No Cl, No CYA, Green pool, need help!

[engraggie05]

I’m a new pool owner, and I’m having trouble keeping it clean/swimmable.

Right now it is green and cloudy. My stats are below:

FC 0.25? -ish, practically non-existent
CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 70
CYA - did this test… water stayed clear the whole time. I assume this means no CYA

I have a chlorine feeder, and I use power powder plus 73.

Where should I start? I don’t know what to add first and how long to wait between adding chemicals.

It turned green very quickly…

I live in Edmond, OK
17,000 gal kidney shaped pool

Fresh fill about 1.5 months ago

Please help! Thank you

 

[needsajet]

Tricky one. A possibility is that your chlorine feeder is turned off. There will be better experts and guides along to help, for sure. In the meantime, read SLAM Process

You may cross some concepts or terms that aren't familiar. If so this is great: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

Oh yeh, which test kit are you using?

Nice to meet you via TFP

Others will be helped by that sort of info.

 

[Mdragger88]

Before adding cya & proceeding to the SLAM Process
do this to rule out ammonia part 5

Ammonia - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[IceShadow]

Yes. Get liquid chlorine. Add 10ppm worth to your pool let it mix 15 minutes, and test FC and CC. Let us know what happens to them.

 

[rcs29]

What are you testing your water with? I'm assuming you are using an in-line chlorinater which uses pucks correct? If yes then I assume also you are using cal-hypo pucks? You didn't list CH in your results so I'm curious what that number is. If you truly have zero CYA then the chlorine you are generating is being consumed by UV before it can do it's job. So what to do first? Assuming you're testing your own water and not going to pool store or using test strips then I'd say increase your CYA to 30 and add "liquid" chlorine to get to 5ppm FC (use pool math). Then add more to get to your SLAM level (if already using one of the recommended kits just skip ahead to this step) and follow the SLAM guidelines because you clearly have algae. There will be much smarter people than myself that can guide you through that process that will be around. Best of luck.

 

[Bperry]

I’m a new pool owner, and I’m having trouble keeping it clean/swimmable.

Right now it is green and cloudy. My stats are below:

FC 0.25? -ish, practically non-existent
CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 70
CYA - did this test… water stayed clear the whole time. I assume this means no CYA

I have a chlorine feeder, and I use power powder plus 73.

Where should I start? I don’t know what to add first and how long to wait between adding chemicals.

It turned green very quickly…

I live in Edmond, OK
17,000 gal kidney shaped pool

Fresh fill about 1.5 months ago

Please help! Thank you

The power powder is cal hypo which adds calcium to the water. If that gets too high, it can cause trouble. Get some liquid chlorine from Walmart/Home Depot/etc and add 5ppm right away every day.

 

[engraggie05]

Tricky one. A possibility is that your chlorine feeder is turned off. There will be better experts and guides along to help, for sure. In the meantime, read SLAM Process

You may cross some concepts or terms that aren't familiar. If so this is great: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

Oh yeh, which test kit are you using?

Nice to meet you via TFP

Others will be helped by that sort of info.

Thank you I’m using the TF-Pro kit

 

[needsajet]

Thank you I’m using the TF-Pro kit

Excellent, great choice.

I'm so glad there are other posters here more on the ball than me. I forgot about the possibility of ammonia - my bad!

And yes, please say. Are you using calcium hypochlorite pucks in the feeder? I never would have thought of that because they're missing two great features of trichlor pucks, not to say it cant work.

That said "DO NOT SWITCH" between cal hypo and trichlor pucks because the two types of pucks in the same feeder can be very very bad - explosion bad - poison gas bad

What's your CH level?

 

[engraggie05]

Excellent, great choice.

I'm so glad there are other posters here more on the ball than me. I forgot about the possibility of ammonia - my bad!

And yes, please say. Are you using calcium hypochlorite pucks in the feeder? I never would have thought of that because they're missing two great features of trichlor pucks, not to say it cant work.

That said "DO NOT SWITCH" between cal hypo and trichlor pucks because the two types of pucks in the same feeder can be very very bad - explosion bad - poison gas bad

What's your CH level?

Thank you for your response

My CH level is 225

 

[IceShadow]

Yes. Get liquid chlorine. Add 10ppm worth to your pool let it mix 15 minutes, and test FC and CC. Let us know what happens to them.

Have you had a chance to do this yet?

 

[engraggie05]

Excellent, great choice.

I'm so glad there are other posters here more on the ball than me. I forgot about the possibility of ammonia - my bad!

And yes, please say. Are you using calcium hypochlorite pucks in the feeder? I never would have thought of that because they're missing two great features of trichlor pucks, not to say it cant work.

That said "DO NOT SWITCH" between cal hypo and trichlor pucks because the two types of pucks in the same feeder can be very very bad - explosion bad - poison gas bad

What's your CH level?

I just checked, and I’m using tri-Chlor pucks.

Have you had a chance to do this yet?

I just did it. I waited 30 minutes actually bc I was going by the ammonia article. I’m at 8 ppm FC and 1 ppm CC. It appears ammonia isn’t the issue, so I’m thinking add CYA and proceed to SLAM?

 

[markayash]

Any idea why your FC is low along with CYA?
Possible is just couldn’t keep up if you didn’t add CYA after a fresh fill but like @needsajet mentioned is the chlorinator working? They can get stopped up.

 

[IceShadow]

I just checked, and I’m using tri-Chlor pucks.

I just did it. I waited 30 minutes actually bc I was going by the ammonia article. I’m at 8 ppm FC and 1 ppm CC. It appears ammonia isn’t the issue, so I’m thinking add CYA and proceed to SLAM?

Correct. Adjust the pH if needed, add about 20ppm of CYA (assuming you have about 10 or so already), and take it to SLAM for 30 ppm CYA. Test CYA after 2-3 days and adjust if needed. Follow the SLAM Process article carefully

 

[needsajet]

You're well covered with guidance here. I'll just take a sec and explain regarding trichlor pucks, which do several things. They provide FC obviously, but usually also provide CYA at adequate to more than adequate levels, which is fine in areas of greater rainfall where pools are pumped down occasionally through the season. Trichlor is acidic, so pools chlorinated with trichlor tend to have pH lower than your 7.8, hence my original questions.

That's good advice from Dustin to be cautious about over-shooting CYA. After you're done cleaning up the pool, and carry on chlorinating with trichlor, your CYA is likely to rise over time.

The SLAM method includes reducing pH to 7.2 to 7.5, which is an important first step, and will reduce the total chlorinating liquid you need to finish your SLAM.

 

[rcs29]

Yeah I'm not understanding how there could be virtually no CYA of using tri-chlor pucks. Seems strange to me

 

[Mdragger88]

I just checked, and I’m using tri-Chlor pucks.

I just did it. I waited 30 minutes actually bc I was going by the ammonia article. I’m at 8 ppm FC and 1 ppm CC. It appears ammonia isn’t the issue, so I’m thinking add CYA and proceed to SLAM?

Glad u passed the ammonia test
Do u backwash alot? May explain the cya disappearing along with the heat
At any rate carry on as @IceShadow & @needsajet said.
For a successful SLAM Process you need to continue to MAINTAIN Slam level fc for your cya until you meet ALL 3 end of slam criteria- As often as possible.

You are done when:

CC is 0.5 or lower;
You pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
AND
the water is clear.
(Crystal Clear w/no algae dead or alive)

*Check & scrub every nook & cranny where algae may hide (light niches, steps, drain covers, ladder handrails, skimmer throats/weirs, etc.)
*Run slam level water through all water features & lines for at least a couple hours a day during the SLAM Process.
*Brush & or vac daily (this breaks up biofilms that algae uses to protect itself from chlorine)
*Backwash/clean filter when pressure rises 25%over clean pressure.

SLAM ON!
Also pics we Pics!

 

[IceShadow]

Yeah I'm not understanding how there could be virtually no CYA of using tri-chlor pucks. Seems strange to me

Could have been eaten by bacteria that creates ammonia which has since been neutralized. Who knows

 

[engraggie05]

Glad u passed the ammonia test
Do u backwash alot? May explain the cya disappearing along with the heat
At any rate carry on as @IceShadow & @needsajet said.
For a successful SLAM Process you need to continue to MAINTAIN Slam level fc for your cya until you meet ALL 3 end of slam criteria- As often as possible.

You are done when:

CC is 0.5 or lower;
You pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
AND
the water is clear.
(Crystal Clear w/no algae dead or alive)

*Check & scrub every nook & cranny where algae may hide (light niches, steps, drain covers, ladder handrails, skimmer throats/weirs, etc.)
*Run slam level water through all water features & lines for at least a couple hours a day during the SLAM Process.
*Brush & or vac daily (this breaks up biofilms that algae uses to protect itself from chlorine)
*Backwash/clean filter when pressure rises 25%over clean pressure.

SLAM ON!
Also pics we Pics!

Could have been eaten by bacteria that creates ammonia which has since been neutralized. Who knows

Do you know if it’s ok to use a clarifier to try to help clear up the water during SLAM? I’ve had a lot of luck using a clarifier this summer. We have a ton of trees around our pool, and I think I may have pollen in the water too. Here’s a pic of progress. 2.5 days of SLAMing

 

[Bperry]

Do you know if it’s ok to use a clarifier to try to help clear up the water during SLAM? I’ve had a lot of luck using a clarifier this summer. We have a ton of trees around our pool, and I think I may have pollen in the water too. Here’s a pic of progress. 2.5 days of SLAMing

Only 2.5 days of slamming is not nearly long enough to worry about clarifiers. All you need is chlorine and time.

 

[duraleigh]

+1 what Bperry said