Algae Issues, Total Chlorine

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tedroehm

New member
Jul 1, 2022
1
Fort
Hi All,

Went away for work and came back to a swamp last Friday. Last weekend I started the process with Green Clean & 2 bags of shock (Power Powder), 2 more bags the next morning, and 2 more bags the next evening. This is with brushing and cleaning the filter each night. Pool looked pretty good afterwards and I ran 32 oz. of Clear Aid. By the next day it didn't look like it was doing much. I ran some more Clear Aid and started suspecting the algae was coming back.

This was my test:
Free Chlorine: 0.1
Total Chlorine: 0.95
pH: 7.7
Total Alkalinity: 78
Calcium Hardness: 346
Cyanuric Acid: 5
Iron: 0
Copper: 0.1
Phosphates: 0
TDS: 900

I realize my cyanuric acid is low and I need to address that to help keep chlorine in the pool so algae doesn't come back. Leslie's also stressed getting my pH and Alkalinity up so I bought Soda Ash as well as a conditioner for the CYA.

After I ran the recommended amount of Soda Ash, I waited 4 hours and started the green clean process again with 2 bags of shock, 2 bags the next morning, and 2 bags the next evening. Again, brushing and cleaning each day.

The pool is currently looking pretty good and at a cloudy state. I'm ready to run the Clear Aid, but wanted to test the water again to make sure the Free Chlorine is below 5ppm as they recommend.

My next test is:
Free Chlorine: 0.28
Total Chlorine: 5
pH: 7.3
Total Alkalinity: 69
Calcium Hardness: 373
Cyanuric Acid: 5
Iron: 0
Copper: 0.2
Phosphates: 0
TDS: 900

I'm worried with the Clear Aid saying I can't shock for 48 hrs. With my chlorine levels so low I'm worried the algae will come back again. Leslie's is recommending I put 9lbs of shock in the pool!!! Maybe they're right, I don't know, but it doesn't seem right to me. I just dumped all this shock in already and I feel like I'm going to dump 9lbs in to get burned off by the sun today?

I know I need to get the CYA up, Alkalinity up, etc... those things I've been waiting to do because it says I can't clean the filter for a certain amount of time, etc... BTW, my CYA is so low because I stopped using the chlorine tabs because it was so high last year. I've been solely shocking and that's been working, but with it being so hot here in Texas and the CYA now so low it's not keeping enough chlorine in the pool. Earlier this week I filled up the tab feeder system with chlorine tabs thinking it might help build up the CYA. Doesn't seem to have raised any on the last test.

Anyway, I'm kind of discouraged... does anyone have any advice for what you'd do next?
 
Hello and welcome!

We do things VERY differently here than they do at the pool store. We take the pool testing into our own hands (as we find that pool stores can often be VERY wrong on their test results due to bad equipment, non-calibrated equipment, or undertrained staff) and only put into the pool what we know is in it and what works.

We also recognize that the higher CYA is, the higher FC needs to be to maintain a sanitary pool. This relationship is mostly ignored by the pool industry and typically results in FC way too low for the CYA in the pool, and that leads to algae blooms and unsanitary water.

It's hard for us to give any advice on what you've been doing because it's not the way we do things here. That Said! You can certainly jump into the pool with us and maintain your pool in a way where you understand exactly what's going in it and why and know with certainty that it's safe to swim in. (It's also way, way cheaper than buying chems from the pool store.)

This does require a bit of up-front cost as you'd need a good test kit that you use yourself. Then we can help out with numbers that we can trust and are verifiable and repeatable. These are drop-based/titration kits using Taylor reagents, where chemistry gives you the answer instead of some magical probe or pad on a test strip. You'll want to get one of these kits: Either a Taylor K-2006c (usually from Amazon, and the 'c' is important, don't get the standard K-2006 as it doesn't have enough reagents) or a TF-100 test kit from tftestkits.net. (The latter is a better value as it has reagent quantities more suitable for a single residential pool owner).

If you do want to follow our methodology, we would advise adding 5ppm of FC daily until the kit comes in. Then once it's in, run a full suite of tests and post them, and we can help more from there. :)
 
@IceShadow covered it well, but I just want add that if you're relying upon pool store testing, it's equally likely that your CYA is way too high. This is the most common reason that people come here with green pools. If you've been chlorinating with powdered shock or tablets, it's very unlikely that your CYA is actually only 5.

Pool store testing is dreadfully bad and the CYA test is usually the one that they are the worst at. So before you add any stabilizer to your pool, get one of the recommended test kits and take your own CYA measurements. Otherwise you may be making an already bad situation even worse. Since the only solution to high CYA is to drain and refill, I know you don't want to do that.
 
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