brand new pool owner with a swamp in the backyard

[dreammo]

I just purchased a house with a pool 4 wks ago. It was clear up to 3 days of straight ran. I only had strips to test water and when the chlorine was low I would add more tabs that were left with the house. That wasn't doing it. This started 9/15 and has gotten worse every day. I have since gotten on this website and read everything in the pool school, bought the tf100 kit (which I received today) and am following the instructions from "Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis"

My test results:

FC 3.5
CC .5
Ph 8.2
CYA 90

I only tested the things I needed (hindsight I should have tested all). After looking at the Chem Geek's Chlorine/CYA Chart, I determined that my shock level is 51.7ppm. A friend came over and thinks that it is mustard algae due to the color and the way it traveled from the deep end to the shallow. It also doesn't seem to be sticking to the walls. This is the same friend that hooked me up with tfp.com

I added 18 jugs (182 oz) of clorox, waited 30 minutes and tested...FC is 60, waited another 30 minutes and tested...FC still 60, tested 3 hrs later...FC still 60. From the article I thought that I would have to add more to get it back to shock level and repeat this a few times. Why is the FC not dropping? I am concerned that I am not doing this right.

Any advice would be appreciated!!!

 

[polyvue]

I added 18 jugs (182 oz) of clorox, waited 30 minutes and tested...FC is 60, waited another 30 minutes and tested...FC still 60, tested 3 hrs later...FC still 60. From the article I thought that I would have to add more to get it back to shock level and repeat this a few times. Why is the FC not dropping? I am concerned that I am not doing this right.

Welcome to the forum, dreammo... :-D

60 ppm chlorine is pretty darned high but you have a big pool and I imagine the chlorine will take a while to circulate and (even with the presence of mustard algae) take a while to come down. 30 minutes - even 3 hours - probably isn't enough time. This presumes that your measurement of chlorine is correct. Let your filter pump keep running all night and check your chlorine level in the morning. If it drops below 13 ppm, add more chlorine.

Do you have a SWG? Recommend turning that off so you can discern exactly how much chlorine is being consumed while you are shocking.

What was the pH level before you started shocking? Did you adjust the pH at that time? You want to have it down in the 7s during this time (and later, too)-- 7.4 - 7.7 is about right. Don't bother to test it now -- if you're unsure or think the pH was high, add muriatic acid (MA) to reduce it based on your last reading and number of pool gallons. If your pH was 8.2, add about 2 quarts (64 oz.) of 31.45% muriatic acid (slowly, in the deep end and if possible in front of a return, with the pump running) Lastly, don't add MA at the same time you're adding chlorine!

If I was doing this, I probably would have wanted the CYA to be a bit lower so as to conserve on the amount of chlorine that would be needed to shock. If you don't have a SWG, consider draining some of the water and refilling to arrive at about 30-50ppm CYA.

Others on this forum will provide specific advice that will prove useful. Good luck!

 

[dreammo]

I just tested the pool again this morning at 6:30am. The FC is 44ppm and the water color looks the same. Should I get this back up to my target of 51.7? Do I continue to do this until the pool turns clear again? When will I starting seeing the water clear up?

The ph was 8.2 before I started. Should I put the MA in first before adding more bleach? If so, how long should I wait before I add more bleach?

You asked if I had a SWG. I found that it stands for Salt Water Generator but couldn't find any more information about this. I'm assuming that I don't have this since I don't have a salt water pool :?:

Thanks for the help!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You should have seen a visible change in the water color....

I recommend before you do anything else, you do a partial drain and refill to lower the CYA level. Then, before you resume shocking, adjust the PH if you need to, using muratic acid.

1. Partial drain and refill - try 1/3 down, refill, recirculate a few hours and retest the water. (repeat if necessary- try to get your CYA to at least 60)
2. Adjust PH down to 7.4 ish if necessary (what is your TA?)
3. Resume shocking with your new (and lower ) shock level.

 

[crewchief47]

General related question.

It PH 8.2 enough to have copper precipitate out of suspension or does it need to be higher? After reading a couple posts about copper(most/all algaecides), it certainly seems like the PH may have caused your problems. It also would stand to reason that the previous owners may have used algaecide while trying to sell the house etc...

Here's a thread to read through: can-i-use-bbb-after-one-season-with-nature2-t5529.html?hilit=copper%20precipitate

I'm sure someone will be along to decipher what I typed above.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Okay that is always a possibility....

Dreammo, please describe your water. When you say "it was clear until 3 days of rain"...

Is it now green/transparent or green/murky/swampy looking - turning greyish cloudy? Or are you seeing "crud" in the bottom crevices, etc.?

When you say it's not sticking to the walls, is your situation at all similiar to this posters?:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pictures-look-like-pollen-or-algae-t17349.html

 

[dreammo]

I am brand new and everything that I have learned has been in the last 3 days on this website.

When I tested the water this morning it was not completely light outside. I didn't notice a change in the color of the water but now that it's completely light the water is a much lighter green than yesterday. It is very cloudy, you can not see the bottom at all so if there is "crud" I can't see it. There is brown stuff that has collected on the stairs which I have brushed down. I have also brushed the sides of the pool but it doesn't look like I'm doing anything. The water does not look like the pictures that you had me look at.

I also made a mistake on the filter, I need to change my signature. It is a sand filter, Tahitian HR25, flow rate: 68 gpm, max work pressure: 50 psi. Sorry

Please hit the link below for a picture of the pool. I could not get it uploaded to this post

http://dreammo.shutterfly.com/49

Thanks for the help

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Good old fashioned algae bloom.

Just follow the steps for shocking and defeating algae, maintain your shock level, and the pool will clear.

 

[polyvue]

Just follow the steps for shocking and defeating algae, maintain your shock level, and the pool will clear.

Hi dreammo,

Just wanted to underline the smart advice you're receiving from frustratedpoolmom and to suggest that once you've done a partial drain and fill, as suggested, that you'll then have different water chemistry, which means you will want to recalculate 1) the shock level -- once the CYA is reduced you no longer want to be shocking at 50+ ppm chlorine but some lower number; and 2) the pH -- the amount of muriatic acid I suggested earlier will be excessive assuming your pH has gone down after filling.

Be aware that high chlorine levels can affect pH testing, so may have to estimate it before adding (a reduced amount) of muriatic acid.

Oh, and sorry to confuse you by suggesting you turn off a SWG... realize now after reading your first post that you had been adding pucks (makes sense, they are often the culprit in excessive CYA.)

Greg

 

[dreammo]

I'm happy to report that the water is turning lighter but by no means is it clear. I just added 4 more jugs of clorox to get back to my shock level. I honestly don't know how to drain the pool. My husband will be home tomorrow or Friday and I will leave that up to him to do (but I will learn since my husband works offshore and is gone weeks at a time).

I just went to the pool store because I can no longer test the FC because I have used up all of the 0871 drops (no store in town sells this). They tested the water and here are the results:

CYA: 70
pH: 7.6
TA: 197

Their FC only goes up to 10 so I don't have and accurate reading of that. It should be around 50 right now because I added more clorox.
Why would the stores results be so different from mine?

 

[polyvue]

Their FC only goes up to 10 so I don't have and accurate reading of that. It should be around 50 right now because I added more clorox.
Why would the stores results be so different from mine?

They use a different test to determine chlorine and are likely unaccustomed to having owners bring in water samples with very high chlorine.

Anyway, would recommend you get yourself more 0871 titrant via mail order or some other source right away (maybe borrow from a friend), especially while your in the midst of shocking at very high levels. Go with the 2 oz. size so you don't run out again for a while. When I googled it, the first site I came across was:

http://www.intheswim.com/Pool-Chemicals/Water-Test-Kits-and-Meters/Taylor-Replacement-Reagents/
A8420 FAS-DPD Titrating Reagent / 2 oz. / R-0871 $22.69

You may be able to find a better price.

So, if you're unable to drain the pool for right now and you know you had high pH before, the old advice still applies. Pour in a couple of qts of muriatic acid. This will aid in the shocking. Not even sure I would trust the pool store test result (unless you've already added muriatic)... because if you start with a high pH (8.2) and add gallons and gallons of liquid Chlorine, you pH will go UP not DOWN.

 

[dreammo]

Thanks Greg for the advice about the pool stores. I was very skeptical of their results. I have 0871 on order already and plan on draining the pool to get a lower CYA level. The water is looking even better than this morning. I have not added MA yet but plan on doing that too.

Thanks!

 

[dreammo]

Things are looking good with the pool. I drained the pool and refilled 1/3 of the water which lowered my CYA level from 90 to 70. It's not green any more and the color looks good. The only problem I have is that it's still cloudy. Do I still need to shock the water until this clears? If not, how do I get the water to clear? Right now my FC is 20. I also would like to get my CYA level even lower but it took over 8 hrs to fill the pool last time I drained a third of the water so I haven't done it yet.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[polyvue]

Things are looking good with the pool. I drained the pool and refilled 1/3 of the water which lowered my CYA level from 90 to 70. It's not green any more and the color looks good. The only problem I have is that it's still cloudy. Do I still need to shock the water until this clears? If not, how do I get the water to clear? Right now my FC is 20.

Glad to hear you're making some progress. Some thoughts:

You must continue to shock until this is resolved. With CYA now ~70 ppm, you want to increase and HOLD your chlorine to 28 ppm or above. Read through the articles Defeating Algae and Shock Your Pool. In the last article you'll find a useful technique for knowing when you're done. It's called an Overnight Free Chlorine Test.

Have you already added muriatic acid to reduce the pH? If not, please do so before adding any more chlorine. Recommend adding a little more than half what was suggested previously* - about 32 oz Muriatic Acid or a little more. That should take care of the pH, which will be difficult or impossible to measure accurately until the shocking is complete and your chlorine level has come down to normal.

* Reduced amount of MA is recommended because your pH is probably lower now due to dilution from 1/3 refill