New pool owner, green pool help

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C

chuppi

0
Bronze Supporter
Sep 13, 2016
35
Pleasanton, CA
Hello everyone. I bought my first home and became a pool owner a few months ago. I never had very clear pool and I never was able to maintain it well. I got some bad and expensive advice. Now the pool is turning green fast. I am working methodically to fix it.

Four months ago, CYA was 110 (and a month later 100 as per Leslie test). They asked me to shock regular with their expensive shock which I did. They said I could drain but they advised against it because of the drought here in california. I realized later that their chlorine was increasing the CYA and I shouldn't have used it. I bought 200$ worth of chemical and then some and never got it right. I am over this and I am ready to do it the right way.

Now I have more information reading this forum and I have made some changes and have a plan. I want to make sure that I am doing it right this time.
I ended up draining my pool and I believe my CYA would be around 60 now (I live in California but I still drained the water into my drying lawn. I use very little water and very careful otherwise and so I think it is okay one time). I am waiting for the CYA test kit to arrive this week and I will be sure.

I bought Taylor K-1004-6 test kit couple of months ago. I think it is good for regular maintenance but I need a better one to slam the pool. I bought K-1515-A online this morning from taylortechnologies and I am hoping that it will arrive soon.

I have tested my PH and it is 7.2. Alkalinity is 130 (It was 7.8 and 200 and I brought it down). I am buying 10% concentrate liquid chlorine from home depot (2gallons for I think $6.89). I have read through the slamming process. I will put the prescribed chlorine in the pool, regular check and maintain until the pool is clear. I will read that up again to make sure I am not missing anything.
Can you please advice if I am missing something? It will be very disappointing if it does not work this time.

I have a question on what I should be doing until I start the slamming process. I don't know when I will receive all the test kits. Should I continue to add chlorine as much as possible until the real slam?

Thanks a lot for your time and help in advance.
 
HI! You have come to the right place to clear your pool and keep your wallet full! Thank you for filling out your siggy! When your test kit gets there put it in your siggy so we know that you are working with the right stuff.

Please take and share a picture of your pool as it looks now. That will tell us what we are working with.

Since you do not have the FC test that will test as high as we need to yet we are at a kind of stand off......You can add a jug of bleach each evening to help keep the water from getting worse. I would NOT add any more than that until the test kit comes in.

While you are waiting for the test kit you can start reading here:

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

That is the corner stone for TFP. It is a lot of info. that might take a few reads to sink in. Once you start using it will start making sense.

Looking forward to seeing your pic!

:kim:
 
I have attached the pool picture. (I am not sure if I did this right. I don't see pictures inline on other posts. I can correct it if it is not the suggested approach)

Yes. I am waiting for the test kit before slamming. I placed an order on TaylorTechnologies for K-1515-A. They said it will take 10 business days to ship when I called and so I cancelled the order. I cannot wait that long. I will order from TFTestKits.net (I could have ordered with the CYA test to save on shipping but its too late now)

Thanks. I will add a gallon of bleach until I start the slam.
 
Oooh, that's a green one alright. One gallon of regular bleach each day won't hurt a bit. It won't clear it up yet - that's where the FAS-DPD portion of the test kit comes-in handy for accuracy, but at least the gallon per day should help keep it from getting too much worse. Good you found us when you did.
 
Thanks Pat, Dave.

I got my CYA test kit. I tried it 3 times with the available test solution. I think it is anywhere between 70 and 80. I was hoping that it would be around 60. Do you think I should drain more water and bring CYA down before slamming. My water new billing cycle starts tomorrow and I think I can drain 5units dropping the CYA 20% (to make up for it, I won't take shower for a few weeks. :)).

Do you suggest I take the sample to pool store and get a CYA reading because I am not very confident with my testing. I don't feel obligated to buy anything there (other than liquid chlorine if it is reasonably priced).
 
That is green but not the worst we have seen by far! The one with the stingy algae and tadpoles was the worst so far this year.

Don't bother taking it to the pool store for the CYA. That is THE test they get wrong the most.

You can pour the CYA mixture back and forth to get an average reading. Make sure to just GLANCE in the tube. If you stare you will end up seeing the dot :rolleyes: LOL

It is up to you if you want to lower the CYA. It will help on how much chlorine you will end up using so.......might be worth it.

That is the purrfect picture. Take one of those a day once you start the SLAM. It will help all of us know where you are atin the clearing of your pool!

:kim:
 
Thanks Coco, Kimkats
My FAS/DPD chlorine test is coming in a few hours. I drained 1/4 of the water. I will test my CYA today and get started with the slamming in a few hours.
Edit: I just checked my PH was very high. So have added muriatic acid to bring it down. Will make sure it is around 7.5 before I start.

Big thanks to the folks at TFTestKits. I received both my test kits in 2 days even though I choose 1st class mail.
I can't wait for this pool to clear either. :)
 

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I calculated my CYA to be around 65-70. Based on the chart, I wanted to bring the FC level to ~28. I did the calculation and added 5jars of 8.3% chlorine. I may be on the higher side. After an hour I checked the FC and it is around 35. I didn't expect it to go that high.

Pump is running and I had cleaned my cartridge this morning and the flow is good. What could be the reason for high FC? Could my pool be less than 15,000 gallons? My measurement is based on a few online sites and my approximation based on the draining and filling that I have been doing (I checked the water flow rate to measure what I am draining and filling).

I am assuming that it is okay for the chlorine level to be a little higher than in the CYA chart. I plan to check for chlorine levels every 4 hours and add more as needed. Let me know if I am missing something. Thanks for your help.
 
What you can do is tweak your size according to what your chemical levels tell you it is. It will take some careful testing and adding but once you have it dialed in you will KNOW for sure what size your pool is.

There is a level for Mustard Algae that is done as a one time thing at the end of a Mus. algae SLAM. It should be okay for this time. Going too high will only really hurt your wallet. It will not do much to the algae as it is already being killed by the normal SLAM level.

:kim:
 
Hey --- That pool looks like mine did last week!! No worries --- these guys can get you fixed right up. Just follow all the directions and read well, because the information provided is spot on and works GOOD!!! Very good.

BTW --- Welcome to the forums. Ask questions because if you don't you won't know.
 
Welcome to the Forum! You paid your tuition to the pool $tore, now you can get the education you needed here. Your pool is far from the worst I've seen - or cleaned up. Chlorine and brush, chlorine and brush. In a few days you will be amazed!
 
Thank you guys.
FC level dropped to 20 in the evening test. FC dropped by ~15 during the day. Added a gallon and I think it will bring it to ~27. Cleaned the filter to improve the flow. Hoping to see some visual improvement tomorrow morning.
 
Taking and sharing a picture looking down on your steps each day will help us all see the changes in the water. Your eyes will not be able to see the changes on a day to day basis.

Marla asks THE question of the day! Too much chlorine and you are just wasting money/time/effort........not enough and you are just blowing in the wind and not getting ahead of the algae.

:kim:
 
Yes. I use the pool math and I added chlorine yesterday based on that. I err on the higher side.
This morning FC 21, CC 1. Added a gallon to bring the FC to 28 (A gallon of 8.3% chlorine increases the FC by 7 in my pool. confirmed with a test 1hour after adding chlorine). Visually I don't see any improvement. :(
I will take picture at the same time of the day and post it later today.
 
I am attaching the two pictures below. Both taken at the sometime of the day. 1st is after 1 day of slam and the the second one after 2 days of slam. I think there is slight progress. I will keep at it as long as it takes. But would like to know if this is normal and I am not missing anything.
I tested CYA before start. I got the reading 60 - 70 (tested by 3 individuals, different lighting. took 70 as the number to be safe). Trying to keep at 28FC as per the chart. Using the FAS/DPD test for accurate measurement.

Appreciate any feedback

View attachment 54486

View attachment 54487
 

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