Frustrated but determined

[roxey]

New home owner with a pool...What was I thinking!!!! Started taking pool samples to a local pool supply. Time and again I would say these little spots were appearing. Long story short I turned here and purchased a kit and am now in the process of getting things running for the year.

I'm a bit lost. Pool is plaster Non-SWG approx. 13,000 gal. To get ahead of the algae I read through all the directions.

When I started out yesterday:
Water temp is 68
FC 1
CC .5
PH 7.4
TA 70
CYA 65


I got the FC up 26.5 and kept checking the levels every 30 minutes yesterday afternoon and evening.

Today

FC 24.5
CC .5
PH 8.0

Brushed sides again and cleaned filter again.

FC 23.5
CC .5
PH 8.0
TA 125
CH160 (?)
CYA 65

There still appears to be algae. Should I add more bleach and keep the FC levels up? Should I pull the PH levels down before adding more bleach at this point?

Honestly, I'm so frustrated but determined to do this. You all seem so helpful.

 

[JasonLion]

Take a deep breath and relax. Killing algae takes a little time. There can be lots of excitement right at the start, but it will be a couple of days before you are completely done.

If the FC level is remaining high between tests you can slow down and test less often.

Don't adjust the PH while the FC level is that high. The PH test does not work correctly at high FC levels. Just ignore the PH until the FC level is back down to something more reasonable (10 or lower).

By far the best way to know if you have killed all of the algae is an overnight FC loss test, see this Pool School article.

 

[roxey]

Thank you. I feel better. I'm not totally in left field.

I read the article and will take a final FC tonight after the sun goes down and then again in the early morning. Those numbers will tell if the algae is gone.

 

[lightingguy]

Like Jason mentioned - killing the algae is going to take days. The water may get pretty cloudy from here, depends on how much algae there is.

You'll get there. You've got a good test kit and the best unbiased advice you can find anywhere - that's really the whole battle.