Opening pool, green algae

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Krickett

Krickett

0
Jul 22, 2008
82
Arlington, Texas
I'm opening my pool and I would hope someone could help me with the best sequence to do it in. My measurements from the TF-100 kit are:

FC=CC=TC==> Assuming zero since very green and no chlorine added for several months
pH > 8.2
TA = 40
CH = 330
CYA < 20
Temp = 75

I'm not sure about CYA but I could still see the black dot after filling it all the way. My values on CYA have always been much less than when I could get the reading from the pool store so I'm not sure how accurate my reading is compared to theirs.

I look forward to your help. Thanks and love the site.
 
Hey, Krikket,

Welcome to the forum. Butterfly is wanting to make sure you have circulated the water to get good test results. If you tested when the water was still, your tests may not be valid.

Run the pump for at least 3-4 hours and retest if the water was still.

Assuming the water was thoroughly circulated, tho, here's the order in which I would do things.

1. Get your pH down into the mid 7's with muriatic acid. Use Jason calculator to help tell you how much. Post back if you need help figuring it out.

2. Get some CYA in your pool. Again use Jason's calulator to bring it up around 20-30. (You'll add some more later)

3. Now comes the fun part. You will need gallons and gallons and gallons of Clorox. 30 large jugs is not too much and you will use it sooner or later. Bring your FC up to around 15ppm or so and then (read this carefully) you must continually test for FC and add more Clorox to get back up to 15ppm or thereabouts.

Don't be surprised if the initial dose disappears in a few hours. Add more Clorox. Test again a few hours later and add more clorox. The idea is to never let the clorox dip down much below 15 so if you go over by a little, say 20ppm, it will be fine to do so.

Keep adding clorox each time bringing it up to 15ppm and your pool will clear. How long that takes depends on several factors but 2-5 days seems normal.

Keep reading the articles in pool school in between Clorox doses and ask lots of questions....we'll all help.
 
Thanks for the info. I only had it circulating for an hour so I will let it run overnight and retest. Also, roughly how long do you think it will take to bring it back to sparkling blue? The reason I'm asking is that I will be heading out of town for 10 days of vacation this Friday. I think it would be best to just throw the cover back on and wait until we get back so I can pay sufficient attention to it, but if it is reasonable to get it to a point where my mom can perform basic maintenance then I could start now as my wife is wanting to let the kids swim yesterday :-D . I'm sure I will be advised to wait but it would be nice to experts to validate.
 
I would suggest you wait until you can really tackle the issue. Meanwhile, in a pool that size, you could add one large jug of Clorox bleach each evening and allow the pump to run at least 4-6 hours daily.

Perhaps that's something your Mom could do as well until you got back. I have a feeling that will hold the algae at bay and may even improve the pool noticeably. Then you can really tackle the job with a ton of bleach and getting your water in line.

Trying to do it now will simply add stress to your week and you may loose all you've gained by the time you get back.

As a reminder, do not neglect the pH. You are in a danger zone and you may very well be higher than 8.2.
Fix that quickly.
 
FPM Here, :mrgreen:

I agree with Dave, get the pump going, 24/7 for now, and get some bleach in there to keep the algae at bay. Armed with the TF100, you are already a step ahead of the game. :goodjob:

If the PH is that high you are at risk for scaling damage so you don't want to ignore it.
 

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I've managed to get my PH to about 7.5 and TA up to 50, I will add some more baking soda and CYA tomorrow which brings me to another issue. I'm not really able to run the pool unattended for long periods of time because after 2-3 hours my pressure is up 15 lbs and I'm having to backwash due to the extreme amount of algae in the pool. Is there a way to bypass this situation until I can get my levels good and possible post shock? Would running without DE be OK or would it be possible to take the filters out and run it that way, etc. Otherwise, I'm have to constantly backwash, refill with tap water which I've figured out is why my PH was so high after filling it up several inches at opening.
 
Do you have a "recirculate" setting on a multivalve, that bypasses the filter?

That way you can continue shocking, killing algae, and then backwash/vacume to waste, etc. when you are around....

Pretty sure you will ruin the filter grids if you run it without DE.
 
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