Getting Ready to Open

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hookshot6

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Apr 25, 2010
10
Indiana
I am new to this site and have been reading up on info from older posts and the pool school. My problem started last summer when I didn't do a very good job of taking care of the pool. We developed water mold in our chlorine pool. From what I have read, it was definitely water mold as it looked like toilet paper when I would brush it off the side of the pool. I also definitely have a chlorine pool.

I spent a lot of time and money taking everything out of the pool, brushing the walls, using a tooth brush in every corner, etc. I was told at the pool store that chlorine would not kill it if it was on the side of the pool. It had to be brushed off? They had me shocking it with 3-8 pounds each time for what eventually became 2 or 3 weeks. I thought we turned the corner with it in late July, however towards the end of the season it came back with a vengeance. With work and all the leaves that were falling, I couldn't get it lined out. So, we just closed the pool and decided we would tackle it again this year.

In reading up on this site, I am pretty sure they had me shock using dichlor which probably raised my CYA and eventually all the chlorine I was putting in there wasn't doing anything? I have no idea what my levels were last year, but I know I don't want to go back through the pool store for help. They weren't very helpful and just seemed to be guessing on what to do.

In the next week or so, we will open the pool for the season. I purchased the TF-100 test kit this past weekend and I tested the water for CYA today to see what the level was. I didn't get a reading (I could see the dot all the way to the top). From reading the FAQ: Spring Startup Problems, if my CYA is really all gone, I can plan on consuming a lot of bleach or I can try draining the pool. Are these my two options? Anything else I should be doing before we open the pool? Other ideas or thoughts?
 
Welcome to TFP!

If you could see the dot all the way to the top on the CYA test, you probably don't have any CYA in the pool. Based on what you are saying thus far, I don't see any reason to drain yet.

Good job on getting the TF-100. You're gonna love it! If you will, go ahead and run a full set of tests, minus the CYA test since we already know the answer to that, and post the results here for us to look at. We will direct you from there as needed.

One more thing...go ahead and create a signature line in your profile that includes your pool specs. It should include number of gallons, type of pool, filter type, and whether or not you run a salt water chlorine generator.
 
Welcome to TFP!

First, water test results tend to be pretty far off if you haven't gotten the pump running yet this spring. If you didn't already do this, get the pump running for a few hours and then test all the levels and post the results.

You might need to drain the pool, you might not. Wait till you see what all the levels are. Chances are that your CYA level was really high last season and that was the entire problem last season. If you were lucky, your CYA level has gone down over the winter, which happens often enough.

I suggest you do some reading at Pool School, see the link on the top right of every page. Another thing to do is to get a top quality test kit, if you don't have one already. Nothing helps as much as really knowing what your levels are. Test strips and pool store testing can both be wildly off often enough to cause serious problems.
 
welcome to TFP...You should be able to save your water and you already took the most important step by getting the Tf100. I think you will need a lot of liquid chlorine, but since I haven't dealt with water mold, I'll let the more experienced crew help you out...they'll be along shortly.

Just wanted to say welcome :wave: and do trust folks like Jason, Frustratedpoolmom, chemgeek, PaulR, (...ok the list goes on)...the team here will set you in the right direction...we have saved $100's and our pool maintenance has become...boring :oops: Good luck
 
We were finally able to open the pool today. After running the pump for around 3 hours, here are my measurements using the TF-100:

Chlorine-I tried this twice and it never would turn pink after putting a scoop of DPD powder in. I tried two scoops the second time and again no change.

Total Alkalinity-I quit putting drops in at 40 drops. So, over 400???

PH-7.2

Calcium Hardness- The water turned a light pinkcolor? I didn't know if that meant it had calcium or not so I started doing the drops. I quit at 70 drops.

CYA Test- again, the black dot did not disappear.

The pool looks green and the sides are very slick. I did see water mold when I took the plugs off the returns (looked like toilet paper when I scrubbed it off). The filter pressure has already risen substantially. I am almost out of DE and the pool store won't have more until Tuesday or Wednesday. Lowes had Aquaperl Media Replacement. It says it can be used in place of DE. Will this work?
 
Yes, Aquaperl will work in a DE filter.

Opening with zero chlorine and zero CYA is common enough.

Where do you live? Very high CH and very high TA are very rare in some parts of the country and fairly common in other parts of the country. Knowing where you live can help us decide if it is likely that you have some problem with testing, or if both levels really are very high. On the CH test, you don't really care what shade of red/pink you see, they are all "red" for the purpose of the test. So it sounds like you were doing the test correctly.

You should start shocking and start adding CYA, while continuing to investigate the TA and CH levels.
 

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hookshot,

Have you found the pool calculator? You need to bring your FC up to shock level using the pool calculator and then you need to read in Pool School "How to shock your pool". It will involve a lot of chlorine over a long period of time and you must not let it drop....you have to constantly replenish it
 
How does wiping it off each time make this big of a difference? The last time I wiped it off after every 5 drops and got 480. This time I did it every drop and got 160. Lesson learned I guess...

Not understanding the pool calculator. It says to add 95 oz of chlorine at the top. This doesn't seem like that much.
 
I plugged your numbers into the pool calculator and got 10 ppm as your shock level. That would be 5.1 96 ounce jugs of 6% bleach. The blue box near the bottom of the pool calculator tells you your FC targets. For CYA of 0 your regular target is 1-3 ppm and your shock target is 10 ppm. You also need to raise the CYA to 30. After you have done that we can re-calculate the FC targets base on the new CYA level.
 
160 is much better and easily manageable.
Zea is right, keep playing with the pool calculator till you get the hang of it.
Careful - I'll be in your neck of the woods at the end of the month I may have to make a house call, LOL :mrgreen:
 
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