Diary of a swamp
- Thread starter Krickett
- Start date
Day 5 (7/9/08)
6:15 am - Tested chlorine, FC=8, CC=2.5, Added 1.2 184oz jugs of bleach.
11:00 am - Brushed pool (This should have been done on Day 4, but I didn't read far enough it seems).
3:30 pm - Test, FC=3, Added 2.5 jugs
4:30 pm - Brushed pool again (Turned from light green to dark temporarily), Test, FC=9, Added 1 jug. Switched from recirculate to filter (PSI=16).
5:00 pm - Filter pressure now reading 31, switched back to recirculate.
7:00 pm - Added 1-2" of water with about 40 oz of acid since that is usually what is necessary after a water refill. Switched back to filter, pressure returned to 16 and slowly climbed to 22.
8:00 pm - Why is filter pressure still only about 22? Brushed slightly. Tested PH<7.0, FC=7, added 1.5 jugs of bleach.
10:00 pm - PSI=25, Tested PH=7.2, FC=12, CC=3, Added 48oz bleach, switched to recirculate.
6:15 am - Tested chlorine, FC=8, CC=2.5, Added 1.2 184oz jugs of bleach.
11:00 am - Brushed pool (This should have been done on Day 4, but I didn't read far enough it seems).
3:30 pm - Test, FC=3, Added 2.5 jugs
4:30 pm - Brushed pool again (Turned from light green to dark temporarily), Test, FC=9, Added 1 jug. Switched from recirculate to filter (PSI=16).
5:00 pm - Filter pressure now reading 31, switched back to recirculate.
7:00 pm - Added 1-2" of water with about 40 oz of acid since that is usually what is necessary after a water refill. Switched back to filter, pressure returned to 16 and slowly climbed to 22.
8:00 pm - Why is filter pressure still only about 22? Brushed slightly. Tested PH<7.0, FC=7, added 1.5 jugs of bleach.
10:00 pm - PSI=25, Tested PH=7.2, FC=12, CC=3, Added 48oz bleach, switched to recirculate.
So how's the appearance of the water? I would have assumed that in the first day or two it went from green to cloudy and that now it's getting cleared up but still possibly cloudy or dull. Is that true?
The water is now a milky green and I can now see the first step. I hope to post another pic before the days out. After brushing I noticed visible chunks of algae. Is there a way to filter this out before it gets to the filter? I've read some about the skimmer socks and some use an actual sock but my skimmer seems to big to fit a sock on. Should I clear it up using recirculate and then filter or would that make any difference in the number of backwashes? My tap has a high PH and since PH reading are inaccurate at high chlorine levels how can I add water for the backwashes and properly adjust the PH? So many questions so little knowledge, I greatly appreciate the knowledge this forum dispells and for everyones help.
Krickett said:
Dispells or dispenses?
We do dispell the myths and dispense information.
Day 6 (7/10/09)
6:00 am - FC=6, Added 1.5 jugs of chlorine
11:30 am - FC=8.5, Added 1 jug of chlorine and brushed pool
5:30 pm - FC=6.5, Added 2 jugs and brushed pool
6:00 pm - FC=11, Added 88oz.
6:30 pm - FC=13, No change
10:00 pm - FC=7.5, Added 1.3 jugs, Turned pump to low, leaving on filter
6:00 am - FC=6, Added 1.5 jugs of chlorine
11:30 am - FC=8.5, Added 1 jug of chlorine and brushed pool
5:30 pm - FC=6.5, Added 2 jugs and brushed pool
6:00 pm - FC=11, Added 88oz.
6:30 pm - FC=13, No change
10:00 pm - FC=7.5, Added 1.3 jugs, Turned pump to low, leaving on filter
You can put a T-shirt onto a skimming net at the end of a pole and try scooping it out, if you're strong. Otherwise, stirring it up and having a skimmer sock can catch it in the skimmer. You can use large panty hose instead of a skimmer sock or even use a large T-shirt. Just make sure there are alternative ways for water to get to your pump -- either floor drains or a bypass pipe for the skimmer (say plumbed to the wall below the skimmer); otherwise, if you block the skimmer you'll crack the basket and/or cause other problems.Krickett said:
I don't think recirculate helps much; leaving it on filter and backwashing as needed is best, combined with earlier catching of larger materials a noted above. Now I understand why it's still green; you've got a LOT of raw junk in the pool. However, you didn't mention your CYA level -- you initially had zero, then added some CYA, but I wasn't clear as to what level. If it's 30 ppm, then you should have a MINIMUM shock FC level of 12 ppm. You seem to be measuring lower values consistently and that will just take longer to clear the pool. Pools can be cleared quickly as shown here.
Your added tap water won't move the pH by very much. I wouldn't worry about the pH. I would, however, try and keep the chlorine up higher and also try and physically remove large algae clumps to make this process go faster.
Richard
Thanks for the info Richard. I put a skimmer sock on have been cleaning that every 15 minutes as well as brushing to stir the algae up for the filter and switched from recirculate to filter. I think the reason my numbers have been low is because of all the algae film that was in the pool and gets stirred up during a brush. The color of the pool is a milky light green when settled and still green when I brush but the green has more of a brownish tint to it. I will go back to the 30 min test until it stays close to shock for an hour. The last test at the pool store showed a CYA of 30 so I've been setting my shock point for 13 per the pool calculator.
Bob_Funk
0
Krickett said:
No the reason your #"s are low is because you are not putting enough chlorine in your pool, chlorine kills algae
From what I can see from your #'s is that a 96oz jug of bleach raises your FC 2ppm, your shock level is 12 with a CYA level of 30, you finally got to shock level at 6:00pm but by 10:00pm you are down to 7.5ppm & you added 1.3jugs(you do not say how big the jugs are????)
If you are using 96oz jugs you would only hit 10ppm, (if you are using 182oz jugs algae is really eating up your chlorine) you need to keep your FC ABOVE 12 to keep your pool at shock level, you can clear it at a lower level but it will take longer & take more bleach.
In 3.5 hours you lost 5.5ppm (6:30pm FC 13 10:00pm FC 7.5-raised to 10ppm) by 6:00am you are going to be VERY low, if not 0 again
Where are you located? What is your water temp?
My advice would be to get more bleach in your pool ASAP!
Quit letting your FC drop to 0!
Bob
Day 7 (7/11/09)
7:30 am - FC=8.5, CC=3, Added 1 jug + 2 cups
9:00 am - FC=10, Added 1 jug - 2 cups
9:30 am - Vacuumed pool, make sure to clean pump filter basket often, I was doing it every few minutes at some points. I assumed since I had the cover on that all the debris was too small for the filter baskets but that doesn't seem to be the case.
10:30 am - Swept pool and adding water, after sweep I noticed a marked improvement, still a fair amount of small debris but only a minor color change as opposed to the dark green I was getting before. Vacuuming helped a lot.
10:45 am - Backwashed, adding more water.
11:30 am - Vacuumed pool again. I figure I've cleaned up at least 2/3 of the debris but hard to tell since I can't see in. Brushing showed a much smaller about of debris and a minor increase in color.
2:00 pm - Water levels back to normal, FC=9, Added 1 jug. PH=7.3
2:30 pm - FC=10, Added 2 jugs to bring shock to about 18.
4:30 pm - FC=10.5 Added 2 jugs. Color is more of a milky blue than green
9:30 pm - FC=10, Added 2 jugs.
New Pics as of 11:00 am
7:30 am - FC=8.5, CC=3, Added 1 jug + 2 cups
9:00 am - FC=10, Added 1 jug - 2 cups
9:30 am - Vacuumed pool, make sure to clean pump filter basket often, I was doing it every few minutes at some points. I assumed since I had the cover on that all the debris was too small for the filter baskets but that doesn't seem to be the case.
10:30 am - Swept pool and adding water, after sweep I noticed a marked improvement, still a fair amount of small debris but only a minor color change as opposed to the dark green I was getting before. Vacuuming helped a lot.
10:45 am - Backwashed, adding more water.
11:30 am - Vacuumed pool again. I figure I've cleaned up at least 2/3 of the debris but hard to tell since I can't see in. Brushing showed a much smaller about of debris and a minor increase in color.
2:00 pm - Water levels back to normal, FC=9, Added 1 jug. PH=7.3
2:30 pm - FC=10, Added 2 jugs to bring shock to about 18.
4:30 pm - FC=10.5 Added 2 jugs. Color is more of a milky blue than green
9:30 pm - FC=10, Added 2 jugs.
New Pics as of 11:00 am
Attachments
I'm following the instructions on this post (http://www.troublefreepool.com/turn...rking-oasis-t4147.html?hilit=turn green swamp) which has resulted in 42.65 gallons of bleach over 5 days. Last night I could smell the bleach coming from the pool and smelled it this morning even though the level was only 8.5.
I have stated in almost every day that I have been using 184oz jugs, so I didn't see the point in repeating that every time. From 5:30 to 6 I had no change. Since I'm running low on test chem I felt that my 6:30 reading would be similar and I would need to only test mornings and evenings which is what I had been doing.
North Texas and water temp is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit
I didn't start adding chlorine until Day 4. Looking back at my posts I should have kept up 30 min tests until I stabilized at 13 but going to work to pay for all that bleach keeps getting in the way
and for some reason I thought I had reached that the first day. My FC hasn't dropped below 3 since I started this process and is usually around 6-9 after several hours between tests. Today is Saturday so I can devote the day to it. I just added chlorine to bring the level to shock and in a little bit am going to vacuum the pool which I hope will remove a lot of that residual algae that seems to be eating up the chlorine so much and from that point do 30 min tests until an hour shows stable and keep brushing to stir up water to filter the junk out.Do I need to be aiming for a higher shock point? Is there something I'm missing that will result if a steady shock level that just doesn't seem to be happening?
The chlorine will never be "steady" or "stable" in your pool. It is a consumable item. As it clears your pool, in turn, it is consumed by killing the organics.
You must get more chlorine in your pool and you must keep adding more chlorine until your pool is clear.
Put enough chlorine in your pool to bring it to 12ppm. Immediately, it will start to diminish as it is consumed. You must then test again, 3 times daily is enough, and bring it right back up to 12ppm by adding more chlorine.
You need more chlorine. Chlorine kills algae.
Can you put in too much chlorine? Yes. That's why we suggest targeting 12ppm as the level at which you should stay. In order to stay at that level you must frequently (3 times daily) test you chlorine level and add enough to bring it back up to 12ppm.
PS - Can you detect I am trying to emphasize something?
Sorry to be a bulldog, but not understanding how to maintain adequate chlorine levels, whether shocking, converting, or just maintaining a pool, is the single biggest issue on the forum. Please don't be offended by my blunt post.
Thanks Dave and what I'm trying to convey is that I am doing that with a shock level of 13 as opposed to 12 per the pool calculator at http://www.poolcalculator.com. I have been testing at least 3 times a day and adding the necessary bleach to bring it back up to the shock level. Other than that I'm not sure what else I need to do or am doing wrong.
I had a swamp for a very long time... and am afraid that I wasted SO much time and bleach in the same manner. At some point, someone told me to up my shock level and it seems that is when I realized that I was getting my pool up to shock and beyond... but not really maintaining shock level, despite the seemingly millions of gallons I was pouring into the pool. I guess every time it goes back down, it is like taking a step backward. When I finally came to grips with that, my pool did a quick turnaround and it is beautiful today. Hang in there, yours will be too!
You need to think of this as a race between you trying to kill or oxidize algae, which is solely a function of the FC level, and the algae trying to reproduce and grow, which is at a fixed rate. So if the FC gets lower (actually, the FC/CYA ratio gets lower), then the rate of killing algae slows down so that growing algae can make the process take longer. Taken to extreme with too big a drop in FC (FC/CYA ratio), the algae can grow faster than chlorine can kill it so that you do indeed take a step backwards. Of course, any physical removal of algae just helps this process move along more quickly.
The shock level is to be maintained. If necessary, I'd rather overshoot the level so that you end up at that level the next time you add chlorine. If you're going to overshoot, there should be no need to do so beyond the yellow/mustard algae target which is around 60% of the CYA level or around 18 ppm FC in your case of 30 ppm CYA. Basically, the shock level is just to make things go faster. Higher chlorine levels make the process go even faster. The only reason we limit this at all is for expense of chlorine (and loss from sunlight) and to minimize harshness to pool surfaces though realistically that's a very minor issue since the exposure is not over an entire season.
Of course, we're all assuming that the CYA number is an accurate reading. If the true CYA level is higher, then that would lead to a slower process because the FC would in reality be too low for that CYA level.
Richard
The shock level is to be maintained. If necessary, I'd rather overshoot the level so that you end up at that level the next time you add chlorine. If you're going to overshoot, there should be no need to do so beyond the yellow/mustard algae target which is around 60% of the CYA level or around 18 ppm FC in your case of 30 ppm CYA. Basically, the shock level is just to make things go faster. Higher chlorine levels make the process go even faster. The only reason we limit this at all is for expense of chlorine (and loss from sunlight) and to minimize harshness to pool surfaces though realistically that's a very minor issue since the exposure is not over an entire season.
Of course, we're all assuming that the CYA number is an accurate reading. If the true CYA level is higher, then that would lead to a slower process because the FC would in reality be too low for that CYA level.
Richard
Krickett said:
How about another picture? I suspect that things are starting to look different. Last photo had gone from grey green to grey blue. Do you see a bit of aqua blue there yet?
Pics added for day 8. Yes things are looking much better although one picture still looks green it actually is a blue color but still milky. When I brush I'm not really seeing any debris so that is a big plus.
Here's the ole' nag again......keep adding chlorine......you're getting close! :lol:
Day 9 (7/13/09)
6:00 am - FC=14, Added 1 jug of 182oz bleach
10:30 am - FC=10.5, Added 2 jugs and swept
7:30 pm - FC=9, Added 2.2 jugs
6:00 am - FC=14, Added 1 jug of 182oz bleach
10:30 am - FC=10.5, Added 2 jugs and swept
7:30 pm - FC=9, Added 2.2 jugs