New to pool ownership - Some Questions
- Thread starter DamianS
- Start date
Bad Pool Day
Well, dammit. Algae!
I'm mostly writing this for my own therapy, but you're certainly invited to read. Here's how it happened:
I started running low on the FAS-DPD titrating reagent. I decided to alternate using my old OTO test and the FAS-DPD while I ordered some refills from Dave.
My wife is home with the kids during the day and often takes them swimming. I showed her how to use the OTO test to check chlorine and how to test pH. She still doesn't quite have the "how much cal hypo to add to fix the chlorine level" down so frequently I'll come home and find out she added too much or too little. On those days I'll just test myself and adjust if required.
On Wednesday (the day before yesterday) I came home and asked her what the levels were. SHe told me and then told me how much chlorine she added. If what she told me was accurate, she would have raised the FC to about 2ppm higher than it needed to be. No harm, no foul, I skipped testing that day.
Yesterday I cam home from work and was dead tired. I barely got my pants off before I was asleep on the bed.
I woke up early this morning thinking I'd test the water, vacuum the pool, clean the carts, and go for a short swim before work. It was still dark out and as I turned on the light and walked toward the pool I realized I couldn't see the floor of the pool. It also smelled like a greenhouse (?); not an unpleasant smell, just not the odorless pool I had become used to. I just stood there in disbelief and soon began issuing a constant string of profanities.
I went ahead and cleaned the cartridges. I put the filter back together and saw that the pressure was quite a bit lower than usual for clean cartridges. I had checked the pump basket and it was clean, so I patted myself on the back for having done an apparently exceptional job cleaning the carts.
Then I tested the water (the FAS DPD titratant got here yesterday, thanks Dave!). Zero FC, in fact, zero TC. Dammit.
Started shocking.
A little while later I went to go check the filter pressure and realized I had forgotten to put the "cap" back on the cartridges when I reassembled the filter. That's why the pressure was so low.
Disassemble filter, replace cap, reassemble. Sigh.
Checked the water again (it had been about 45 minutes since I started shocking). 1.5 FC and .5 CC. Ouch. Here we go.
The sun came up enough for me to turn off the pool light and that was when I could see that the pool was green. Dammit. It still seems insane how fast the water went from crystal clear yesterday morning to green early this morning.
I think once I get the pool clear again, I'm going to keep it closed for a couple days so I can see just how much FC I loose during the day without swimmers. I suspect it will be significant. Depending on what I find, I might consider raising my cya a little more to protect the FC from the constant Houston sun.
Well, dammit. Algae!
I'm mostly writing this for my own therapy, but you're certainly invited to read. Here's how it happened:
I started running low on the FAS-DPD titrating reagent. I decided to alternate using my old OTO test and the FAS-DPD while I ordered some refills from Dave.
My wife is home with the kids during the day and often takes them swimming. I showed her how to use the OTO test to check chlorine and how to test pH. She still doesn't quite have the "how much cal hypo to add to fix the chlorine level" down so frequently I'll come home and find out she added too much or too little. On those days I'll just test myself and adjust if required.
On Wednesday (the day before yesterday) I came home and asked her what the levels were. SHe told me and then told me how much chlorine she added. If what she told me was accurate, she would have raised the FC to about 2ppm higher than it needed to be. No harm, no foul, I skipped testing that day.
Yesterday I cam home from work and was dead tired. I barely got my pants off before I was asleep on the bed.
I woke up early this morning thinking I'd test the water, vacuum the pool, clean the carts, and go for a short swim before work. It was still dark out and as I turned on the light and walked toward the pool I realized I couldn't see the floor of the pool. It also smelled like a greenhouse (?); not an unpleasant smell, just not the odorless pool I had become used to. I just stood there in disbelief and soon began issuing a constant string of profanities.
I went ahead and cleaned the cartridges. I put the filter back together and saw that the pressure was quite a bit lower than usual for clean cartridges. I had checked the pump basket and it was clean, so I patted myself on the back for having done an apparently exceptional job cleaning the carts.
Then I tested the water (the FAS DPD titratant got here yesterday, thanks Dave!). Zero FC, in fact, zero TC. Dammit.
Started shocking.
A little while later I went to go check the filter pressure and realized I had forgotten to put the "cap" back on the cartridges when I reassembled the filter. That's why the pressure was so low.
Disassemble filter, replace cap, reassemble. Sigh.
Checked the water again (it had been about 45 minutes since I started shocking). 1.5 FC and .5 CC. Ouch. Here we go.
The sun came up enough for me to turn off the pool light and that was when I could see that the pool was green. Dammit. It still seems insane how fast the water went from crystal clear yesterday morning to green early this morning.
I think once I get the pool clear again, I'm going to keep it closed for a couple days so I can see just how much FC I loose during the day without swimmers. I suspect it will be significant. Depending on what I find, I might consider raising my cya a little more to protect the FC from the constant Houston sun.
Do you have a solar cover? I would be curious to see before and after numbers (FC loss) for your pool. My FC drop during the day was reduced by about 1-1.5 ppm after installing the cover. I feel it helps with the sun and all the visible and invisible debris that the wind dumps in the pool.
Of course, it is a pain to remove and reinstall after each swim.
Good luck.
RV
Of course, it is a pain to remove and reinstall after each swim.
Good luck.
RV
Hi RV!
No, no solar cover. Since this is the first time we've had a pool, we've been swimming so much, like you said, it seems it would be a PITA to keep messing with it. Though on days where everyone has a busy schedule and swimming is unlikely (or after the "WE HAVE A POOL!!!!!!111" sensation has worn off) it might be nice to have one.
No, no solar cover. Since this is the first time we've had a pool, we've been swimming so much, like you said, it seems it would be a PITA to keep messing with it. Though on days where everyone has a busy schedule and swimming is unlikely (or after the "WE HAVE A POOL!!!!!!111" sensation has worn off) it might be nice to have one.
reebok
0
mine was also reduced about the same with a solar cover.
Damian, I can't remember, were you planning on adding borates? it might be a good insurance policy for you. or you could try maybe half dosing with a pq60. of course you can do what you want, but a little extra money/time would be worth it to me to avoid what you are experiencing.
Damian, I can't remember, were you planning on adding borates? it might be a good insurance policy for you. or you could try maybe half dosing with a pq60. of course you can do what you want, but a little extra money/time would be worth it to me to avoid what you are experiencing.
I was going to add borates this weekend, lol! Along with my test refills, I ordered some borate strips.reebok said:
I'll start adding borates after I get the pool clear. I want to keep the pool available during the day for my kids, so I guess I'll add/adjust the borates at night.
I bought more Borax and MA this weekend to add Borates. Then I decided to measure my pool again because the first time I did it, I couldn't see the bottom. I figured it was like most pools I had seen. Shallow on one end and deep in the other. Once I could see the bottom, it became clear (excuse the pun) that the deepest part of the pool was in the center.
So I measured again and came up with about 15,000 gallons. Almost 50% bigger than I had thought. I figured it was a little bigger, I didn't realize by how much.
So obviously I didn't have enough Borax. I decided to go ahead and add half last night and will buy more and finish tonight.
I'm losing a lot of FC to sun during the day. I've decided to use some more pucks for a while to get the CYA up a little - I have a lot of them and I don't go on vacation nearly enough to use them all. I think I'll get the CYA up to 40 and see how that does.
So I measured again and came up with about 15,000 gallons. Almost 50% bigger than I had thought. I figured it was a little bigger, I didn't realize by how much.
So obviously I didn't have enough Borax. I decided to go ahead and add half last night and will buy more and finish tonight.
I'm losing a lot of FC to sun during the day. I've decided to use some more pucks for a while to get the CYA up a little - I have a lot of them and I don't go on vacation nearly enough to use them all. I think I'll get the CYA up to 40 and see how that does.
In southern states a higher CYA often works better, and I think it's an excellent excuse for using up some pucks--I did the same thing earlier this year.DamianS said:
--paulr