My Grand kids are here for the week and my pool is a mess !!

[countryinsuranceman]

I am so grateful to find this site ....I don't even want to begin to mention how much money I have spent with the pool dealers ...
I went and had my water tested this morning ( I told them I had chemicals but wanted to know which to use but I want to use the BBB method)
This is my readings
Saturation IDX 0.8 TDS not Tested CYA 67 TC 0.3 FC 0 PH 8.3 TA 93 Adj Total Alk 73 Total Hardiness 283
I have a cartridge type filter and my pool is 4foot D by 18 around ....
A Big thank you for anyone that will help me .
Brian

 

[woodyp]

You need two things. Bleach and muriatic acid. Get your free chlorine up to 8 to match your CYA level. See the chart for cya/chlorine in pool school. Also there is a pool calculator to tell you how much acid to add to get the ph down to 7.3 or so based on your gallons. Your capacity can be figured at the bottom of the calculator. You need to get one of the test kits recommended here if you're tired of..........."THEM".

 

[countryinsuranceman]

Thanks so much for your help ....I do have one of the test kits but my eyes just couldnt figure out the colors lol and as much money as I have spent with them I figure they could test at least one more time for me ...
There suggestion was first I need to bring my alklanity up and were wanting me to buy 6lbs of balance pak 100 then 2lbs of ph decreaser then one bag of burnout extreme....
Thanks for your help and God Bless you
Brian

 

[anonapersona]

Post back if you need help with the Pool Calculator, basically you put in your pool volume at the top, thena few more things at the bottom to select pool surface and which goals you want to use.

Also depending on what your pool surface is, the Total Hardness might be low. Not critical right now, but once the kids are gone, you may need to look at that.

 

[Isaac-1]

Ok, first off your CYA/stabilizer level is at the near unmanageable high end, the only practical way to lower CYA for most people is through water replacement. Therefore unless you want to dump and replace a substaintial amount of your pool water avoid adding anythiing containing CYA (Stabilizer, Dichlor or TriChlor based chorine products (marked as chlorine or shock)) Your Calcium hardness is getting towards the top of the preferred range, so you also want to avoid Cal-Hypo chlorine porducts. This leaves Bleach/Liquid chlorine as your only practical method of adding chlorine (lithium hypochlorite could also be used, but is much more expensive).

If this were my pool the first thing I would address is lower the pH, followed by getting the chlorine in line, you don't list the size of your pool so we can't tell you how much of things you need. You can lower pH with either dry pH down or muriatic acid (muriatic acid is the better choice for the pool chemistry, but is somewhat less safe to handle), you want to get your pool pH down to the 7.4-7.6 range. Then a couple of hours after adding the acid, get some chorine into the water.

On the topic of tests, I suggest you look into buying either the TF-100 test kit or the Taylor K-2006, I like the TF-100 it is a better value, the only color matching test you have use in them is the pH test, which is not that bad since there is such a wide acceptable pH range the tf-100 includes 2
chlorine tests a quick OTO color matching for fast testing, and drop based FAS/DPD color change drop based test for precise measurement.

 

[countryinsuranceman]

Okay I put in the information on the pool calculator . I understand it says to put 63oz of bleach . The ph is confusing it says 13 ounces of 31.45%-20 Baume Muratic Acid or 18oz by weight or 12 oz by volume of dry acid ( this might as well be Greek to me I don't understand this ) It also says to change 40% of the water with new water .
What do I do first ....I don't mean to be negative but I really dont want to change 40percent of my water but I will do whatever you recommend.
Thanks and God Bless you
Brian in Missouri

 

[woodyp]

First off, make sure that is 63 oz. of 6% bleach unless you buy special stuff (12%). My cya is 60-------don't worry about it at this point. You'll probably have to add a lot of water the kiddos will splash out and it's late in the season anyhow. The acid you can buy at a hardware/lowe's/pool store and it will say 20 baume on the label. Comes in gallon jugs about 4 bucks. Have fun!

 

[Isaac-1]

If you stop using products containing CYA you don't have to change out the water, the level will slowly drift down over time due to splash out and replacement. Changing 40% of the water would put your CYA at ideal levels, the problem is if CYA gets much about 70 ppm it becomes nearly impossible to reach shock levels if you ever have an algae bloom, also you have to maintain a higher amount of FC which uses more bleach with the high CYA level.

Thing 1 lower the pH, if you have dry acid (pH down) on hand you can use that, if you feel comfortable handling muriatic acid it is the cheapest way to lower pH. Many people suggest diluting it in a large plastic bucket before slowly adding it to the pool in front of a return jet. (remember always add acid to water, never water to acid as it can explode). If you don't feel comfortable handling the muriatic acid buy the dry acid pH down from the pool store or big box store. Wait a couple of hours after adding the acid before you add the bleach, you will need to test and maintain your chlorine levels ever day or two and add bleach to maintain the suggested level. Since your CYA level is so high your minimum FC level should be 5 ppm, and suggested target is 8 ppm (meaning you should shoot for 8 ppm and never let it fall below 5 ppm), the problem is most color matching test are only good up to 5 ppm, so if you don't get a FAS-DPD drop based color change test you will need to water down your sample and multiply by 2 (using your existing OTO (yellow) or DPD (Red) color matching chlorine test you will have to mix 1 part pool water with 1 part chlorine free water when doing the test then multiply your result by 2 to get your real FC/CC level)

Ike

p.s. that 31.45% 20 baume stuff is the strengh of the muriatic acid, that is the strongest and most common type, although like many things you can also find watered down stuff, aorund here it sells for about $2 for a quart or $5 per gallon at the local Ace hardware.

 

[countryinsuranceman]

Thank you all I really appreciate the help ....
God Bless
Brian from Missouri

 

[Steve456]

First, do not tell the pool store that you are using the BBB method. Sometimes they go crazy & will tell you all sorts of foolish things. Skip the drama.

The two most important items to balance are pH and chlorine. To get the pH at 7.6 add 14 ounces of muriatic acid (less than 1 qt.) Use muriatic acid not dry acid. The “31.45%-20 Baume Muratic Acid” is just describing the strength of the muriatic acid to use. This is the strength found at Home Depot, Lowes, and pool stores.

The amount of bleach requires depends on if you have algae. Is the water cloudy? Do you see a green tint to the water? Or the appearance of sand like material on the floor of the pool? If not, you should add 126 oz of bleach. If you have algae you will have to add substantially more bleach and hold the chlorine level until the algae is dead.

The recommendation to replace water is to lower your CYA level. With a CYA level of about 70 you need to maintain a higher free chlorine level. See this chart: pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock It is safe to swim in a pool with a CYA level of 70. Since I have a salt water generator I try to keep my CYA level between 70 and 80.

If you have algae you may want to replace water to lower your CYA level. For example, you need to maintain free chlorine at 28 ppm to kill algae with a CYA level of 70 but only a free chlorine level of 12 at a CYA level of 30. Warning: pool stores measurements of CYA are notoriously inaccurate. If you have them test again your water your CYA may test between 30 and 100 without any changes to your water.

 

[anonapersona]

Have the grandchildren splash to their hearts content, that will justify a bit of water replacement right there.

I will suggest again that you get a very good pool test kit. Mine is from http://www.tftestkits.net there are different sizes that may suit you. This kit may seem pricey but you will save way more money than that by understanding what you actually do need to put into your pool instead of just guessing or buying whatever the pool store says that day.

All of the advice you have gotten so far is sound. You have some choices to make as to whether to drain some water now, or drain some water later. I do not know how much longer your swim season is, you may get a lot of water replacement during the winter but winter is a long way away and you may spend way more money trying to fight the high CYA level in the meanwhile.

The best most important thing is to get a good kit that allows you to test your CYA yourself, not strips, since the wide ranges they suggest won't help you to know how much chlorine you need to keep those kiddos in clean clear pool water.

 

[thunderkyss]

I am so grateful to find this site ....I don't even want to begin to mention how much money I have spent with the pool dealers ...

CYA 67 TC 0.3 FC 0

What exactly do you mean by mess?? Is the water murky or something??

 

[countryinsuranceman]

Well I have had very little problems all year long and my pool was clear and then I think I let my chlorine go and we had rain and then it got green ....So I went to Sams and bought a Algacide and used to much now I have foam . Its still a little green and my ph has come down . This morning I looked and its bluish green and still a little foamy . My ph is still a little high at 7.8 and my chlorine is right at 5.
Brian in Missouri

 

[Isaac-1]

If you have algae you need to shock with chlorine until it is gone (no swimming while at shock level), the big mistake people make is to think of shocking as a single step, you need to keep the chlorine at shock level until the algae is gone. Think of it a as a war between chlorine and algae, adding one dose is like a troop surge, if you don't back it up to win the war it does no good in the long run. With your high CYA level it is going to be hard to maintain shock level, this is the danger of having high CYA it is fine until you get algae it which point it is nearly impossible to maintain enough chlorine to shock. You need to raise your FC to at least 27.5 ppm and keep it there until the algae is gone or your FC level does not drop overnight, this will take a lot of bleach and will probably require adding bleach often to maintain it (every hour or two) for the first several hours of shocking. You also need a good FAS-DPD chlorine test to accurately tell if your at shock levels, you can try watering down a normal sample 6 to 1 or so, but your margin of error is going to start getting big doing so.

Ike

 

[anonapersona]

It is also looking like a big water change will help you tremendously. Just think about all the algae that will be leaving the pool.

If the filter is off does the debris and algae settle to the bottom? Can you vacuum to waste and export some of that algae along with some water?

 

[Steve456]

Brian, it is time to replenish the water. Your CYA is to high to easily shock the pool. I would pump out about half the water. Shock the pool with the reduced pool volume of 3,800 gallons.

With a CYA of 70 and 7,600 gallons you need 3 ½ gallons of bleach to shock the pool. With a CYA of 35 and 3,800 gallons you need 1 gallon of bleach to shock the pool.

You plan should be:
1 Drain ½ the pool
2 Add one gallon of bleach after sunset.
3 Normally I would recommend testing the water yourself. However in your case I say add another gallon of bleach first thing in the morning.
4 Add another gallon of bleach after sunset.

A FC level of 5 with a CYA of 67 will not kill the algae. You will continue growing an algae farm.

I would normally recommend that you shock until you show with an overnight test that all algae is dead. But since you do not have a FAS-DPD test this is not possible. So after step 4 if the algae appears dead (gray but the pool may still be cloudy) you may stop shocking the pool. If the pool appears green continue shocking until the green is gone. Brush the pool several times a day. It may require several days of running the pump 24/7 to remove all the dead algae.

The foaming algaestat you used will not kill algae; it is sold to prevent algae.

 

[countryinsuranceman]

Thanks Steve I appreciate the advice I am going to drain off the water ....I can't thank you all enough for taking time to help me ....
God Bless you all
Brian

 

[thunderkyss]

Will he be able to circulate the water if is pool is half empty??

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

One can use a submersible pump to circulate. Brushing with a pole brush can also be useful when adding bleach while the water is below the skimmer level... but that can be alot of work (good for biceps tho).

 

[anonapersona]

What exactly do you mean by mess?? Is the water murky or something??

Just the right question to ask! I can't believe we started giving advice without knowing that.