Help clearing up my pool

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jhodges

jhodges

0
Jun 3, 2008
3
Hello everyone. Hope you can help me out or at least confirm what I believe I need to do. I have received my test kit and here are my numbers.
FC 15.5 CC 0 TC 15.5 PH 7.8 T/A 130 CYA 100.

I have an 27' above ground pool appx 17k gallons. I had not placed a cover on it during the winter season and basically left it alone. When I finally looked at it, it was a nice green color with nice little floating colonies :cry: . I only had a walmart test kit so I ordered the monster kit and started pouring bleach in. I had been using the trichor pucks before. I've gotten the color from a nasty green to a blue/green color and can barely see the bottom now. At first I was only putting in a gallon of bleach and have now graduated to putting a 2 gallon bottle of bleach in there to get to this point now. what else should I do? with the CYA so high, should I put more bleach in or empty it out half way and refill. I'm not sure also about the T/A.

Any help?

Thanks
John
 
Hi, John,

Welcome!! :-D That's a good descriptive post....you're on the right path .

My first suggestion would be to do a 40-50% drain to get your cya down around 50-60 or so. That will also help you get rid of a little cloudy water and spring is the best time for drain and refill....it'll pay you back all summer.

Next, during this process (and, remember it is a proces....not an event) of clearing your pool, you should be running your pump 24/7 and keeping your filter cleaned as you go. AG pools are infamous for not having great filters so it may take yours a while to clear out the junk.

Last, don't be shy with the chlorine. It's not a waset to bring yours on up to the 25-30ppm range....even after you dilute your CYA. You need lots of chlorine becausd you had lots of algae.

Don't over do it.....do not exceed 30ppm but try to keep it up above 20 until your pool clears. It will probably put a little dent in your wallet when you see how much chlorine it will take but it's always cheaper than buying "stuff" at the pool store.

All the rest of your numbers are pretty close for now. Don't worry about them until you get your water clear. It will sparkle in the next few days or so if you'll keep the chlorine poured in there. :lol:
 
Thanks every one for the excellent advice. I'll probably try and switch out the water soon. I have been running my pump 24/7. I have tried running my pool vacuum on the floor to try and get what I could, but I can't see if there's anything there! I know that after running it for 30-40 minutes or so, I find pine needles in the strainer. I'm thinking that I am going to have to rig up a hose right into the skimmer suction to pump the water down. I'm attaching pictures so you can see what it was and where it's at now.

IMAG00321.jpg

IMAG00311.jpg

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Thanks everyone!

John
 
John, You are very close to clear water. That last bit of cloudiness may take awhile but you have done the heavy lifting.
(Although, from your pics, I just can't imagine why you wanted to clean it :shock: :shock: )

From your description, I expected your water to look a little greener and a little cloudier....very nice work, indeed! :-D
 
Generally, unless you need to swim in the next few days, we seldom recommend flocculants. They aren't always effective and, time and time again, big doses of chlorine and filtering do the same job.

The other issue with flocs is vacuuming to waste......most folks don't want to lose that huge amount of water. However, in your case, if you decide to do a partial drain and refill anyway, floccing and vac-to-waste may be worthwhile.

I have never seen the need to use them but there are situations where they can be helpful.....assuming they'll work in your particular situation.
 
Hey everyone, just thought I would get an update and also ask another question. The pool is a nice color of aqua and it's slowly but surely getting there. I did about a 20% water swap yesterday. last night I poured in some bleach during the evening and this morning, I go look at the pool and there's suds in it. I accidentally poured in some splash-less clorox :shock: . Now mind you, there's not alot of suds, the kids aren't going to jump in and take a bubble bath but I'm at a loss for what to do. I'm guessing that it will eventually go away? Also I have a question about my sand filter, it sounds like there's air getting into it. so when I look at the output nozzle, there's air bubbles coming out. I'm just wondering if that's ok. It's just out of the norm.

John
 

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Since it's already in there......it can't be a problem. I'm sure it will go away in time.

BBB is all about putting ONLY the things you need in your pool and nothing else......it seems like so many things that seem harmless enough have unwanted side effects.

Do you have air or bubbles in the pump stainer basket lid? (that's the clear lid on top of the pump)

What is your psi?

It's always a good idea to post a set of test results. Experienced folks here on the forum might see something you have missed.
 
Did you bleed the air out of the filter to start? Assuming you already did that, air in the filter tends to mean a suction side leak. The most common place to have a suction side leak is an improperly sealed pump strainer basket lid. Check that the lid is fully on and sealing properly.
 
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