Continue Slam or Drain

[tsouth]

I'm at my wits end with this algae problem. I'm just opening the 16x32x52 pool for the season and due to unforeseen circumstances, I didn't get to shock or add chlorine after I pulled the cover off. Fast forward 2 weeks and it is dark green. My daughter thinks alligators live in it. I vacuumed the best I could due to not being able to see 6" into the water, backwashing every 10 minutes due to pressure loss. Then I adjusted the PH as it was off the charts. Got it to around 7.3 and adjusted the TA as it was bottomed out. TA is now around 100, PH is 7.5 or so, Calcium is really high, and CYA is 66. I dumped 3 bags of "concentrated shock" and it turned it bright anti-freeze green. Vacuumed and scrubbed. Then using the calculator, I dumped 4 gallons of LC 7.5% into it. No change and almost empty on FC yesterday morning. So last night I dumped 5 gallons of Clorox bleach into it. This morning no color change and FC is around 4. So then I dumped another 5 gallons of Clorox in it. Wife says the water still looks the same. I won't be able to add more or check FC until tonight. When I backwash now, water coming out looks clear. I assume it has to be an algae issue as I am losing FC like nobodies business.

At what point am I better off to just empty it and refill? I've spent about $150 on it so far and not getting anywhere. Water is cheap in my area and I can drain/refill for about $100. Plus the kids could swim by the weekend.

 

[Bperry]

Welcome! It would honestly be cheaper to drain and refill and then dont let that happen again by using a reliable test kit.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why shouldn't I use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!

www.troublefreepool.com

And then maintaining the chlorine per this chart.

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

A few quick notes:
1. With water that green, chlorine is really all thats needed. All the pH and TA adjustment wasnt nwcessary
2. Clorox bleach contains things you dont want in the water. Stick with chlorinating liquid from the hardware store/walmart. Or use plain bleach.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! ^^Good points above. ^^ FYI - Here at TFP, to kill & remove algae, we follow the SLAM Process. For that you need a proper at-home test kit as noted above. We recommend either a TF-100/Pro-Series test kit or a Taylor K-2006C test kit. That should be priority #1. Avoid the pool store and don't try to adjust anything other than free chlorine for now by adding one gallon of liquid chlorin per day until you have a proper test kit and can post those results. Or as recommended, it may just be easier to drain a majority of the water and start fresh. The cost of chlorine will add-up. In the future, go to Walmart or Home Depot and use their 10% liquid chlorine. No more powders or anything like that. It could make your numbers worse.

By the way, are you on a well?

 

[tsouth]

Welcome to TFP! ^^Good points above. ^^ FYI - Here at TFP, to kill & remove algae, we follow the SLAM Process. For that you need a proper at-home test kit as noted above. We recommend either a TF-100/Pro-Series test kit or a Taylor K-2006C test kit. That should be priority #1. Avoid the pool store and don't try to adjust anything other than free chlorine for now by adding one gallon of liquid chlorin per day until you have a proper test kit and can post those results. Or as recommended, it may just be easier to drain a majority of the water and start fresh. The cost of chlorine will add-up. In the future, go to Walmart or Home Depot and use their 10% liquid chlorine. No more powders or anything like that. It could make your numbers worse.

By the way, are you on a well?

Where I work, we have an industrial grade flock that will settle algae to the bottom along with anything else such as metals. If I did this and vacuumed to waste, would that help much on the algae present eating my chlorine so fast. I guess my main question is, am I within 5-10 gallon of LC getting this thing back on track or is it going to be a lot more. I've never had algae I couldn't get rid of within 2-3 days. This algae is eating everything I am throwing at it like candy.

I have a Leslie 9 way kit that has worked fine for weekly readings the past 5 years, but understand I need to be able to read FC beyond 5ppm. I normally purchase several gallons of LC in the spring. I've used everything I had and no one nearby had any. So I resorted to bleach as I had used that in the past with good luck. Just takes more of it.

 

[Texas Splash]

I within 5-10 gallon of LC getting this thing back on track or is it going to be a lot more.

I suspect much more. You've got quite the soup there. A water exchange should help expedite the SLAM clearing process, but even then you'll have to run the SLAM Process for a bit because you can't completely empty the pool and there will be residual algae.

 

[tsouth]

I’m starting to make headway with this. It finally has turned that cloudy mint color. I’m getting real close now.

 

[Texas Splash]

I’m starting to make headway with this. It finally has turned that cloudy mint color. I’m getting real close now.

That is a very good improvement. At some point testing accuracy will come into play. Hopefully you will obtain one of those test kits that contain the FAS-DPD portion for accurate FC testing. That's a must to accurately perform the SLAM Process. For now, steady as she goes. Stock up on chlorine.