Just opened pool

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thill59

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Jun 26, 2008
23
We uncovered our pool last weekend and the water was clear, just a little debris in the bottom. We brushed it, vacumed, then added 2 of the 174 oz. 6% bleach from Wal-Mart. Since then we have vacumed 3 times. Our pool is cloudy and there is what appears to be dead algae in the bottom. We are wondering if maybe our filter is not filtering out the debris and how to find out if it is our filter. We put new sand in last year and some how one of the pvc pipes that fits down into the center had worked out and we fixed that. Or could it be just our chemicals are out of whack and we need to adjust, super chlorinate, etc. Would appreciate any help. Here are my results as of 30 min. ago.

FC 0.5
CC 0.5
pH 7.2
TA 130
CH 200
CYA 30
Pool temp is around 58 F.
We are wanting to put our solar cover on, but would like to get it crystal clear first. Any advice?
 
Hey,

You have two issues...

1. You do not have any chlorine in your pool. It has been consumed and needs to be replenished. I would put in (all at once) about 4.5 gallons of bleach to bring your FC up to around 15ppm. Then, you must keep replenishing the bleach constantly to keep it @ 15ppm until your water clears......running your pump 24/7 and backwashing as needed.

2. If your pressure in the system has increased by 30% or more, you need to backwash. Did you note the pressure before you started vacuuming? What is it now?
 
My husband did the vacuming. I am getting ready to go out and vacume and will watch and see if the pressure raises and then will post. Like I said I just put about 4 gal. of bleach in, are you saying I need to put more and keep it that high til it clears?
 
Like I said I just put about 4 gal. of bleach in, are you saying I need to put more and keep it that high til it clears?
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Yes, that bleach has been consumed and you need to add more. Bleach (chlorine) is a consumable item in your pool and will start to deplete the instant you put it in. You have virtually none left to kill whatever is clouding your pool.

If you have not backwashed since beginning to vacuum, you need to do so. Do you know how to check your psi, backwash, rinse, recheck your pressure after complete?
 
Ok, I just finished vacuming and the pump's psi never increased. It was reading about 12psi before and after. Of course I couldn't see the bottom of the deep end so who knows if I got much up from there. I will leave the pump running and retest tomorrow to see how much the values change and will try to keep the chlorine level up to 15 until it clears. Should I recheck in the morning or the same time I checked it this evening?
 
I have another question. I know you guys probably think I am just a stupid woman, but here goes. We are getting ready to get like 5 or 6 inches of rain. Am I just throwing my money away right now by putting all this bleach in? Is it not going to just get really diluted and never reach my goal of 15 ppm? Right now it is still only calculating about 1.5 and that is after putting 6 bottles of the 174 oz 6% bleach in last night. Have not put any in today.
 
When you are shocking the pool, you need to do it whole heartedly. If you wait 24 hours between chlorine additions the algae just grows back, and it becomes very difficult to ever get ahead of it. If you follow the directions in the Pool School article on Shocking Your Pool, that I suggested previously, you will kill all the algae. If you are diligent about testing and adding chlorine frequently, you can be well on your way to recovery in only a day or two.
 

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SHOCK! SHOCK! SHOCK! It's the only way you're ever gonna see the bottom of your deep end. The rain will hurt nothing! I shock my pool in the rain if I have too and you can too!
 
thill59 said:
I have another question. I know you guys probably think I am just a stupid woman, but here goes. We are getting ready to get like 5 or 6 inches of rain. Am I just throwing my money away right now by putting all this bleach in? Is it not going to just get really diluted and never reach my goal of 15 ppm? Right now it is still only calculating about 1.5 and that is after putting 6 bottles of the 174 oz 6% bleach in last night. Have not put any in today.
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you are not a stupid woman....if you are, than so I am :) there are no dumb questions, thats how we all learn :)

Chris :wave:
 
chrisa said:
thill59 said:
I have another question. I know you guys probably think I am just a stupid woman, but here goes. We are getting ready to get like 5 or 6 inches of rain. Am I just throwing my money away right now by putting all this bleach in? Is it not going to just get really diluted and never reach my goal of 15 ppm? Right now it is still only calculating about 1.5 and that is after putting 6 bottles of the 174 oz 6% bleach in last night. Have not put any in today.
Click to expand...


you are not a stupid woman....if you are, than so I am :) there are no dumb questions, thats how we all learn :)

Chris :wave:
Click to expand...

Chris is absolutely correct! None of us are born knowing all this stuff and we have to learn it somewhere!
Feel free to ask all your questions. That's what TFP is all about :lol:
 
Well here I am again :roll: I cannot get my chlorine level up :grrrr: I have run our Wal-Mart out of bleach and even bought some super shock and to no luck. Level is only reading about 2ppm. Now what?
 
duraleigh said:
1. You do not have any chlorine in your pool. It has been consumed and needs to be replenished. I would put in (all at once) about 4.5 gallons of bleach to bring your FC up to around 15ppm. Then, you must keep replenishing the bleach constantly to keep it @ 15ppm until your water clears......running your pump 24/7 and backwashing as needed.
Click to expand...

Hi again,

Duraleigh's earlier advice still stands... you need to consistently add bleach to keep the FC at 15 until you water clears, running you pump 24/7.

So you'll need to find another source if Wal-mart is out. :shock:

When you add the bleach, it's best to do it in the evening, so that you yield the most benefits from the darkness, as the chlorine won't be destroyed by sunlight. So here's what I suggest. Shock the pool to 15 and then wait about an hour, test the FC again. If it's below 15, add more bleach to bring it to 15. Then in the morning test again, and compare the two results.

Shocking is a process, not a one-time event. Sometimes it can take several days to clear, shocking your pool all the while. If you are letting the FC drop in between, and the algae is not all dead, it will just grow back. You need to keep the FC up and Hold it there, until it holds overnight, then you know the algae is dead.

What is your CC reading?

Hope this helps. :wink:
 
Answer to question one...cc is 0.5. Answer to question number two....no we have not put the solar cover on. We are shocking during the evening hours. And I have put as much as 6 of the 174oz bottles of bleach in at one time. Do you think my reagents are bad? Just got the test kit last year in July and has been in kitchen cabinet. When should I test? As soon as it is put in or wait?
 
There are two possibilities. By far the most likely is that you just need more chlorine. Also possible, but much less likely is that there is something wrong with either your test kit of your test technique and you are not getting the correct test results.

One thing you could try to verify your water testing, but only if you are on municipal water, would be to test your tap water. Nearly everywhere, municipal tap water has either FC or CC in it, typically at levels around 1 to 5.
 

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