Newbie to Pool Care

[excalgirl]

I'm a brand new pool owner and way over my head with pool maintenance. Bought the house knowing the pool sat green for a number of years and was AS IS at time of sale. I turned to Leslies and got the pool clear but not maintaining chlorine levels. Started searching online and ended up here. My testing kit is from Leslie's but has Taylor instructions. I'm not sure whether it's a K2006.
Levels today are
FC- over 10
PH 8.2
TA 140
CYA 120

The high CYA I'm sure is from all the Pool Shock and running tablets in the attempt to stabilize chlorine levels or at least keep them within 2-4ppm zone. I was told the CYA didn't matter and to use powders and tabs. I took the tabs out and started using clorox bleach.
The PH was 7.8 3 days ago and I'm not sure why that has shot up but we've had a lot of rain, kids splashing around and the high TA. Testing today PH was in the HOT PinK range which may be above 8.2
Not sure why the TA is so high.

I also have what I believe is mustard and black algae. Also the sides of the pool are discolored a kind of yellow green about 18" to 2 feet from the tiles. When I brush them a milky white film comes off but the color stays the same. I am brushing and vacuuming every 3 days along with cleaning the filter everyday. Pool is in direct sunlight 8 hours with no screening.

So, I know I need to get the CYA down to 30-50 and then balance using bleach and suggestions here, but would like to know if I should do something about the algae first and then drain the pool. Like using a commerical grade algae killer.

Where do I start?

Thanks in advance,

Robin

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Since you need to drain to lower the CYA, you should tackle that first. You will need to drain approximately 70% of the pool to lower the CYA to 35ppm. If 70% is too much water to drain at one time you should drain 50%, refill the pool, and drain 50% again. If you have a high water table you will need to leave enough water in the pool so it doesn't float.

After the CYA level is corrected test the pH. If it is still high that would be the next problem to fix. Then chlorine. We'll have an idea if TA needs to be addressed after all the other values are corrected.

Once the pool is balanced you will probably need to complete the SLAM process slam process. The slam process uses liquid chlorine to kill the algae and oxidize organics in your pool. Algaecide does a poor job of killing algae. It works better as a preventative, and really its best to avoid it if at all possible. If you decide to complete the slam process stock up on 8% plain, unscented bleach, and be sure to brush the pool daily.

You don't find the K2006 kit in stores very often. If this is a K2006 equivilent it will have the FAS/DPD chlorine test which uses powder and drops to test very high levels of chlorine.

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

You came to the right place!

Read this, Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

And the TF100 from TFTestkits.net is a better bang for your buck. It has helped me keep my pool clear for 3 years. Here is a Pool School - Test Kits Compared

 

[excalgirl]

Thank you both for the information and links. I think the best bet is to drain in stages as a pool popping would not be a good thing. I do have a question. Once the pool is 50% drained, why not spray or scrub down with bleach to kill the algae that is above water level? I know that it would elevate my chlorine level but given chlorine is burning off quickly would it matter?

 

[pooldv]

No reason not to as long as it isn't a vinyl pool. But, it won't kill all the algae in the pool so it will just grow back. The only way to kill all the algae in the pool at one time is to Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain the pool. Best to do your series of drain/refill and then SLAM the pool.

 

[excalgirl]

New pool numbers after draining two drains of 50% and refills.
FC over 10 ( I added 2 gallons chlorine during 2nd refill)
ph 7.8
TA 160
CH 19
CYA 48

I didn't make my target 35 CYA but since I'm in range I'm okay with 48. Wondering if I can still slam or what my next step is. I will retest in the morning to see how the chlorine is holding up.

 

[pooldv]

Yep, 48 is pretty good, call it 50. Lower your PH to 7.2 and SLAM away.

Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain