Preparing pool for season

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L

lattedah

Well-known member
Oct 31, 2010
94
SC
Pool Size
22000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
good morning..I haven't posted since the fall and have not maintained a proper water balance in the pool over the winter. It seemed like a losing battle with all the leaves, etc. ( Next winter I will be better prepared with a leaf cover )

anyway, I am working on getting the pool back to the proper condition. Yesterday, the pool water was on the lighter side of medium green/gray so I added 4 182 oz. bottles of 6 % bleach around 4 p.m. Pump is on high circulation running 24/7 presently.
This morning the water is a hazy lighter shade of green then yesterday .
Tested the water this morning and entered the information into the pool calculator and the recommendations are a little confusing to me . test results this morning are

PH 7.5
Cl 5
BR 10
FC 6
Total C 7
TA 200
CH 220
CYA 70

the only recommendation was for the CH which is in the 50 to 300 accepted range. the recommendation is to add 72 oz 0f calcium chloride .

I am not sure if I should wait till tomorrow to retest after adding all the bleach on Sunday or what to do..any help would be greatly appreciated
 
With CYA that high, and algae, you need a lot more FC. Pool Calculator will tell you what shock level is for your pool. It looks like you have 1 CC? Study this and stockpile bleach. You might even consider draining some water and refilling with fresh water to lower CYA; it will take less bleach to clear that way. Once the pool is clear and you have passed the other tests in that article, worry about the rest.

Ignore BR, unless you have a Bromine pool, because it's not really BR.
 
Which test kit are you using? You really need a good kit and it's expecially important since you're clearing algae.

From the results it looks like the OTO chlorine test and that only reads to 5ppm and it's total chlorine. Adding (4) 182 oz jugs of bleach would have raised your FC by 23 ppm.
 
THanks for the replies.. sorry it took awhile to get back here.

We decided to replace most of the water and start with a cleaner slate. Pool was drained down to about 1 foot and I added 148 oz. of bleach to try to kill the algae before adding fresh water added brushing the pool to circulate the bleach , etc. This worked to turn the algae to the brownish dust . Started refilling the pool and vacuuming 3 to 4 times a day to remove debris and pollen . The pool is full , water is a light to medium green and has been filtering about 12 hours. I did backwash and rinse the filter before filtering the pool..probably should of cleaned the filter and replace sand ?


Used the T-100 to test

FC 1
CC .5
TC 1.5
PH 7.5
T/A 150
CH 16

CYA..0..we filled the tube to the top and could still plainly see the black spot.

Used the pool calculator and am to add 96 oz of bleach, 442 oz. of calcium chloride and 85 of stabilizer ..

any other tips to get this algae issue under control ?

thanks for all you assistance
 
Don't worry about replacing the sand.
Since you have no CYA in there, you need to add at least a little. I'd shoot for 20 to 30ppm until you get the algae killed and the pool clean. The problem with having zero CYA while trying to shock is that the sun will burn off all the FC very quickly.

Your next action should be to shock. Remember that shock is a process. You need to bring the FC to shock level for your targeted CYA and test and add chlorine as often as every hour to begin with.
 
Okay, well I jumped the gun and added the bleach to bring the pool to shock level 10 minutes ago.

how long should I wait to add the calcium hardness increaser and the stabilizer ?

thanks
 
I am confused..so I do not need to add the calcium hardness increaser or worry about that reading at all ?


You guys are the best !
 
You haven't done anything wrong. Beginning the shock process is fine, just realize that even if it's kinda cloudy you're gonna lose a good bit of FC pretty fast. Go ahead and get the CYA in there and keep the FC up as often as you can.

The only issue with CH in a vinyl pool is if it gets really high. Low CH doesn't matter.
 

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I just added 5 lbs 2 oz. of stabilizer..tied off in front of the return .

If I understand this process correctly..I monitor the FC , maintain at shock level till the algae is gone..and the stabilizer will take awhile to show up on the tests.

this may be a stupid question , but how will I know if the algae is gone other then the water color ?


I need to go back to pool school, I forgot everything over the winter break..lol
 
What you'll notice during the shock process is that the FC will last longer and longer. Once all the green is gone you can run hte OCLT (overnight chlorine loss test) and if you lose no more than 1ppm FC overnight and have .5ppm or less CC then you're done shocking and can let the FC come back down to normal for your CYA and let the filter clear the water.
 
major blunder ? with a little help from my DH the FC is now at 21 ..

yesterday at 9:30 a.m. FC was at 8 so I added 64 oz of bleach per pool calculator. FC was 11 at 2:30 so did not add anything.
DH tested for me last night and said he had to add bleach so he added 148 oz. This morning ..pool is still a light green, though the water is clearer . I ran the tests twice because I was stunned by the FC amount.. do I need to do add fresh water to bring this down or will it dissipate over time ?

I really haven't seen much change in the water color..maybe a tad bit lighter green..water is clearer and when I brush the pool I kick up the brown algae dust .

test results for 10 a.m.

FC 21
CC .5
TC 21.5
PH 8.2
TA 197
CH 18


forgot to mention PH and TA is up from before. Stabilizer is tied off in socks and slowly dissolving..

thanks in advance !!!
 
You can consider your CYA to be in the pool now if most of it's dissolved. At that, your shock level should be 15 so you're not too far away from that. Just let it come back to 15 on it's own.

Don't worry about the pH as it's going to read false high while shocking.

Keep it at shock level and keep brushing. You're making progress.
 
Dave..I can't thank you enough !

My plan is to monitor the FC keep it at 15 till there isn't a loss of FC overnight , then deal with the PH etc. once the algae issue is resolved.

Thanks to this site , I believe I have all the tools I need to enjoy the upcoming pool season with a lot less effort and $$ spent with the pool stores. Now if the weather would just cooperate . :?
 
afternoon FC test was 13 ...big drop from the 21 earlier. Hope that means it is getting rid of the algae .
Added more bleach to bring it back to shock level and brushed the pool down again. The water is now a green/gray..more green then gray . Anxious to see some blue water ! :?
 
I don't seem to be making much progress. There is no visible change in the color of the water..it's fairly clear. I can see the brush clearly till I am about a foot from the bottom then it gets a little hazy.

My test results from 12 noon

FC 20 ( it rained a lot yesterday and overnight so added a little more bleach as a buffer )
CC .5
TA 330 ( I ran this test twice..the water never turned red but became a peach color after the 25th drop..I added 8 more drops and the color never changed from a light peach color )

PH 8.2
CL off the chart orange

CH 160


I have backwashed the filter twice a day..pressure has dropped today from 30 to 23 . I brush the entire pool 4 times a day.

I just tested the FC and it is now at 17. I will add more bleach later tonight as a buffer to keep shock level

Does it matter if the weather has been cloudy since I started the shock treatment ? Probably keeps the FC from burning off ?

I neglected to mention , when we refilled the pool we used the well water..not sure if this makes a difference or not just thought I should mention it. Guess I just need more patience ?
 

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