Help?

[frustratedpoolmom]

Polquat 60 to prevent algae is part of the treatment process - did you add any at any point in time?

Honestly trying to treat these problems when a drain/refill in order just throws money literally down the drain. Do the partial drain and refill first - I'd go down far enough to leave 1 ft of water in your shallow end, refill, recirculate and retest the CYA level, repeat if necessary.

Then you can deal with the staining and algae. Algae is not the end all - I know you want to swim but there is a logical order in which you must proceed otherwise you're only hurting your pocket book, KWIM?

 

[deerpack2003]

I understand what you are saying. I just did the ascorbic acid treatment about a half hour ago.

I just wanted to get the logical steps to proceed down.

Is there any algaecide that I can use right now? To help treat?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

If you want to add some, sure but make sure it doesn't contain any copper.

 

[deerpack2003]

I had added Magic Jacks Yellow out to the pool during this process before.

 

[JasonLion]

No, there isn't an algaecide that will be effective that you should use. The only two algaecides that are really effective against existing algae are copper and silver based respectively. It just doesn't make sense to be adding metals that can stain when you are in the middle of a stain treatment, even if you ignore the fact that we don't recommend those products in any situation.

Lots of people get algae while doing an AA treatment. You just need to live with the algae for a week or two, build up your sequestrant level, and deal with the algae when it is the right time to do so.

 

[deerpack2003]

Ok, once I get the metal situation in order. I still have a high CYA Level to deal with. Should I start draining and filling cycles to adjust that level then deal with the algae?

Once I get the CYA Level under control. What are my next steps?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Drain, refill, retest - repeat as necessary to get the CYA to 30-50. (If tablets are the chlorination of choice, the lower you go the longer you will be able to go before another drain/refill is necessary.)

Then, shock the pool, following the steps in "How to Shock your Pool" in pool school. This will likely cause the stains to return.

Once the FC is holding and you see no visible algae, you can allow the FC to drop back down.

At this point, you'll want to add Polyquat 60, and make sure that's what you use.....and allow the FC to drop down to the point where you can do the AA treatment. Using the PQ 60 is essential to make sure you don't get into a vicious cycle of repeating these processes over and over.

 

[JasonLion]

It is perfectly possible to shock the pool and not have the stains come back, you just need to use enough sequestrant and not try it in the days immediately following an AA treatment. It can also help to raise the TA a little (but not too much) and/or have borates in the water before shocking. Anything that can help keep the PH stable will help prevent stains from coming back.

 

[deerpack2003]

I want to thank everyone for all of their help and knowledge. I am going to beat this beast and try my best to make sure I never have to go through this again. Once I get this beast tackled I want to use the BBB method. High CYA is truly paralyzing to the proper maintenance and care of a pool.

What's funny is the landlord left me a message saying to make sure I get chlorine tablets with stabilizer. Because the pool needed more stabilizer. I just lol'ed and shook my head, the last thing we need now is more stabilizer. Geesh!!!

 

[JasonLion]

You have a decision to make here, do you want to give up on the AA treatment, allow the stains to come back, and be able to swim fairly soon, or do you want to stick with the AA treatment and wait things out.

Either way, you need to bring the CYA level down as the first step, which means replacing water.

 

[deerpack2003]

Well, I guess for a long term solution. I should tackle the CYA like you said, then I guess I am willing to take my chances on the metal. If I wait till Saturday to drain that would have given the ascorbic acid from 5:30 pm today till Saturday to work along side the Jacks Magic Blue Stuff. Once I get the pool refilled and tested to see where I am at, I can make a more informed decision. I mean who knows, the CYA levels could still be too high and I might need to drain again.

How long after refilling should I let the pool circulate before testing?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

3-4 hours.

 

[zea3]

Have you tested the fill water for metals? If not take a sample and have it tested at the pool store. At this point we don't know if the metals came from something that was used in the pool or if your water source has metals in it. If it turns out your water source has metals, look around for companies that truck in fresh water when you are ready to drain and refill. You can check the price of trucked in water vs the price of city water plus sequestering agents and see which is the better deal.

 

[deerpack2003]

Ok, a little update. I drained the pool down to about a foot in the shallow end. The refilled the pool. The CYA level is now sitting somewhere in between 60-65.

pH is sitting around 7.0 which I need to raise and the TA is 110.

I've raised the pool to shock level at 24ppm starting on Sunday. It seems that about every 2-3 hours I go back to 0ppm. I've now gone through 5 gallons of 12% liquid chlorine and still cannot get the chlorine level to hold. I thought I had algae and after the initial shock the pool turned crystal clear and has stayed crystal clear now with no algae spots on the walls.

Any suggestions?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Question - are you testing the FC 30 minutes after adding the 12.5% in order to confirm you are actually reaching 24ppm?
Did you add anything else since you drained and refilled, like algaecide or sequesterants?
What day did you add Yellow out (mentioned in a post above).
(how's the staining looking with all this chlorine?...)

 

[deerpack2003]

I added yellow out about two weeks ago after I did ascorbic acid treatment. I am checking the pool to make sure I am hitting the shock number and I am.

I did not add anything after I refilled the pool. After it was filled I let it circulate for 4 hours then tested the CYA level and proceeded from there with the shock treatments. The pool looks great it is crystal clear and there is no more staining.

I just cannot keep the chlorine level up.

 

[JasonLion]

It takes huge amounts of chlorine to clear yellow out from the water. When you added the yellow out, did you follow the directions and add the required quantity of chlorine?

 

[deerpack2003]

Shoot, no I guess I did not add the required amount of shock. Even though I have basically drained the whole pool, this is still going to be a problem? Should I just keep adding chlorine until I can get it to hold?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Yes, keep shocking - this is normal after using Yellow Out (one of the reasons we don't recommend the product). Eventually the shocking will work and begin to hold, but we can't say how long or how much chlorine that will take. Seems to be different with each pool. Hopefully since some of the water is fresh it won't take as long.

 

[deerpack2003]

First I would like to thank everyone for their help. Your input and advice has really helped us tame this pool.

I have one last question. The last two days I have noticed a new spot/stain develop. It is a stain that looks like a shooting star. It is clear in the middle and then bursts out like a star with a tail. There are multiple stains like this now, I think roughly five.

Any ideas what this might be, and what is causing it?

Thank you!