Have algae, also have poor levels. Here we go:

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Yeeper

Yeeper

Gold Supporter
May 16, 2018
109
New York
Pool Size
30000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi all,

I know I'm going to have to SLAM but I waned to start this thread.

We've had algae on and off all summer (not sure which one, probably green) and I haven't been as attentive as I should have. I also got lazy testing. I bought a brand new refill kit for my TF kit and here is what we have:

TC/CC/FC 0
CYA 0
pH 8.2+
TA 140

I need to get muriatic acid. I have some dichlo laying around so I'll probably add that. But I need to do some math here now.

Scratching my head bc last year my CYA was off the charts 200+ and I had to do water exchanges until I got it to a manageable level. Now this year we've had crazy weather pouring rain for weeks and then hot sun on and off. So I was dumping my liquid chlorine in a couple of bottles at a time and it would clear up for a few days and be fine.

Here we go...any wisdom is appreciated. pH down and chlorine/CYA up are my two goals here. Am I missing anything?

TIA
 
First, raise your FC in the water using enough liquid chlorine to get to 10 ppm using PoolMath. Circulate the pool for 15 minutes. Test FC and CC. Report the results here.
 
Teald024 said:
When you reply to Marty's test, answer the following.

What was the expected CYA from last year? Drain when you closed? Did you measure it at the beginning of this season? This season, how much water and how often have you had to drain the pool due to the rain?
Click to expand...

I honestly forget these CYA values. If I were to guess it would be around 60. I did drain upon closing last year and refilled with hose this year. I also did test beginning of the season and these are the numbers that stick out to me.

We had to drain about 3x with all the heavy rains and then the sun helped evaporate some water for a few weeks on and off. We topped off with hose unless the rains helped keep it at the level of the first step.
 
Should I go with some dichlor shock to get FC and CYA level up quickly? And muriatic acid to get pH down? Or will pH come down with all of the FC and CYA adjustments?
 
mknauss said:
Quite a FC loss. But the low CC is a good sign.

What does the water look like? Does it smell of chlorine?
Click to expand...
Water looks mostly clear. Can clearly see the bottom of the shallow end, and it seems a little cloudy towards the bottom of the deep end, but not overly. Quite a bit of algae covering the repeat offending areas.

Does not smell of chlorine.
 
OK -- I do not believe you have an ammonia issue.

Lower your pH to 7.2. Do it in stages. You need the TA reading for Poolmath. First target 7.5. Then once you get the pH in the 7's, lower to 7.2.

I suggest you use CYA powder to raise it to 30 ppm. Not dichlor. Use the sock method to add. Test your CYA 24 hours after all the powder is dissolved from the sock.

The follow the SLAM Process based on 30 ppm CYA. Pump running 24/7.
 
mknauss said:
OK -- I do not believe you have an ammonia issue.

Lower your pH to 7.2. Do it in stages. You need the TA reading for Poolmath. First target 7.5. Then once you get the pH in the 7's, lower to 7.2.

I suggest you use CYA powder to raise it to 30 ppm. Not dichlor. Use the sock method to add. Test your CYA 24 hours after all the powder is dissolved from the sock.

The follow the SLAM Process based on 30 ppm CYA. Pump running 24/7.
Click to expand...
Awesome. Gonna run out to the store now and grab what I need to drop the pH and TA. Thanks for all the help! Will update.

Cheers!
 

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Yeeper said:
Gonna run out to the store now and grab what I need to drop the pH and TA.
Click to expand...

Muriatic acid will do both. Don't buy anything marked TA minus / Alkalinity minus. It is just dry acid.
Should get liquid chlorine / bleach as well.
Granulated CYA also.

nothing else for chemicals!

For the CYA test, was the water cloudy at all in the tube or clear all the way to the top?
Also, don't backwash the filter for a few days after all the CYA is dissolved.
 
Teald024 said:
Muriatic acid will do both. Don't buy anything marked TA minus / Alkalinity minus. It is just dry acid.
Should get liquid chlorine / bleach as well.
Granulated CYA also.

nothing else for chemicals!

For the CYA test, was the water cloudy at all in the tube or clear all the way to the top?
Also, don't backwash the filter for a few days after all the CYA is dissolved.
Click to expand...
I wish I read this before I went out. I was passing right by the pool store so I got granular acid and stabilizer. I normally don't buy Bioguard's products but I figured it was a clean active ingredient. Bioguard was 93.2% Sodium Bisulfate and I used the Pool Math's calculations to add just over 6lbs.

I will have to rig up the sock for the CYA tomorrow. I got caught up with work stuff before I could continue more on the pool.

New values below:
 
Do not use any more of the sodium bisulfate. The sulfates build up in your pool water. Corrodes metals (your heater) and concrete.
 
OK so I threw in the granular acid (93.2% Sodium Bisulfate) and had to run out for work so I didn't get to add the CYA. I have to set up the sock system. Priority tomorrow.

But I've had the pump running since 4pm and figured I'd test again just now before bed. Scratching my head. Added 3 bottles of liquid shock at around 3:30 then tested at 4pm.

2pm 4pm 10pm
FC 0 1.5 6
CC 0 0-0.5 0-0.5
TA 140 140 120
pH 8.2 8.2 8.2
CYA 0 0 0 (haven't added stabilizer yet)

Not sure how FC went up that much in 6 hours. There was not sun on the pool when I tested around 4pm. I tested values twice at each testing time for validity. Same testing kit, all new bottles. I threw the old ones out already. 2pm and 4pm there wasn't that much pink after I put a scoop of the powder in. Tonight, it was BRIGHT magenta. Same powder container, same scoop, same scooper (me).

Marty, tonight I DID notice a definitive chlorine smell as I opened up the bottle to pour into the test kit. This was not present this afternoon testing.

Cheers.
 
Teald024 said:
Muriatic acid will do both. Don't buy anything marked TA minus / Alkalinity minus. It is just dry acid.
Should get liquid chlorine / bleach as well.
Granulated CYA also.

nothing else for chemicals!

For the CYA test, was the water cloudy at all in the tube or clear all the way to the top?
Also, don't backwash the filter for a few days after all the CYA is dissolved.
Click to expand...
Forgot to respond to the CYA. No cloudiness whatsoever. Crystal clear all the way to the top. And thanks for the tip re backwashing. Appreciate the help!
 
mknauss said:
Do not use any more of the sodium bisulfate. The sulfates build up in your pool water. Corrodes metals (your heater) and concrete.
Click to expand...

Oh lovely. OK well I won't use the rest of that. I'll go to HD tomorrow to grab actual muriatic acid. But I'm puzzled that the pH didn't drop at all since I put it in around 6pm.

6pm added 6lbs of SB
Pump running continuous.
10pm tested and no drop in pH. Slight drop in TA
 
Yeeper said:
OK so I threw in the granular acid (93.2% Sodium Bisulfate)
Click to expand...
"Dry acid is best added by pre-dissolving it in a bucket of water and then pouring that slowly in front of a return. "

I would suggest brushing really well in the area you threw in the dry acid. It can damage your liner.
 
mknauss said:
"Dry acid is best added by pre-dissolving it in a bucket of water and then pouring that slowly in front of a return. "

I would suggest brushing really well in the area you threw in the dry acid. It can damage your liner.
Click to expand...
I did this as soon as I was finished putting the acid in. I also did it very slowly over the course of 8-10 minutes. None of it visually hit the bottom, it all seemed to dissolve. I saw it immediately affect the algae where I poured it so figured it was better to brush regardless. I will do that again tomorrow.

And I knew I remembered reading something about using a bucket for pre-dissolving. I feel like a dolt now. I rushed it today. My own fault.

Thanks Marty.
 
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Yeeper said:
Forgot to respond to the CYA. No cloudiness whatsoever. Crystal clear all the way to the top.
Click to expand...
OK, then you can treat your initial CYA as 0ppm. If you add 8lbs of granular CYA to your 32k gallons, that should be 30ppm of CYA. If you are confident on your pool volume, you can add all of the CYA. Not all of that will fit into one sock, so you will need to split it to 3 or 4 socks or let 2 socks worth dissolve and then repeat.

Live and learn with the acid ....
 
O.K. So good progress.

After picking up muriatic acid and adding stabilizer, here are the new readings:

FC 4
CC 0
CYA 20-30
pH 7.2
TA 100

Things are moving where they need to be. But need to get CYA up a bit more and still have algae. I think Im closer to starting my SLAM.
 

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