Helping out some folks with their pool

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Jun 23, 2008
69
Nashville, NC
So my wife's friends inherited an above ground pool with the purchase of their house. It is 24' round and 13,500 gallons. They have been going to the pool store for over a month trying to get it straight. Pool store just keeps giving them bags of "shock".

Well finally my wife told them we would come over and test with our test kit:

PH - 7.0 (maybe lower)
FC - 1
CC .5
CYA 40 (this seems low with what they have been adding)
TA 65

I advised them of the BBB method and they are going out tomorrow to get the BBB.

Here are the issues. They say that they have added probably 40 bags of shock this season as well as constant puck use, however CYA seems low. Pool store results say CYA is low and add more, then is fine, then they go back and is low again. I am not sure how they could be losing CYA. I told them I am not convinced they have been but then I question that b/c of all of the puck use.

Also, they say the water is clear but when they go swimming it becomes so cloudy that you can't see your feet.

I advised to get TA & PH under control and then start shocking to kill the algae that is obviously in there.

I think I am their last hope before tearing it down, so I'd like to get it straight for them. Funny thing is, she went to the pool store and told them she was going to use the BBB method, and she got a snide remark "I wouldn't swim in that!" and "Its going to bleach your liner". I chuckled :)

Thoughts?
 
Did you use your test kit on their water?

CYA of 40 (if thats what it is) for an AG pool is good. I keep ours at 30 ppm. How long are they running their filter for each day, its possible that the cloudiness could be dead algae that was never filtered out of the water (?)

I would do a full set of tests and post them here for the experts to offer suggestions ....
 
I used my test kit and posted the #'s. It is the TF-100 kit. I didn't do a CH test since it is a vinyl lined pool. Not sure what other #'s you need. They are getting the PH under control then will start the shock process. I will recheck CYA to see if it is dropping as they claim.
 
You need to do a CH test. Vinyl pools don't care about low CH levels, but they have the same problems other pools have with high CH levels. Plus the water turning cloudy when you swim is known to sometimes be associated with high CH, so we need to know the CH level to check for that.
 
JasonLion said:
You need to do a CH test. Vinyl pools don't care about low CH levels, but they have the same problems other pools have with high CH levels. Plus the water turning cloudy when you swim is known to sometimes be associated with high CH, so we need to know the CH level to check for that.
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OK, will check out the CH for them. If there is a lot of calcium, how do you get rid of it? Drain?
 
Ok,

So I went back over and ran the tests again with my TF-100 kit. She had added some baking soda to raise the TA and PH. Here are the new #'s

FC 1ppm
CC .5 ppm
TA 90
PH 7.3
CH 550
CYA 40

The water is still cloudy. I told them to stop using cal-hypo. They are going with bleach for now on. They did notice algae under the stairs and will start the shocking process tonite. I am not sure if the cloudiness is due to the algae or calcium. Anyhow, they wanted to throw some blue clarifier stuff in it (http://www.robarb.com/TechDataInfo.asp?authID=1242923076&ProductID=189). I wasn't too keen on it, but its not my pool and they paid $15 for it. Since they don't have a test kit, they aren't going to know if they are keeping the shock level to around 18ppm, so we had to "guestimate" on what it will take.
 

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frustratedpoolmom said:
Their water is cloudy because they don't have enough chlorine. Clarifier won't help, chlorine will. :wink:
Click to expand...

Went back over there today and did a Chlorine test

FC - 15
CC - 0

There still appeared to be algae behind the steps in the pool. The pump is on the other side, so I think it could be a circulation issue. I told them to pour a little bleach back there and mix it with the brush. It scattered the algae everywhere. I also advised her to vacuum and backwash. The water looks a lot clearer today, but just not sparkly yet, but I think it is getting there...
 
Just out of curiosity what are they using to keep the steps in place in the pool? The reason I ask is because we used a sand bag our first year and the second year we had the pool because the sand in the bag got wet and being in a relatively dark area with low curculation algae started to grow. We had all kinds of issues with the water our second year. We since have switched to sand in bleach bottles with some bleach in them to keep the algae at bay.

I might suggest if they arent using the pool, removing the steps and checking that then leaving the steps out till the algae clears that way they get good circulation in the water. Also if you have a pool cleaner you may want to run it for a few hours. Perhaps there is something on the bottom they cant see that the algae is clinging too to keep it alive enough to keep the water cloudy.
 
TizMe said:
Just out of curiosity what are they using to keep the steps in place in the pool? The reason I ask is because we used a sand bag our first year and the second year we had the pool because the sand in the bag got wet and being in a relatively dark area with low curculation algae started to grow. We had all kinds of issues with the water our second year. We since have switched to sand in bleach bottles with some bleach in them to keep the algae at bay.

I might suggest if they arent using the pool, removing the steps and checking that then leaving the steps out till the algae clears that way they get good circulation in the water. Also if you have a pool cleaner you may want to run it for a few hours. Perhaps there is something on the bottom they cant see that the algae is clinging too to keep it alive enough to keep the water cloudy.
Click to expand...

It appeared to be bolted to the wall with a bracket, but algae could still get behind the steps. I was thinking that if it continues to be an issue, they could plumb a line over to that side and add another return jet there.
 
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