Moved and now I have a pool and its not looking to bright...

[vt_tj]

We moved to this home in Salt Lake City during last week of July. When we arrived the pool was green as it was not attended for 4 weeks. The previous owner has used the chlorine pucks for years and shock once a week. I shocked it 3 times and finally a week later it was crystal blue. We enjoyed it 2 weeks before it turned green again but it was consuming allot of pucks. Since then I got the green out but it remains cloudy and border line green blue. Now for the test results. I have been reading up on this site so I got a feel of what my numbers mean but now I need some directions. I assume I have a high CYA problem due to the use of those pucks. I have moved over to bleach 2 weeks ago. Also I have a very high TA. I am not sure what to do as allot of the talk is to drain pool and now I am at end of season. Test results below, my pool details are in signature. Any help is much appreciated. I will keep reading other posts on this site for insight.

Can I get it back in shape with out draining? Do I need it back in shape before I winterize (or is it even possible to winterize)? I love to swim in it again before season end as we only got two weeks out of it.

Another point is I don't have away to aerate. The previous family used it everyday with lots of kids. We have only been using 2 to 3 times a week.

I have been checking only CL and PH. First weeks I used pucks and shock. Then went to 8% bleach from Target. I did put soda ash in it to raise PH a few times before I read up on aerate. Last week I put two boxes of Borax in it, one each night. As the test kit I was using kept reading below 6.8 ph, but now with new kit I think the chemicals must be old.

1st full test from Leslie Pool Store on 8/24/15
FAC 3
TAC 3
CH 300
CYA 90
TA 190
pH 7.0
Base Demand 17
Copper, Iron 0
TDS 2100
Pho 100

I read we can't trust those so I bought the TF-100 from TFTestkits. This is my first test with the kit. I did not do the chlorine detail as the other items are so off charts.
TF-100 from 9/3/2015
CYA it was so cloudy I could not get it even half way to 100 so I guess 150 -200
TA it was 290 but I have read that with new test kit it comes down, so I guess still close to Leslie number
CH 1250 ?? I knew I had hard water but wow. Is this due to a new test kit? It took 50 drops to turn blue.
CL 2,5 (end of day and 24 hours since last bleach added)
PH 7,1

 

[Isaac-1]

Sorry to say it, but you are going to need to replace at least 3/4 of your water to get the CYA down to a manageable range, maybe more than that as the CYA test gets pretty inaccurate at those levels.

 

[vt_tj]

Thanks for quick reply. Yes I was afraid of that. I am already looking at water bill to see how much it will cost. I assume this needs to be inline before the pool can be winterized or can it be winterized at this level and I can drain it in spring and adjust?

 

[Isaac-1]

I will leave that as better to be answered by someone that winterizes

 

[Mr Bruce]

I would do at least half now. It's going to be several months before it's cold enough to stop worrying about keeping the chlorine up, and at 100++ CYA that's going to take a lot. Not to mention using up reagent in testing. 20k pool isn't that much, shouldn't be too hard to do 5k twice, and then figure it out in the spring.

 

[DaninFLA]

Thanks for quick reply. Yes I was afraid of that. I am already looking at water bill to see how much it will cost. I assume this needs to be inline before the pool can be winterized or can it be winterized at this level and I can drain it in spring and adjust?

when are you planning on winterizing the pool? if its pretty soon, you might just want to deal with the huge water change at opening. or do a partial now and then do the rest when you open it. depends on how much longer you are planning on having it running. there is a small chance that your CYA could be reduced over winter. some people have that happen during winter closing, others don't.