Couple of questions about my swamp pool.

[Opposed_forces]

Quick background story. I didn't shut down the pool last year and left it uncovered. A month or so ago I started this long process of changing the swamp back to a pool. I scooped out all the leaves and debris I could get. The water was black and green. After MANY trips to the pool store and hundreds of dollars in chemicals I got the water to look ok. It's very cloudy. Then I found this site and everything has changed. I bought a Taylor test kit k-2600. And here are my results from the test before I started the SLAM procedure.
PH 7.2
CYA 38
FC 8.2 ( I started adding a gallon of bleach a day waiting for the kit)
CC 1.6
TA 150
CH 180

here are my questions: according to the link on the SLAM I wanted my FC to be about 16 so I added 6 gallons of 8.25 bleach and my FC reads 22. Is this something I need to worry about?
The second questions is about the DE filter. It looses flow after about an hour and I bump it, the flow is then about 60% of what it should be. I do this a couple more times then I do a complete backwash of the filter and add new DE. I have been throu about 30 lbs of earth so far. Is this normal? In previous years with the same filter I would backwash every 3 weeks or so. My water is looking ok but still can't see the bottom because it is cloudy.
My third question is about ammonia, the pool store tested for it and it was 3 ppm. They said a lot of pools this year had high ammonia. Do I need to go have it retested or does the SLAM take care of the ammonia?
Thank you for this awesome pool community, can someone post a link for me to make a donation to keep it going. Thanks, Andrew.

 

[Richard320]

I love an easy to answer thread like this!

22 instead of 16 is not a crisis. Looks like maybe you have really fresh overstrength bleach or your pool isn't as big as you think. If overshooting persists, cut back on the dose a little.

The DE filter is working exactly as it should. Everything you describe is normal. DE filters are very efficient and with a green cloudy pool, it's going to clog very quickly. As the SLAM continues, it should go longer and longer between cleanings.

Bleach neutralizes ammonia. It takes about 10X as much bleach, so you'll be finding chlorine demand is huge initially, but nothing special needs to be done. SLAMming takes care of it.

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[JVTrain]

Your FC is a bit high for your CYA but as long as you don't maintain it there, no permanent damage done. Allow it to come down to 16 and then keep dosing testing back up to 16 for the SLAM.

DE filters very well. In a swampy mess, you're going to be going through a lot of DE. However, once you get close to the end, you'll be glad you have to DE to get the water sparkly by clearing particles and dead algae quickly.

If you're maintaining FC levels like you are now, you no longer have ammonia. If you still had ammonia, almost immediately after you added bleach, your FC would be low and your CC would be extremely high. Ammonia reacts very quickly with chlorine, so fast in fact that you usually can't measure much FC while the chlorine is oxidizing ammonia.

Remember that the SLAM is a process and all 3 criteria must be passed before you let the FC come down and resume normal maintenance levels.

 

[Pool Tool]

Welcome to the forum. Another IL pool, we'll be rivaling TX soon, ha. You be back in a gorgeous pool soon and feel free to ask questions along the way. Lots of folks here to help and pictures are their only request.

 

[Opposed_forces]

Thanks for the answers, I've got a few more questions. I'm not sure I should check the CYA during the SLAM but I did. Before I started it was about 38 now it's about 30. Should I add CYA during the slam or leave it alone. Also last night after sun went down my FC was 15.5 and this morning it is 14. I checker it about an hour after sunrise but it's a cloudy day. Should I adjust the chlorine for the original cya number or leave it alone?
Richard320 you are correct my wife added 6 gallons of 12.5 chlorine and not the 8.25 bleach I originally said.

 

[Richard320]

I'd stay with the original CYA number, unless you've backwashed so much you've replace a quarter of the pool water. Once you passed the SLAM, you can confirm the CYA number and raise it if you want.