Greetings & Thanks! 12 year pool owner with algae issues

[gslightner]

Greetings from Central PA,

Found this site because my Husband was at his wits end with an algae issue that we had never encountered before. After researching a bit and being led to this forum several times we have determined it is primarily an issue with CYA levels being at 90 reducing the effectiveness of shocking the pool.

Our pool is about 12 years old, 21,000 gallons, sort of kidney shaped with vinyl liner, our pump uses a cartridge filter and we also use a copper ionizer system which currently is offline with new copper rods on order.

Anyways just wanted to thank Trouble Free Pools and everyone who has contributed to the forums for this very helpful site. We have our chlorine test kit on the way, downloaded the kindle version of the Pool School and are plotting our game plan on getting our pool back to pristine. Biggest decision to make is whether we want to drain the pool before SLAMming or try SLAMing it first.

Thanks again!
Grace & Scott

 

[tim5055]

Welcome to the TFP pool! :splash:

Well, if you are going to follow our methods go ahead and cancel the order for the new copper rods. We don't recommend these type systems.

Be very careful draining a vinyl lined pool, go too low and you can allow the liner to shift, wrinkle or tear.....

What test kit is on order?

 

[pookiesunshine]

..... a copper ionic system which currently is offline with new copper rods on order...

Welcome! A moderator or guide will provide more help, but just thought you might want to cancel that order if you are going to be following TFP!

haha, beat me to it.

 

[gslightner]

Welcome to the TFP pool! :splash:

Well, if you are going to follow our methods go ahead and cancel the order for the new copper rods. We don't recommend these type systems.

Be very careful draining a vinyl lined pool, go too low and you can allow the liner to shift, wrinkle or tear.....

What test kit is on order?

Thank you kindly!

I see now that the ionizer is generally not recommended due to it’s limitations over chlorine. I tried to relay this to my husband but will try again later when he is less agitated about the pool. The whole reason of getting the ionizer was to use less chlorine but we are using tons of it now just trying to kill all this algae.

My Husband is rather resistant to the idea of draining the pool to reduce our CYA level (which is currently at 90) since it would cost about $470 to truck in 10k gallons of water to refill it. (We have already spent over $2k this year replacing the pool heater & cleaner + more) We have well water which makes it not an abundant source for refilling and we worry it may mess up our well and also have too much iron in it.

Thank you for the caution of not draining too low. I was thinking no less than 1.5 feet on the shallow end. The pool is only 5.5 feet deep or 167 centimeters at the deepest end so not sure if that makes a difference on how low we can drain it but we were shooting for draining 50% in volume which we were going to eyeball. Hopefully that would bring our CYA down to 45 ish.

We have the Taylor Complete K-2006C kit on order, should be here tomorrow. I think we will likely end up SLAMing it first and if it doesn’t work then try draining and then SLAMing. I know it will require more chlorine to maintain FC levels but hoping the CYA levels will go down with incremental draining over the summer and allowing the pool to refil with rainwater. That may change when it is apparent how much chlorine will actually be necessary to keep FC at recommended levels.

Seriously a real Pain.

 

[mknauss]

Take a look [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. The SLAM level of FC is what you will need to maintain, for days to weeks, depending on how swampy the pool is, to clear it.

Where did you get the figure of 90 CYA? Your own testing or a pool store?

 

[gslightner]

Re: Greetings & Thanks! 12 year pool owner with algae issues

Great news! The Taylor testing kit came a day early!

Bad news. After skimming through the instructions several times, they are extremely confusing to me. I’m confident I’ll find clarification here however. Thanks again!

Grace

- - - Updated - - -

Take a look [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. The SLAM level of FC is what you will need to maintain, for days to weeks, depending on how swampy the pool is, to clear it.

Where did you get the figure of 90 CYA? Your own testing or a pool store?

90 CYA came from a print out from the pool store. Should I take it with a grain of salt?

 

[mknauss]

A large grain.

Pool School - Extended Test Kit Directions

Also TF-100 Test Kit - YouTube

 

[gslightner]

A large grain.

Pool School - Extended Test Kit Directions

Also TF-100 Test Kit - YouTube

Ok I will. Thank you immensely for the links and the words of wisdom!!! Bookmarking now to read after dinner!

Beyond appreciative,
Grace

 

[mknauss]

Some more reading if you are bored --

ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

 

[gslightner]

You and this site totally rock! Thank you so much for those links. Made understanding the testing procedure soooo much easier. The company should seriously consider replacing their own instructions with the instructions from the links you posted. I hope TFP is earning some income from assisting it’s readers on making wise Pool maintenance shopping choices. This site is amazing.

 

[mknauss]

Since you asked - no - we do not derive income from assisting members. We are a 501 (c) (3) organization. We do not have advertisements. We pay the bills by members supporting us by donating via CLICK HERE to Become a TroubleFreePool.com Supporter!!

You receive some goodies by donating. Go to the link to see what .......

You might also consider downloading the eBook - Trouble Free Pool School. And you should plan to use Pool Math when you start testing.

Take care.

 

[gslightner]

I thought that might be the case. Should be an easy way for websites like this to earn well deserved revenue from being so incredibly helpful and awesome. I’ve already purchased the kindle ebook & will def be making a donation! Thank you!