Water testing/maintenance after pool party

[ajones02]

I just have a general question. I apologize up front as i have not searched on the site to see if this has been answered in previous posts.

If someone is having a pool party, i read on here that it's a good idea to bump the FC total up a bit to help cover any that maybe lost during that time.

My question is after everyone is gone and it's all quiet for a change and we are picking up mess but notice the pool doesn't look nearly as good as it did before the party started. Is there a process that I should be doing other than just checking the chemicals to get things back in order. What I have done over the past couple of weekends is bump the SWG up to 100% for 5-6 hours to get the chlorine level back up. And I've also run the pump overnight to try and clear up the water as well with some success.

Is there anything that I need to add or not do to get the water back to crystal clear again?

Thanks in advance!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I'd use liquid instead of the SWG, but that's a preference if you don't feel like keeping liquid on hand.
That's pretty much all you can do, bump it up and filter it out.

 

[ajones02]

Thanks FPM for the quick response.

Never really thought about maybe pouring in some bleach after the party to get the chlorine up more quickly for a quicker turnaround to a more clear pool. GREAT IDEA!

 

[Lawrosa]

I had a pool party with 15 kids age 2-11. I bumped my Cl level alittle below shock level. My target is 4 shock is 12.
I bumped it to 8-9. Also I have a two speed pump and run it low 90% of the time. I ran my pump on high during the party. Even doing that the pool was slightly cloudy after 8 hours of swimming that you know there was some peeing going on. Plus all the sun tan lotion. My pressure went from 12 to 20 psi in about 5-6 hours. I did test CL mid way and it dropped to around 2. I added bleach to bring it back up midway through the party.

Closed pool when it started looking cloudy, back washed, shocked to 13-14, added 1/3 cup DE to sand, ran filter on high 8 hours over night. In the morning pool was clear. adjusted Cl to 4 target and good to go. Put pump back on low 12 hours a day.

So Easy a cave man could do it!!!

 

[Suziqzer]

I've done several different things too.... adding a bit before the party to give it a boost, adding some after the party to give it a boost, and run the SWG for a longer period of time right after the party to bring the levels up.... didn't really know which was the best option.

The day I used the SWG after the party it didn't really help much because it started to rain, and rained lots and my salt level must have been right on the verge of too low because it canceled out the run time due to low salinity... Bummer. Woke up to a cloudy pool that needed lots of leaves vacuumed due to the storm overnight. Luckily we didn't have any pool time planned for that next day & I had time to clean and clear it up the next day.

 

[ajones02]

thanks everyone for the feedback so far. i really like the idea of pouring some bleach into the pool right afterwards and i will more than likely moving forward just run the pump overnight as well. on a normal day i run it at 1800 rpm for 9 hours and then 2500 rpm's while the cleaner is running and that's for 3 hours. just seems like it takes around 3 days to clear up after parties....thanks again!

 

[Lawrosa]

Hmm sounds like you may not be running the pump long enough. Only 3 hours after a party and with a SWG? Plus only 3 hours of filtering? I may be wrong though. Even your 9 hours a day on low speed dont sound long enough for a 17000 gal pool.

Mine is only 6200 gal or so and I run it 12 hours. I am on a timer 4hr-4hr-4hr throughout the day 6am-10 pm. I will shock at 9pm if I have to so the filter runs an hour. If I need faster clean up I will shock and run the pump all night on low. Heck its cheaper for me to run my pump 24 hours on low then to run it on high for 8 hours.

 

[crabboy]

I always test the few days going in and usually just run my pump longer to raise the CL just a bit. After the party, I may or may-not test, but always run the pump over night to help clear out the water and generate extra CL. Next morning I'll test out the water and adjust accordingly.

 

[ajones02]

lawrose, it's funny that you say that because on a previous post i had put that i was running my pump for 9 hours at 3000 RPM's but that was not utilizing the variable speed function of my pump. so i contacted the rep for intelliflo and he had me set it up for 12 hours total, 9 hours at 1800 rpm and then 3 hours at 2200 RPM. based on the speeds of the pump he told me that i would be moving the water at least once per day. but i will say that the pool hasn't appeared as clear to me since i've lowered the pumps speed. i've been considering leaving it run for 12 hours but bumping the speed up some to see if that has a positive effect. all of my numbers have been good for the most part but for some reason, my CYA just seemed to have disappeared over about a 4 week period so i added some back a couple weeks ago to get my numbers back up.