Thank you TFP, from a lurker

[jw140120]

I registered to say thank you to the TFP community. I was having trouble with a green pool and somehow it got stuck in my head that it was iron precipitation since I have well water. I even attempted to create a homemade iron filter using 4" PVC pipe and polyfill. After researching and reading, I found repeated advice to get accurate water testing. I purchased a TF-100 and test strips for iron and copper. My iron and copper tested at 0.3 or lower. Meanwhile, my CYA was 110 and FC was at 3.0. I believe without knowing about the relationship between CYA and chlorine, I was fooling myself thinking "look at all that yellow in my test drops" and had plenty of chlorine.

Armed with the advice on the forum, I used liquid bleach to SLAM and literally overnight the pool changed. Please see the attached pictures and accept my gratitude!

It's not iron, it's algae!
View attachment 69280

12 hours after SLAM:
View attachment 69281

It's even more clear now.

 

[kimkats]

THANK YOU! That is an awesome sight and the fact you were able to do it just by reading.........well and ordering a good test kit...........is GREAT! Love it! Now you just think it is clear wait until about a couple of weeks and you look outside and all of the water is "gone".............it can get that clear!

Kim

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Amazing what a little knowledge can do

Make sure you keep following the SLAM process until you pass all 3 criteria to stop

 

[AftonJeeper]

Nice little filter you built there.

I have to ask what is in the two floaters now?

 

[jw140120]

Nice little filter you built there.

I have to ask what is in the two floaters now?

Wow you are all very observant! The two floaters used to have 3" trichlor tablets. However, as I understand it, there is CYA in those tablets so the floaters no longer in the pool. I think that 110 CYA is very high so I've just been using bleach to chlorinate. When I winterize the pool, that will drain about 25% of the water. Perhaps that will help with the high CYA level when I refill the water in the spring?

 

[kimkats]

You are on the right track with your thinking for the water exchange from winter to spring will help with the CYA. Come spring when you get ready to open the pool test turn on the pump and let it mix the water for a few hours then test the CYA. If it is still over 50 you might want to think about taking some more water out to get it down to 50. Here is a link to help you know how much to drain and replace:

PoolMath

There is a learning curve with this tool so play around with it some to learn how to use it. Make sure to go down to the bottom of Pool Math and change it to reflect TFP so you get the correct info.

Kim

 

[AftonJeeper]

I agree that you should do nothing about the CYA until spring. High CYA is only an issue if you let your FC drop below the minimum and algae starts to take over. I started at 70 this year after opening and draining 25% of my water, currently my CYA is 40. You will lose 3-5ppm each month and some are reporting loosing more during the warm summer months.

 

[DanielJ]

With a SWG in a northern climate, I find that I have to deal with a decreasing CYA level. I always have the solar cover on when we aren't swimming, so evaporative losses are minimal and with the rain that we get here, I regularly need to pump out water. That, combined with pumping down to winterize, leads me to regularly need to boost up my stabilizer. Quite different from all the horror stories of elevated CYA in southern climes.