The beginnings of a green pool appear to have started today.Help?

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SouthernHiker

0
Sep 13, 2016
38
Columbus/GA
About two weeks ago, the pool installers came by and put in the Salt and stabilizer for the new pool they installed at the house.

Lo and behold, the SWG never worked (of course they failed to mention that).
About a week later, I finally noticed the issue. I'm working on that problem, but for now I'm using the test kit and liquid bleach to try and keep the pool balanced and usable. So there's salt in the pool, but that's the one test I don't have yet.

Here's what the test kit showed today:

CYA = 55
PH = 7.8
FC = 6 (it was 0 yesterday, and I used pool math and put 1.5 121oz jugs of 8.5% in it).
CC = -1.5 (I think)
TA = 200 (I think this is a concern?)

Any suggestions on keeping the green monster away? Other than TA and CC (which I believe indicates algae is breaking down?), the numbers seem ok.

Perhaps because it wasn't caught for weeks finally getting it taken care of yesterday was too late? If so, what now? I brushed and vacuumed it today too.
 
kimkats said:
Too catch! It is not too late! Do as Danny says and all will be good and clear!

Any timeline for them to get the SWG working?

Went to Lowe's got Muriatic Acid, added Liquid Bleach to the recommended shock level. hopefuly I'll get this straightened out fast.


:kim:
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Monday is the day my new thermistor arrives, so if I can get it soldered, hopefully that'll fix it. If not, ordering a new cell is a long way down the list, so I'll plan to keep it chlorinated and close it until Spring.
 
Regardless, if you have the beginnings of algae, you need to SLAM like Pooldv recommended. Many people do the slam process with their SWG's off, so you're okay there. Use 60 for your CYA number in PoolMath and treat it like a non-SWG pool.
 
aussieta said:
is this a new swg or used?
you have new pool and installer put in used swg?
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New Pool Liner and I put in a new motor, but the SWG is from the old pool. 2009/10 I'm thinking.

- - - Updated - - -

MarianParoo said:
Regardless, if you have the beginnings of algae, you need to SLAM like Pooldv recommended. Many people do the slam process with their SWG's off, so you're okay there. Use 60 for your CYA number in PoolMath and treat it like a non-SWG pool.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Started the SLAM process last night. FC levels are at 20, I'm thinking I may need to raise to 24 based on the CYA=55, I put in the recommended amount of Muriatic Acid. On a positive note, the CC was less than 0.5.

So far it lowered the PH to 7.4, but my TA is still rising, possibly was at 230 this morning?? I was aiming for 7.0 PH.

Any ideas??
 
SouthernHiker said:
New Pool Liner and I put in a new motor, but the SWG is from the old pool. 2009/10 I'm thinking.

- - - Updated - - -



Thanks. Started the SLAM process last night. FC levels are at 20, I'm thinking I may need to raise to 24 based on the CYA=55, I put in the recommended amount of Muriatic Acid. On a positive note, the CC was less than 0.5.

So far it lowered the PH to 7.4, but my TA is still rising, possibly was at 230 this morning?? I was aiming for 7.0 PH.

Any ideas??
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The pH test is inaccurate with FC above 10ppm, and will generally show a result higher than the actual.

You are correct with your thinking on the FC/CYA. We recommend that "in-between" CYA results be rounded up to the next 10ppm, eg halfway between 50 & 60 would be read as 60ppm, as the scale on the view tube is not linear.

How does the water & pool surface look?
 
domct203 said:
The pH test is inaccurate with FC above 10ppm, and will generally show a result higher than the actual.

You are correct with your thinking on the FC/CYA. We recommend that "in-between" CYA results be rounded up to the next 10ppm, eg halfway between 50 & 60 would be read as 60ppm, as the scale on the view tube is not linear.

How does the water & pool surface look?
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It was too dark to tell about the surface this morning before I left. Yesterday, before the acid and the shock levels of bleach, it had just a slight greenish hue in the deep end, and when I brushed the bottom, I could see a brownish cloud as I reached the end of each brush stroke.

If the PH test is inaccurate, how I can judge whether or not to continue with more acid, and how would I tell if aeration to bring it back up is working well? Do I need to let FC just come down first? I don't want to give the algae another foothold??
 
Update: This afternoon:
FC = Back down to 6 plan to increase to 20 again.
CC = appears to be 0, but def. less than 0.5
TA = Down to 180
PH = I see above it could be inaccurate, but the test says it's at 7.2
CYA = After 3 days of testing this, I'm confident that it is much closer to 50 than 55.
 

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Every time the FC gets below 10 test the PH and adjust it down to 7.2. It will take longer but the SLAM is what needs to happen. In fact try to NOT let the FC drop below SLAM level if at all possible. We will work on the TA after the SLAM is done.

:km:
 
SouthernHiker said:
Update: This afternoon:
FC = Back down to 6 plan to increase to 20 again.
CC = appears to be 0, but def. less than 0.5
TA = Down to 180
PH = I see above it could be inaccurate, but the test says it's at 7.2
CYA = After 3 days of testing this, I'm confident that it is much closer to 50 than 55.
Click to expand...
If your FC was 6ppm at the time of the pH test, your pH result is accurate. The pH test is not accurate at 10ppm or above.
 
End of Weekend Update:

I have tried keeping the FC at or near SLAM level all weekend. It had dropped down to 12 this afternoon before I added bleach to get it back up to 20.
The water now appears to be crystal clear. No cloudiness and definitely no green.

This afternoon there was some brown particles on the bottom of the pool that I vacuumed up. I'm guessing this was dead algae?

My TA is still at 190, however, even after adding Muriatic Acid on Friday. After reading more, I think I may have missed/combined two steps which caused the Muriatic Acid to not do what it was suppose to.

I ran the pump 24/7 this weekend, and I'm guessing that my jets were aerating the water all weekend b/c they were pointed up. I corrected this today, put in more Muriatic Acid and I'm hoping the PH and TA come back down now, and then after TA comes down, that's when I should aerate?

2 questions:
1. Is the above correct for lowering my PH and then aerating after TA comes down?
2. How long should I keep this SLAM up? It appears there's no algae, and the CC still appears to be less than 0.5?
 
MarianParoo said:
Please don't worry about TA and pH now until you are done with the slam. If by chance your FC drops below 10, you can test pH and adjust.

To know when you are done with the slam, you need to pass the OCLT: Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)
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Alright...good news. No measurable overnight loss of FC. I think my algae problem is taken care of.

So now, I suppose that I let my FC come back down to normal ranges before doing anything else?
 
SouthernHiker said:
Alright...good news. No measurable overnight loss of FC. I think my algae problem is taken care of.

So now, I suppose that I let my FC come back down to normal ranges before doing anything else?
Click to expand...
If you pass an OCLT, your CC's are less than 0.5ppm, and the water is clear of any algae, dead or alive, yes you can now let the FC drift to the daily target for your CYA, and balance the rest of the chemistry.
 
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