Hi, all! I’m really glad to have found this community! Apologies for the long post. I figure this is one of those times where TMI can be a good thing.
I’m a 20-year owner of a 35-years old 28,000 gallon Anthony in-ground plaster pool with a DE filter — all original or original-equivalent parts but the plaster has seen better days, lol. I’ve been struggling with water chemistry this season for the first time ever. The pool is located in the mid-Atlantic (Frederick, MD), uses a mesh safety cover in the winter, and is (and has always been) surrounded by our neighbors’ huge pine trees. The water is always dirty in the spring but, in the past, we’d circulate the water for a month in April, uncover in May, rake out the pine needles and whatever else got past the cover, vacuum/backwash it a few times, hit it with 5 or 6 lbs. of cal-hypo and be good to go. Not this year.
We had to leave the cover on until the beginning of June because we lost a bunch of fencing in a storm. I went through my usual process of adjusting the pH to 7.2 and shocking but it didn’t budge. No FC the next morning. I did it again the next day for a total of 10 lbs. of cal-hypo and it still didn’t budge. Dip sticks suggested 10+ TC and 0FC. I knew I was in a hard chlorine lock so I ordered a Taylor K-2006C test kit as recommended here (before I became a member) from Amazon. It was going to take 5 days to arrive so I went to a couple pool stores to confirm those sad little dipsticks. Their numbers for chlorine were all over the map but most of the others were pretty much in agreement. Two recommended all sorts of additions but I was skeptical. One store recommended shocking with 11 gallons of 12.5 liquid chlorine and doing nothing else until that was resolved (pH was fine) which is sort of in line with what I was seeing on the threads here. So I did that. Still no free chlorine the next morning. But now the water is blue though somewhat milky, especially in the deep end. I can see the drain in the bottom at 9’ but it’s hazy. There have been no chloramine odors at any point throughout all of this. I have been brushing, vacuuming, and backwashing as needed throughout. Jump ahead to today...
My Taylor K-2006C test kit arrived. Reagents expire in 2023. The water is still blue and cloudy. Test results are as follows:
FC = 14
CC = 1.5
Calculated TC = 15.5
pH = 7.2
TA = 150
CH = 220
CYA = <20 (the pool stores had called it 1, 5, and 5, respectively.
So where do I go from here? What else do you need to know that I’ve omitted? I’ve never been in the situation where FC exceeds CC and I don’t understand how it’s even possible. Final notes: the dip-sticks still say I’m locked. A pool store ran my sample through their system and says I’m locked worse than ever they want me to add 38 gallons of 12.5 chlorine. I’m following the Taylor instructions carefully, exactly, and quickly. I’m at a loss for what to do next.
Thanks so much for your collective insight! It seems I’ve had it easy for a long time and I’m *super* frustrated now. Sigh...
I’m a 20-year owner of a 35-years old 28,000 gallon Anthony in-ground plaster pool with a DE filter — all original or original-equivalent parts but the plaster has seen better days, lol. I’ve been struggling with water chemistry this season for the first time ever. The pool is located in the mid-Atlantic (Frederick, MD), uses a mesh safety cover in the winter, and is (and has always been) surrounded by our neighbors’ huge pine trees. The water is always dirty in the spring but, in the past, we’d circulate the water for a month in April, uncover in May, rake out the pine needles and whatever else got past the cover, vacuum/backwash it a few times, hit it with 5 or 6 lbs. of cal-hypo and be good to go. Not this year.
We had to leave the cover on until the beginning of June because we lost a bunch of fencing in a storm. I went through my usual process of adjusting the pH to 7.2 and shocking but it didn’t budge. No FC the next morning. I did it again the next day for a total of 10 lbs. of cal-hypo and it still didn’t budge. Dip sticks suggested 10+ TC and 0FC. I knew I was in a hard chlorine lock so I ordered a Taylor K-2006C test kit as recommended here (before I became a member) from Amazon. It was going to take 5 days to arrive so I went to a couple pool stores to confirm those sad little dipsticks. Their numbers for chlorine were all over the map but most of the others were pretty much in agreement. Two recommended all sorts of additions but I was skeptical. One store recommended shocking with 11 gallons of 12.5 liquid chlorine and doing nothing else until that was resolved (pH was fine) which is sort of in line with what I was seeing on the threads here. So I did that. Still no free chlorine the next morning. But now the water is blue though somewhat milky, especially in the deep end. I can see the drain in the bottom at 9’ but it’s hazy. There have been no chloramine odors at any point throughout all of this. I have been brushing, vacuuming, and backwashing as needed throughout. Jump ahead to today...
My Taylor K-2006C test kit arrived. Reagents expire in 2023. The water is still blue and cloudy. Test results are as follows:
FC = 14
CC = 1.5
Calculated TC = 15.5
pH = 7.2
TA = 150
CH = 220
CYA = <20 (the pool stores had called it 1, 5, and 5, respectively.
So where do I go from here? What else do you need to know that I’ve omitted? I’ve never been in the situation where FC exceeds CC and I don’t understand how it’s even possible. Final notes: the dip-sticks still say I’m locked. A pool store ran my sample through their system and says I’m locked worse than ever they want me to add 38 gallons of 12.5 chlorine. I’m following the Taylor instructions carefully, exactly, and quickly. I’m at a loss for what to do next.
Thanks so much for your collective insight! It seems I’ve had it easy for a long time and I’m *super* frustrated now. Sigh...