Bringing my pool back to life

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C

concretegardenstx

0
Apr 28, 2010
65
Kaufman, TX
or rather, killing everthing in it!

Backstory: my pool motor went out back in Nov so I just decided to close the pool for the season. On Sunday we finally were able to install the new motor. Right now I have such a "lovely" green swamp with many frogs and turtles. I've been running the pump 24 hrs since Sunday, trying to clean up what I can, and cleaning the filter daily. I'm so happy to have the TF100 kit, so I'm hoping to have less problems this year than last. Here is my current test results

FC - 0
CC - 0
TC - 0
TA - 90
pH - 8.2
CYA - 0
CH - 300

I've got a stocking full of CYA in the skimmer (because I have nothing I can anchor it to in front of the return jets) and I will add acid to lower the pH. I'm not going to be able to start shocking until Friday night, even with the low CYA I can stay on top of things to start killing off the algae. I was thinking of adding some leftover tri-chlor pucks in a floater when I start shocking, just to help bring up the CYA. Any thoughts, suggestions, advice? I plan to post pics of the progress. I'm hoping everything will be clean in time for my husband's birthday (the 24th)
 
I wouldn't worry about getting the CYA level up yet. I would start by getting the PH to about 7.2 and start the shocking process. After the pool is nice and clear, then worry about getting the water balanced with the appropriate level of CYA and so forth. Just my two cents.
 
1. Save the pucks for a better use (vacations, etc) they won't add CYA as fast as you need.

2. What ppm of CYA will your dose in the skimmer give you?

3. Have more chlorine than you think you will need....then go get some more! You will need it all.

4. Bring your pH down to around 7.4 before you start to shock.

From your narrative, it sounds like you have a good grasp of the process. You will have to be diligent at adding chlorine........perhaps 3-4 times at least on the first day
 
20 CYA is a good value for shocking.

Running the pump will not do anything to reduce the algae. It may help remove some other debris and you certainly want to run the pump 24/7 ONCE you introduce chlorine and start to shock.

I would probably turn it off 'til then but someone else may come up qwith a good reason to leave it on.

For emphasis, start the chlorine in there just as soon as you can and, I'm serious, buy more chlorine than you think you will need. You will almost surely run out and, if you have to much, it will never go to waste.
 
I just went through this exercise and I agree with everything said so far. I didn’t worry about pH or TA and CH until I got the FC up to shock level. I had to wait almost a week to get my K-2006 test kit to see what my CYA level was in order to see if all that bleach I dumped in was actually making a difference. The green went away very slowly! I found that backwashing and brushing twice a day seemed to get rid of a lot of solid organics. It still took well over 30 gal of 10% chlorine - on top of the 15 gal of 6% bleach from Wal-Mart that I started with. Patience and perseverance is vital.
 
Nooooooooo....I was hoping I could get lucky and the pool would be clean by next Saturday. I was planning a "cataclysm" party on the 21st :)

Had tons of rain on Wednesday, getting ready to leave work now to go pick up all my bleach so I can go home and get the process started!

And the only reason I did a full test of numbers is because it was my first one EVAR with my Tf100 test kit. Awesomeness!!!!
 
Just stocked up on bleach, cleaned the filter, and started the shock process. Brushed down the pool, but I'm hesitatnt to get to vigourous because I can't see anything, and with vigourous brushing my brush has the tendency to come off the pole! So about an hour after starting the shock I've got readings of

FC 18
CC 1

It's a little after 9 now, I'll go back out later with a flashlight to check again before I go to bed. That way I can add more cholrine if needed to hold through the night. I'll be up as soon as it's light to test again and clean the filter, and brush some more. I'll edit this post later with my updated readings and a "before" picture I took earlier.
 

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Ok, so 12 hours later, pool has gone from dark forest green to more of a light seafoam green color. However, tests show:

FC .5
CC 1.5

SOOOO I have added more bleach to bring it back up to shock level, before the sun came up. All of my CYA has been dissolved, I hope that will help hold the chlorine. Cleaned the filter again this morning, didn't smell nearly as bad as it did yesterday. Also, the water coming out of the filter when I drain it doesn't appear to be as green as it was yesterday. So, hopefully I'm making quite a dent! Just when I think I have all the leaves out I will hit a pocket of leaves as I'm trying to stir up the bottom and sweep. I've attached pics from yesterday and this morning, you can definitely see a difference!
 

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