Odd pump suction issue and question on numbers

[jellybean7]

We've been trying to clean up a badly flooded pool for the last two weeks. This morning, after another vacuuming session we restarted the pump. A few hours later I stopped the pump to check for debris in the baskets, and as the pump stopped, a bunch of dirty water shot up from the skimmer. (It sent the skimmer lid up about a foot.) The baskets were pretty clean so I restarted the pump. A few hours again, when I went to check things, the same thing happened. What's causing this? Am I getting too much air the pipes? After running the pump all day, the water didn't seem to get even a tad bit clearer, so it definitely seems like something isn't working right.

Also, I got my T100 test kit today and tested my water. Here are the numbers:

FC 15
CC 0.5
TA 190
CH 210
CYA - less than 20, I filled the whole tube up and I could still see a faint black dot
pH 7.2

My question is, what could be causing my TA to be so high, considering my pH is normal? With an FC so high, do I need to worry about the CYA being so low?

 

[coloeb]

Backwash the filter really good then rinse for a min or 2 and see if that helps. A high TA number is likely to be from fill water. Muratic acid will bring it down , but will also require you to airate to get the ph back up. CYA will help your chlorine survive in sunlight. Having a low cya will cost you more in chlorine than having a better cya reading. Recommend adding cya to target 40 and put it in a sock tied to a return line. On the TA levels you need to airate untill your ph is in the 7.8 range or so and drop it back down to 7.2 with muratic acid. Several cycles may be needed to reach your target TA level.

Your filter is clogged up and needs to be backwashed now. Once you have it backwashed and running properly note the pressure on the guage and backwash again when you have a 8 psi increase.

 

[JasonLion]

Water shooting out of the skimmer when you turn off the system is caused by air accumulating in the filter. This can happen from a suction side leak letting air into the pipes or if you forgot to bleed the air out of the filter when you opened in the spring.

You should raise your CYA level up to around 40 or 50. At very low CYA level, you will lose nearly all of your chlorine to sunlight each day.

Various things will raise TA. The most common would be adding baking soda/alkalinity increaser, or high TA fill water. It is perfectly possible for TA to be high while PH is low, though things don't usually stay that way for very long. The simplest treatment for high TA is to lower the PH down to 7.2 every time it gets up to 7.8. If you end up having to do that constantly, there are some more aggressive times you can do to lower TA, but that is probably unnecessary.

 

[jellybean7]

Thank you both. I backwashed and rinsed the filter and tested the water again. Heading out for stabilizer and acid today. Will post numbers later.

 

[duraleigh]

Jellybean,

DO NOT put acid in your pool!! Your pH is low enough and likely lower than reported.

You still need to address your air leak. The "exploding" skimmer basket will continue until you seal that leak.

Do the TA test again. This time, wipe the dropper tip with a damp cloth in between every 2-3 drops of R-0009 reagent. It may be your TA is not that high. (There is a note in the instructions, too)

 

[jellybean7]

Oh ok, I will hold off on the acid. Should I even bother putting stabilizer in, considering I will be vacuuming and refilling several times over the next few days? I would hate to dump a bunch more chemicals in if I'm just going loose it all in the process.

What's the best way to find where the air leak might be?

 

[JasonLion]

The first place to check is the lid of the pump skimmer basket and the skimmers. Make sure the seal on the skimmer basket lid is free of debris, fits properly, and is tightly sealed. Take a look at the skimmer(s) and make sure they don't have a vortex drawing air down into the pipes (if they do, try raising the water level).

If none of that helps you need to find a way to see the air bubbles in real time. Usually you can see air coming into the pump strainer basket. Watching the air come in, get out a slowly running garden hose and run water onto different spots of the plumbing, watching to see if the air goes away. When the air goes away, the spot you are currently running water is the area with the leak.