Question about opening pool

[simplicity]

Hi fellow TFPers!

The pool was covered and in good shape all winter. I cleaned it up a few weeks ago and then covered it up with the solar cover. Water was clear and good then. It got hot a few days but the temperature dropped back down to the 60s, I neglected to keep up with the chemicals so when I uncovered it over the weekend it was green and dirty along the walls. I did a test with my taylor kit and found that pH is 7.3, FC is 3ppm CC is < 0.5 and CYA was around 70-80 (which was what it was at the beginning of the season last year). But the pool was green so I decided to bring it to shock level and according to pool calculator I needed around 4 jugs of the 182 oz 6% bleach. It's been a couple of days and the water is getting better but still not where I want it to be. The pump's been running for 2 days and I've cleaned the cartridge filter. I know I'll need to do more brushing and vacuuming, but I have a few questions I have is:

1. How long should I expect the water to be murky? It's milky right now like the solution from teh CYA test almost..
2. Is my chlorine level for shock OK? I just put in a new liner last year so don't want to damage it or my equipment by too much chlorine, but based on my CYA level is it safe?
3. During the summer, can I leave my solar cover on? What should i do? I prefer to have it on to reduce evaporation and chlorine loss, but if it's going to turn my water green I'd prefer not to cover it...
4. I had thought the CYA would be lower after all the rain and draining of the old water that I had to do, does CYA settle to the bottom? Cuz I drain from the skimmer and it drains the top layer of water...confused...

This is my first time opening the pool up so hopefully I can learn from my mistakes this year and have a trouble free open next year!

 

[RobbieH]

Milky usually means you are making progress. I smile when I get the milky look, I know I'm winning!

To know if your shock level is OK, I'd rather see a test result from a FAS-DPD than read from how many gallons you put in. You'll also need to maintain that level, and without a test kit that will go high enough, you have no way of knowing if it's maintaining shock level. You can't just put in chlorine once and call it a day.

You are safe at shock levels. You are even safe at MA shock levels.

Rain and backflushing lowers my CYA. Don't know why it wouldn't lower yours.

 

[simplicity]

You're right, I should take a reading and maintain that shock level...I was just very reluctant to dump so much bleach in because I didn't want it to potentially damage my liner and equipment. My understanding is that if CC is <0.5 shocking isn't necessary so I figure at high FC levels (but lower than shock) eventually it will do the trick...

 

[duraleigh]

Reinforcing what Rob said, you are NOT shocking your pool. Read the article on "How to Shock your Pool" up in Pool School and you will find you need a lot more chlorine held at shock level until your water is clear.

 

[RobbieH]

CC < .5 AND maintain FC within 1ppm on overnight FC test.

 

[simplicity]

Thanks guys, I'll test again ASAP when I get home to see where things stand. So it sounds like given my CYA, maintaining a 30 ppm FC is safe for my equipment then?

 

[RobbieH]

Trust the pool calculator!

 

[simplicity]

Gotcha, so basically the higher the CYA the less effective chlorine becomes (thus needing more of it to shock). I feel relieved cuz I was really worried about damaging the equipment after dumping so much chlorine in there.

BTW, thanks Rob for the quick and patient response!