it soak a long time. I noticed it took a long time to rinse most of the cleaner off before I put it back in the filter. I didn't want to put it back in the filter while I was still getting suds.

Also, one of the bands is broken. Do you know of a way to fix that?

Thanks for all your help!
 
Another update, with pictures:

I still haven't received my TF-100 test kit from TFTestKits, although I expect it will arrive today. In the meantime, I've been keeping chlorine in the pool, cleaning debris off the bottom and running the pump 16 hrs a day, with a filter cartridge in place probably 10 hours of that. Cleaning the cart every 20 mins was getting old. Yesterday the time between cleanings started to increase considerably, and now I'm up to two hours or more between cleanings. As you can see from the pic, it looks much better than it did when we took possession.

As soon as the TF-100 comes in I can check my CYA and figure out my real shock level, and start the shock process. Hopefully it won't take long to pass all three requirements.

PA090002_zps255cdbb6.jpg


Not all is rosy, however. This pic shows some of the black discoloration on the other end of the pool. The brush won't take it off, so now I have to figure out what it is and get rid of it.

PA090001_zps56ba4c2c.jpg


I can't believe I've gotten this far without a test kit, and with the pump only running part-time. I'm sure when the kit gets here and I can keep a cart clean long enough to get a night's sleep things will move even faster.

I owe it all to pool school. If I was still following the pool store's recommendations, I bet I still wouldn't see the bottom. :)
 
My TF-100 test kit arrived, and now I have numbers.

CL 0
CYA < 20
pH 7.2
TA 80
CH 350

I was away for the day and we had bright sun. The chlorine is all gone, but that let me test for accurate pH.

Should I use 10 as my target for the shock process? That's the minimum listed on the chlorine/CYA chart at Pool School, but I think that's high since I could see the dot clearly at the 20 CYA mark, so there's very little if any CYA. I'm thinking 10 is too much, but have no idea what number to use. Anybody?

PC says I need 39 oz of stabilizer to raise the CYA 20 points. Should I start there and get a sock in front of a return?

PC is telling me to replace some water to get down to 300 CH. Is that critical or is 350 ok for now?

TA is fine for now, at 80.

The water continues to clear, even though I missed my afternoon chlorine addition. I'll get some chlorine back in there ASAP, but I'm not sure what to target for the shock process.

Edit: My wife bought some aquachem OPTIMUM chlorinating granules. 72% trichlor, 8% boron sodium oxide, 20% other (clarifier, filtration enhancer, sunlight protector). Should I use some of that instead of liquid chlorine to help with other numbers, or would it do more harm than good?
 
SebringDon said:
CL 0
CYA < 20

Edit: My wife bought some aquachem OPTIMUM chlorinating granules. 72% trichlor, 8% boron sodium oxide, 20% other (clarifier, filtration enhancer, sunlight protector). Should I use some of that instead of liquid chlorine to help with other numbers, or would it do more harm than good?
Click to expand...
Typically we like folks to use CYA by itself but I would use about 1.5 lbs of this if it was my pool. (Pre mixed in a bucket of water and then distributed in front of a return) the net effect would be to raise FC to about 8 and raise your CYA by about 5 at the same time. Check the FC again in an hour or two - if it falls back down close to zero do it again. After doing it twice I would check your CYA again - if you get to 20 or higher stop adding this. This is the MSDS for that product: http://www.kellysolutions.com/erenewals ... _11_AM.pdf The trade secret parts could be an issue but I doubt it - at least they don't list copper!


SebringDon said:
pH 7.2
TA 80
CH 350
Click to expand...
pH is fine and will go up over time.
TA is fine - darn near perfect.
CH seems ok based on the other numbers. Your CSI is negative but as your CYA and pH come up I think you'll be fine. The CSI index looks good with a pH of 7.5 and a CYA of 20-40.

SebringDon said:
Should I use 10 as my target for the shock process? That's the minimum listed on the chlorine/CYA chart at Pool School, but I think that's high since I could see the dot clearly at the 20 CYA mark, so there's very little if any CYA. I'm thinking 10 is too much, but have no idea what number to use. Anybody?
Click to expand...
Typically you want to get that CYA up to a minimum of 20 - without it the sun will cook it very quickly. You also want to keep it as low as is practical while shocking - so as indicated above I'd add some CYA either with dichlor, trichlor or CYA. I'd target adding about 10ppm first and rechecking and then adding another 5ppm if you're still below 20.

SebringDon said:
PC is telling me to replace some water to get down to 300 CH. Is that critical or is 350 ok for now?
Click to expand...
The PC goal value is something you can override. When I checked 250-350 is fine for plaster/gunnite so you should be OK as indicated above.
 
UnderWaterVanya said:
SebringDon said:
Edit: My wife bought some aquachem OPTIMUM chlorinating granules.
Click to expand...
Typically we like folks to use CYA by itself but I would use about 1.5 lbs of this if it was my pool.
Click to expand...
Great minds think (almost) alike. I put 5 points of CYA in a sock and added chlorine liquid worth 8 ppm. I'll check first thing in the morning and use your "OPTIMUM in a bucket" method if it's warranted. I thought CYA took a week to show up on the test, but that never made sense to me.
UnderWaterVanya said:
pH 7.2
TA 80
CH 350

pH is fine and will go up over time.
TA is fine - darn near perfect.
CH seems ok based on the other numbers. Your CSI is negative but as your CYA and pH come up I think you'll be fine. The CSI index looks good with a pH of 7.5 and a CYA of 20-40.

Typically you want to get that CYA up to a minimum of 20 - without it the sun will cook it very quickly. You also want to keep it as low as is practical while shocking - so as indicated above I'd add some CYA either with dichlor, trichlor or CYA. I'd target adding about 10ppm first and rechecking and then adding another 5ppm if you're still below 20.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've been going through chlorine at a terrific rate. I figured my CYA was way low, but until my test kit arrived I couldn't be sure. I'll work hard on the CYA and then nail 10 on the board as my shock level until I pass the tests. I guess I should continue to keep my dog out of the pool until I've got the CYA up and the shock treatment over. It's driving him crazy; he's a water baby and knows that's a pool, He simply can't understand why daddy won't let him use it. :lol:

I got a wire brush. Test scrubs didn't seem to do much to the black marks, but I got a light chalky murk stirred up by the brush. I'm sure the sides are filthy. I'll try a triclor tab and some vitamin C (if I have any; we're in the process of moving in still) and see if either one makes an impression.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Re: CYA
granular/powdered CYA seems to take a good while to show up. However what I have read about dichlor and trichlor seems to suggest the CYA from these shows up more quickly.


- Sent using Tapatalk
 
Still looking to get my CYA up, I used Vanya' suggestion for using the OPTIMUM granules. I tested it this morning and while it's still below 20, at least the water in the vial didn't look crystal-clear. :) I did my first FAS-DPD test this morning and came up with 10.0 FC, .5 CC, 10.5 TC. The water's now clear enough that I can see the leaves on the bottom, so I've got a little more netting to do. I even discovered with the judicious use of the brush that my main drain is white, and not black as it appeared to be in the past. ;)

I've started scrubbing down the walls, and I'll test those stains to figure out if they're black algae or not sometime today.

Also, I ran a while on Tuesday and all day yesterday on one cartridge with no cleaning, and it's only gone up a couple of pounds so far. I seem to have the murky water problem under control, at last. Hopefully the days of 20-minute cartridge changes are behind me. I keep running out to check the filter just in case, though. :D

I'm still waiting on starting the full shocking process in earnest until I see decent CYA numbers, and I don't want to add CYA too fast since it may take time to show up on the test.

Oh, and a question of the CYA test. The TF-100 kit says mix, wait 30 second and mix again. Both articles I've read here say mix continuously for 30 seconds. Which is it? I did the mix continuously today, but before that I followed the kit directions.
 
I have to k2006 kit, but I assume it is the same process. I have always just mixed continuously for 30 seconds and then test. The CYA is test is one that people have trouble with in terms of figuring out exactly when the black dot disappears and when your mind is playing tricks on you. I know it confused me, but the best bet is to do the test multiple times with the same mixture (pouring it back and forth) eventually you will narrow down just where you are at. You can see this thread that I started in the summer, the responses helped me.

cya-testing-just-disappears-seems-subjective-t50754.html?hilit=cya test subjective

You are doing great, stay persistent and patient and you'll have crystal clear water in no time!
 
SebringDon said:
Still looking to get my CYA up, I used Vanya' suggestion for using the OPTIMUM granules. I tested it this morning and while it's still below 20, at least the water in the vial didn't look crystal-clear. :)
Click to expand...
How much dichlor did you add and what CYA was the expected result - I assume you did enough to get a FC of around 8 and that added about 5-8ppm of CYA - and you plan to do a few more times as FC falls - right?

SebringDon said:
I did my first FAS-DPD test this morning and came up with 10.0 FC, .5 CC, 10.5 TC. The water's now clear enough that I can see the leaves on the bottom, so I've got a little more netting to do. I even discovered with the judicious use of the brush that my main drain is white, and not black as it appeared to be in the past. ;)
Click to expand...
Excellent! Keep track of everything you have added and treat the pool as though it has that much CYA in it. I would not remeasure CYA again until you have added another 10-15ppm of CYA. You only have enough test material to measure around 4 times - don't waste it but try not to overshoot. Anything between 20-30 CYA is going to be rational for shocking and 30-40 would be perfect for closing.

SebringDon said:
I've started scrubbing down the walls, and I'll test those stains to figure out if they're black algae or not sometime today.
Click to expand...
Good plan - also watch your chlorine losses - if you see losses after sundown - you are fighting organic growth of some type. Eventually when the water is clear and the leaves are out - you'll want to test overnight chlorine loss but we'll cover that later.

SebringDon said:
I'm still waiting on starting the full shocking process in earnest until I see decent CYA numbers, and I don't want to add CYA too fast since it may take time to show up on the test.
Click to expand...
Check close to nightfall and bump it up then - the CYA isn't an issue at night only during the day. Try to keep the minimum FC up as best you can during the day - shocking is easier if you keep up the pressure - I'd just dive in now.

SebringDon said:
Oh, and a question of the CYA test. The TF-100 kit says mix, wait 30 second and mix again. Both articles I've read here say mix continuously for 30 seconds. Which is it? I did the mix continuously today, but before that I followed the kit directions.
Click to expand...
I mix for a while, wait for a while and mix for a while - I've tried both and I don't see a huge difference.
 
UnderWaterVanya said:
How much dichlor did you add and what CYA was the expected result - I assume you did enough to get a FC of around 8 and that added about 5-8ppm of CYA - and you plan to do a few more times as FC falls - right?

Keep track of everything you have added and treat the pool as though it has that much CYA in it. I would not remeasure CYA again until you have added another 10-15ppm of CYA. You only have enough test material to measure around 4 times - don't waste it but try not to overshoot. Anything between 20-30 CYA is going to be rational for shocking and 30-40 would be perfect for closing.

Good plan - also watch your chlorine losses - if you see losses after sundown - you are fighting organic growth of some type. Eventually when the water is clear and the leaves are out - you'll want to test overnight chlorine loss but we'll cover that later.

Try to keep the minimum FC up as best you can during the day - shocking is easier if you keep up the pressure - I'd just dive in now.
Click to expand...
I've put in sufficient Trichlor and stabilizer to raise the CYA to 22. I'll clear my calendar and dive into the full shock process, and give it a couple days before I test CYA again, assuming I'm at 20 or thereabouts. I'm down to a handful of leaves, chasing them down one at a time now. :)

I'm guessing the black stains are black algae, although I didn't see a big difference after the trichlor test. It's all on the south wall, which gets little sun, while the north wall, which is sunny all day long, is clear. I've also got a lot of brown staining although a lot of dirt is coming off as I brush. Is it OK to brush the whole pool with the wire brush?
 
bobodaclown said:
Yes, it is ok to brush the whole pool with the wire brush.
Click to expand...
It's a good thing, because that's what I've been doing. I've got a lot of staining, both black and brown, that doesn't seem to be impacted much even by the steel brush. The whole south wall, which gets little sun, appears to have black algae growing along the edge where the wall meets the bottom. The north wall, by contrast, looks great. I'm working on figuring out exactly what I'm dealing with there so I can get it cleaned up.

I targeted 10 FC 5PM. Apparently I overshot, since at 6PM it read 12, with 0 CC. At 7 it was down to 11 FC .5 CC, so I added another 18 oz of 10%. At 8 it was same as at 7, FC 11, CC .5, so it's definately still eating chlorine. I've got all but a couple of leaves out, and what remains doesn't respond much to even the steel brush. I guess if it's black algae, I'm breaking up the surface and I'll see it start to lighten over the next day or two.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply