help this is driving me nuts.

[rctreece]

I am ready to shoot a hole in this pool. I have been performing the slam process and have progressed to a blueish pool but it is still cloudy and will not improve. I had high cya and have done five partial water changes but still cannot get it done past 70-80 range. The pool filter has run for two weeks and was needing backwash but not in the past three days. My readings when I last checked were

Fc. 9. I raised to 24 and held it
ph. 7.0
ta. 90
ch. 180


any suggestions? I am ready to drain the whole thing. The last pic is today

 

[borjis]

Are you testing cya with your back to full sun, holding the vial waist high and looking down
at the dot then away and back again?

It's a bit of a tricky test, but if it isn't properly done then you really don't know how
much chlorine it will take to get the job done.

 

[AimeeH]

HI
Can you tell us how you're testing? From your post above it sounds like you're not keeping your chlorine high enough for SLAM. But, sand filters also take the longest to clear a cloudy pool.

 

[rctreece]

Are you testing cya with your back to full sun, holding the vial waist high and looking down
at the dot then away and back again?

It's a bit of a tricky test, but if it isn't properly done then you really don't know how
much chlorine it will take to get the job done.

Yes i am. Read that on here. Today it is cloudy and it read 80-90 but think it was that high due to the weather. Before I found this forum I was using a strip test kit from last year. I ended up putting 1.5 bottles of stabilizer in my pool. After I went to pool school and learned the errors of my way I started making progress but it has stalled. I have gone through about 25 gal of liquid chlorine. I am just debating should I just drain the whole thing or keep dumping chlorine and running the filter. My water and electric bill are going to be high this month. What's the better choice?

- - - Updated - - -

HI
Can you tell us how you're testing? From your post above it sounds like you're not keeping your chlorine high enough for SLAM. But, sand filters also take the longest to clear a cloudy pool.

And have been but for two days this week I had to guess due to running out of testing supplies but I am stocked up now

 

[AimeeH]

Stick with it.

How long have you been trying to maintain SLAM. I know it can take a while to go green to clear. I know from experience.

 

[Jezza]

Oner of your issues is that you may not be conducting the SLAM at a high enough FC shock level for your CYA. If you are at 70 -SLAM level is 28 FC, 80 is 31FC. If your around that CYA level I would drain more water to get it down to a more manageable level.

 

[rctreece]

Stick with it.

How long have you been trying to maintain SLAM. I know it can take a while to go green to clear. I know from experience.

10 days

- - - Updated - - -

Oner of your issues is that you may not be conducting the SLAM at a high enough FC shock level for your CYA. If you are at 70 -SLAM level is 28 FC, 80 is 31FC. If your around that CYA level I would drain more water to get it down to a more manageable level.

How much? I did 50% then 1/3 and 1/3 since.

 

[Jezza]

I'd start with a 1/3 and see where your at again.

 

[triptyx]

Ideally you'd drain 1/3. Your CYA must have been astronomically high to have drained so much water and still be at 80.

What is the FC level you're currently maintaining for SLAM?

 

[rctreece]

Ideally you'd drain 1/3. Your CYA must have been astronomically high to have drained so much water and still be at 80.

What is the FC level you're currently maintaining for SLAM?

It was 24

 

[BenMc19]

Ideally you'd drain 1/3. Your CYA must have been astronomically high to have drained so much water and still be at 80.

What is the FC level you're currently maintaining for SLAM?

@rctreece

This. I am in your same boat, and yesterday was the first day in a month that i finally saw the bottom of the deep end clearly. I had to do 2 different drain and refills. From what i read, the cya tests are only accurate under 100. If it's over 100, the difference between says 150 and 300 is very minimal on the test. So like this poster said, you probably just had a higher cya than you realized.

My biggest mistake on mine which led to a longer process was letting my level dip below the shock levels too much. The last week or so I've been diligent in keeping my levels over it (16 based on cya of 40). It has progressed more this week then the 3 weeks prior.

~11,500 gallon in-ground 27 x 13 ft
3 ft in shallow, 5.5 ft in deep
Plaster bottom/fiberglass sides(?)

 

[rctreece]

@rctreece

This. I am in your same boat, and yesterday was the first day in a month that i finally saw the bottom of the deep end clearly. I had to do 2 different drain and refills. From what i read, the cya tests are only accurate under 100. If it's over 100, the difference between says 150 and 300 is very minimal on the test. So like this poster said, you probably just had a higher cya than you realized.

My biggest mistake on mine which led to a longer process was letting my level dip below the shock levels too much. The last week or so I've been diligent in keeping my levels over it (16 based on cya of 40). It has progressed more this week then the 3 weeks prior.

~11,500 gallon in-ground 27 x 13 ft
3 ft in shallow, 5.5 ft in deep
Plaster bottom/fiberglass sides(?)

I am going to pump most of the water out today

 

[BenMc19]

I am going to pump most of the water out today

If you have gotten true reads at 80 cya, then I'd pump about 60% of the water. They should get you in the 30s, and then you are good to go with the SLAM. It'll be much easier to keep that 12 ppm, and much cheaper too.

If you drain too much, now you risk having to put more conditioner in, and if you over correct, you'll be in the same boat you're in now. 60% drain and refill them you'll be good to go.

~11,500 gallon in-ground 27 x 13 ft
3 ft in shallow, 5.5 ft in deep
Plaster bottom/fiberglass sides(?)

 

[rctreece]

If you have gotten true reads at 80 cya, then I'd pump about 60% of the water. They should get you in the 30s, and then you are good to go with the SLAM. It'll be much easier to keep that 12 ppm, and much cheaper too.

If you drain too much, now you risk having to put more conditioner in, and if you over correct, you'll be in the same boat you're in now. 60% drain and refill them you'll be good to go.

~11,500 gallon in-ground 27 x 13 ft
3 ft in shallow, 5.5 ft in deep
Plaster bottom/fiberglass sides(?)

I agree. Pumping it out now. I think my last reading of 80-90 was correct so I am gonna g to take out 75% and go from there

 

[rctreece]

Victory!!!! I drained about 70% out and found a large sock full of stabilizer. This sock was hanging infront of the jet but came loose and I could not find it. I assumed that after a week it had all dissolved but it didn't and eve thought I was doing partial water changes it kept adding back to my cya. Now that I have it out I can control it and start the slam process again.

 

[triptyx]

Now that makes a ton of sense!!! I'll bet that little sucker was slowly leaching CYA into the pool and messing up your SLAM.

I'll bet you start seeing serious progress in short order.

 

[rctreece]

Now that makes a ton of sense!!! I'll bet that little sucker was slowly leaching CYA into the pool and messing up your SLAM.

I'll bet you start seeing serious progress in short order.

Yep, it knocked the CYA down to 40. Using a FC of 16 and checking every hour it dropped 3 per hour until dark. Checked this morning and it was still at 16. Now I just need to get the cloudiness out of the water. I am going to add some DE but was wondering, do you add it until the pressure goes up 1 psi then wait until the filter psi goes up by 10, backwash and start the DE process over or do you just add it once and do normal backwashes? Thanks

 

[triptyx]

It should have knocked the CYA up, not down.

You want to backwash when the filter is 25% above it's "clean" pressure. That's the pressure you see right after a good backwash. So add a little DE, then backwash when the pressure is up 25%, backwash, rinse and repeat. Make sure you're present to keep an eye on your filter when using DE like this - you don't want it to be clogged up all day while you're at work.

 

[rctreece]

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been doing a slam for 2 weeks and found this under the steps. I pulled them out and cleaned them. Rest of the pool is looking good. It was pretty clear until I had to brush under this. If I leave them out of the pool for a few days will that ensure that everything is dead? I think I am almost done with the slam but having trouble with the overnight test as it keeps raining every night.

 

[rctreece]

Another