First year with pool--clearing the swamp?

[saoakman]

Acquired a pool (~18-20,000 gal--I can't see geometry of bottom yet--vinyl liner, sand filter) in a house purchase for my son.
Was inadequately covered over winter, so--a mess. Had a service come out and open us up 8 days ago. They added 20 gal chlorine, told me to add 10 more 5 days ago. We've done our best to remove debris and leaves, and I've been trying to follow the SLAM protocols, though started after it was all up and running. Had low FC (~1--per test strip, sorry, haven't had time to get the real kit) yesterday, so added another 16 gal of 12.5%.

Today what I have is light green, quite cloudy. Test results are FC ~10, stabilizer 0, and pH 6.0. I'm concerned about the pH issue, but also concerned I'll set back the algae-killing process if I add a bunch of borax or soda. Thoughts?

 

[Richard320]

You can't do the SLAM with test strips. High FC levels will bleach out the dyes and make them all read wrong. You can't really adjust anything with any confidence until you have a proper test kit. You're working blind. Nobody can tell you which way to go because nobody knows where you are.

Just so you know.... 16 gallons - 2048 ounces - of 12.5% bleach in a 20000 gallon pool will raise FC by 100ppm. That's way too high. You might be bleaching the liner. For sure you've bleached the test strips.

I suggest you stop right now and order a test kit and concentrate on brushing and vacuuming, even if you have to do it blind. Then start fresh with a proper test kit. I use a TF100 from TFTestkits.net

 

[saoakman]

OK then...
In the meantime--vacuuming: attached is picture of my plumbing. The valve that switches between filter and waste appears to have only two positions--up to filter, down to waste. If I have a vacuum connected to the opening underneath the skimmer basket, am I vacuuming to waste if the pump is running and the valve is down? Or am I vacuuming into my filter?
Thanks.

 

[saoakman]

How it looks today --

 

[Richard320]

That slide valve doesn't have a waste setting. It's either filtering or backwashing. You don't want to vacuum on backwash. You'll just fill the insides of the grids with debris that you will never be able to get out and wreck them. Your plumbing may be reversed, but the key point is there shouldn't be any water spewing out the drain port unless you're backwashing.

 

[saoakman]

That slide valve doesn't have a waste setting. It's either filtering or backwashing. You don't want to vacuum on backwash. You'll just fill the insides of the grids with debris that you will never be able to get out and wreck them. Your plumbing may be reversed, but the key point is there shouldn't be any water spewing out the drain port unless you're backwashing.

Thanks so much for the confirmation.

 

[saoakman]

OK-I'm back, new TF-100 in hand.
We've been brushing and vacuuming in the interim--most visible debris is clear, but can't see bottom yet. Polaris bag comes up full daily, and pump filter basket still catching a lot of leaf stems & seed type material. Backwash filter daily.
First run of tests this evening was (skipping CH and Alk for now since I'm thinking it isn't that important for SLAMming--yes?)
ph 6.8
CYA 100
FC 1.5
CC 1.0
That CYA panicked me--have no idea why it would be that high? Did previous owners dump a lot in last summer and it sticks around that long?
Was considering draining off and replacing, but the drain hose I have doesn't reach to where I would want larger quantities of water to go, and it will take me a couple of days to jury-rig an extension, and I didn't want the algae growth to surge as it was already looking like it might be recovering from the massive Cl dose I gave it last week. Also, it's been dry the past 2 weeks now, so we'll be adding water in the next couple of days, I think--getting close to skimmer door bottom.

So, I had plenty of bleach on hand and added 4 gal of 12.5%--
20 minutes later:
FC 13.5
CC 1.5
CYA retry 70--maybe my first try was way off? A bit more confident that I was still seeing the dot up to that point. Would the addition of the bleach have dropped the level that much?
So with that I decided to hit it with another 4 gallons, and got the FC up to 28, which per the table, should be effective for shock at that CYA level. We'll see in the morning, I guess...

Am I on the right track?

 

[Richard320]

OK-I'm back, new TF-100 in hand.
We've been brushing and vacuuming in the interim--most visible debris is clear, but can't see bottom yet. Polaris bag comes up full daily, and pump filter basket still catching a lot of leaf stems & seed type material. Backwash filter daily.
First run of tests this evening was (skipping CH and Alk for now since I'm thinking it isn't that important for SLAMming--yes?)
ph 6.8
CYA 100
FC 1.5
CC 1.0
That CYA panicked me--have no idea why it would be that high? Did previous owners dump a lot in last summer and it sticks around that long?
Was considering draining off and replacing, but the drain hose I have doesn't reach to where I would want larger quantities of water to go, and it will take me a couple of days to jury-rig an extension, and I didn't want the algae growth to surge as it was already looking like it might be recovering from the massive Cl dose I gave it last week. Also, it's been dry the past 2 weeks now, so we'll be adding water in the next couple of days, I think--getting close to skimmer door bottom.

So, I had plenty of bleach on hand and added 4 gal of 12.5%--
20 minutes later:
FC 13.5
CC 1.5
CYA retry 70--maybe my first try was way off? A bit more confident that I was still seeing the dot up to that point. Would the addition of the bleach have dropped the level that much?
So with that I decided to hit it with another 4 gallons, and got the FC up to 28, which per the table, should be effective for shock at that CYA level. We'll see in the morning, I guess...

Am I on the right track?

If CYA is 70, then yes.

 

[saoakman]

Update--is this progress?
Seems to be going slow...moderately clearer. Added some water and got some heavy rain so CYA is down to 55
FCs being kept in in low 20s, CC 1.5. PH is 7.2
thinking about adding some DE.

 

[Richard320]

Is that cleaner at the end of the hose working? That's not really much of a color change. I wonder if there isn't still a bunch of soggy compost on the floor.

 

[saoakman]

It's working--bag coming up full every day (though less so yesterday. Also can see it moving around more clearly at shallow and medium depths.) So, yeah there's still stuff down there somewhere. Not finding it when we dredge with the big leaf net, though. Getting tempted to do some snorkeling...

 

[saoakman]

So, yeah there's still stuff down there somewhere. Not finding it when we dredge with the big leaf net, though. Getting tempted to do some snorkeling...

On that topic, under what conditions could I don a snorkeling mask and check the bottom for a deposit of "compost"? I know you're not supposed to be swimming when the bottom isn't visible--but for the sake of clearing a problem area, should I think about trying? It's no worse than a lot of lakes I've swimmed in...

 

[Richard320]

On that topic, under what conditions could I don a snorkeling mask and check the bottom for a deposit of "compost"? I know you're not supposed to be swimming when the bottom isn't visible--but for the sake of clearing a problem area, should I think about trying? It's no worse than a lot of lakes I've swimmed in...

A leaf rake keeps you out of the disgusting water. The leading edge is bevelled so you just slide it along the bottom and stuff gets scraped into the bag.

Or you could try a manual vacuum

I don't know how well you'd be able to see down deep, mask or no. If you do go in, let someone know you're in there. Maybe have them wait on the deck and if you don't come up for air....

 

[saoakman]

Yeah--we've been sweeping the bottom daily with one of those and getting nothing. This AM for the first time, the Polaris's bag was empty, too--so I think we're clearing. Looked like we gained another 8-12" clarity, too--so will just try to keep after it. Father's Day BBQ/Pool party maybe?

Had a fairly freshly dead vole in the skimmer basket this AM...blecch. But the ducks that used to visit have gone--pretty sure the chlorine is too high for them to think it looks like an inviting pond anymore.

 

[saoakman]

Day 7 of proper SLAM--still light green & cloudy, not appreciably different than 2 days ago.
Todays FC was 18.5 on a CYA of 40. CC is down to 1.0.

I decided to venture in--the bottom and sides did not feel slimy at all. I brushed vigorously with a hand brush over all parts of the skimmer entrances, ladder, and stairs. Visibility was horrid, 3 ft at best. Not finding any evidence of decaying biomass anywhere in the pool, though of course I still couldn't visualize the bottom of the deep end, and Polaris bag continues to come back empty--completely so after 24 hours now! What the skimmers catch is basically the fresh & green stuff that has fallen in with the wind now, and June bugs.

I did get some DE and added it according to the Pool School article--total of about 1 cup powder slurrified raised pressure the 1-2 PSI recommended. Maybe see more improvement in the morning? I did add some additional bleach to push the FC into the mid 20s again, just in case I'm off with the CYA test--but it really is progressively going down and it definitely takes until the 50s to blur the black disk.

Should I be thinking about replacing the filter sand? Is there something else wrong chemically that I should attend to?

 

[Richard320]

Set the alarm a little early tomorrow, because you'll need to backwash.

You're doing things right. Some pools just require more

 

[saoakman]

SLAM Day #12--can see the design in the liner now extending down the drop off, and Mr. Polaris chugging around down to 5' or so. CYA in 40s, CC 0.5-1.0, FC kept between 16-23 over the weekend. Backwashing is really disgusting...replaced the sight glass in the waste line, and it takes a good 4-5 minutes to run clear. Those 30-60 second rinses were obviously not sufficient, and the DE is probably helping to catch more stuff. Really wish I could deep clean the filter, but as I wrote elsewhere, I'm not willing to crack open that canister until I have a replacement O-ring available, hopefully 5-7 days. Fortunately the weather's been cool, and the housemates are out of town, so not chomping at the bit. Fathers' Day* pool party postponed to July 4th, we hope. Thanks for the encouragement!

*(And got surprised with excellent tickets for a Don Henley concert last night...so all the better!)

 

[saoakman]

Day #13--can actually see the top of the Polaris moving around at the BOTTOM of the deep end!
Numbers still good--but hope CYA stays stable for a week or 2. I ran out of the reagent in my T100 as of today, and it will probably take a week to get the replacement I ordered.

 

[dcloer]

If you aren't draining and adding water, I don't think your CYA will be changing.

 

[saoakman]

Day #22--I SEE THE BOTTOM!!!!!

Deep cleaning of filter and topping off with new sand (it was barely half full per manual) really helped!