Green Pool Gone: Is It Swim Ready?

[amfrench]

Hello all!

I battled a green pool for a few weeks as a new pool/home owner following pool store advice... Finally came on here a little over a week ago and seem to have everything taken care of on that end. Wondering if I could get some advice now regarding any maintenance or anything else I need to do to make sure my family is good to start swimming... Here are my current numbers, although I am still new to using the test kit and I question if there are any discrepancies:
FC: 20
CC: .5 (maybe even zero... I felt like the water had a slight pink tint so I added a drop to be safe but honestly it was minimal)
TA: 190
pH: 7.8
CYA: 60 (again... might even be a little lower? I feel like if I look very closely I could still see the black dot but it was hard to be sure so I stopped there)

Advice? Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm feeling like things are just about good... I read that I should lower the pH and continue to run the pump to get the TA down? Is that correct?

Thanks in advance!
Alexa

 

[Richard320]

If FC is indeed 20, ignore that pH reading. It won't be accurate until FC is below 10.

Don't worry about TA. It's mostly used by poolmath to calculate acid dose for pH adjustment. And it might be wrong anyway, since it's a brand new kit and it may have static charge on the R-009.

When the FC is down below 10 (and make sure you're using the right factor for the sample size -- easy mistake we've all made), test pH and TA again, but with a twist. Wipe the tip of the R-009 with a damp paper towel before each drop. Don't be amazed if the TA miraculously dropped. But if it didn't, you still don't need to worry about it. Each time you add acid to lower pH, you'll also lower the TA a little bit.

A couple weeks of testing and dosing and it will all click and you'll understand what I just typed and why. It's really not hard once you start doing it.

As an aside, you should test the CH, just so you know what it is. Low CH is no problem for a vinyl pool, but high CH can still be.

60 CYA is not outrageous. Maybe a little high, but nothing to make you bother with water replacement. You'll lose plenty to splashout soon enough.

 

[amfrench]

Should I go ahead and add some acid to lower pH? and is it safe to swim?

Thanks!

 

[Richard320]

Should I go ahead and add some acid to lower pH? and is it safe to swim?

Thanks!

No. Again: If FC is indeed 20, ignore that pH reading. It won't be accurate until FC is below 10.

You can't adjust pH unless you know what it is to start with. If it's reading falsely high because of high Fc interference, and you add a bunch of acid, the pH will then be too low.

If the water is clear and the FC is below shock level for your CYA, it's swimmable. It might not be the most comfortable, since we don't know for sure what the pH is, but it won't hurt you.

 

[amfrench]

Okay thank you so much! As far as waiting for the FC to go down... is that something I just allow time for? and retest everyday or something?

 

[Richard320]

Okay thank you so much! As far as waiting for the FC to go down... is that something I just allow time for? and retest everyday or something?

Yes and yes.

It shouldn't take more than two sunny days for the FC to drop from 20 to below 10. Probably less. Once you come off the SLAM and things normalize, you should be testing pH and FC pretty much daily. See Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule