I'm On Week 6 and I just cant quite get it! Help!

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Chelle

Chelle

0
May 12, 2011
35
South West, MO
I have read and read on here before posting out of desperation.
I opened my pool the first week of may. It was a horrible green mess. Last year we spent 1700.00 at the pool store trying to maintain this thing and so I decided to try something different this year and I found TFP! Yeah! I feel like I am following all of the directions but I still have a cloudy mess.

Please forgive my rambling but here goes:
The first day I added 12 /182oz Clorox Bleach and ran the filter all night. I thought I would try something no one else had mentioned on here or anywhere and that is oxi clean. I threw in 2 /14# boxes and have to admit it worked very well at cleaning the walls! The next day I had a layer of dirt on the bottom and clear water! I was thrilled! I vacuumed to waste and then added 6 more 182oz bleach. I continued to filter 24/7. By day three it was clear but not sparkly. When tested that day the chlorine was 0 and the PH was high off the chart. (oxi clean?) I added 2 gallons of Muriatic acid from Lowes, Waited until evening and added 6 more bleach. The next morning the Ph was still very high and the water was cloudy. Then week 2 and 3 we (MO) had relentless thunderstorms and tornadoes. The pool filled with different debris from leaves to trash. Week four, I started all over with 12 182oz bleach. I have been testing and bleaching/ aciding everyday since. I have only attained clear water once, but it was not sparkling, just clear. The rest of the time it is cloudy (cant see the drain).

Here are todays test results:
Water is very cloudy. 85 degrees.(Small amount of rain this morning)
PH 7.5
CL 0
CYA 60
TA 200

I have added another gallon of acid since this test and will add another 182 oz bleach this evening. I am up to $190.00 so far with only 4 weeks of pool weather! I want to do this but I seem to suck at it!

Note: After the horrible storms I vacuumed to waste and then changed about 20% of the water as well. Also my filter runs 24/7 and I brush and vacuum the pool regularly.

Please tell me if you need more info from me to help. I hate to admit this but I do not understand some of the charts and such that you have on here but I have been using the pool calculator. Also, what is DE? I see it everywhere but cannot find and explanation! :)


Pool Info:
Inground 16 x32 Grecian with Vinyl liner.
3/4 horsepower Pump and sand filter.
Pool is in full sun all day!
I have a fountain but turned it off after reading on here about it affecting the PH level.
I tried to add pics but they have to be resized. Let me know if they are important and I will get them added!
 
Use Photobucket.com to upload your pics then copy and paste the IMG code into your message here.

How are you testing the water?

With a CYA of 60, your shock level is 24. Are you calculating correctly using the pool calculator? I think you just haven't been using enough chlorine.

DE is a filter medium that goes in DE filters. You can add 1/2 cup of DE into a sand filter to help with clarity AFTER your FC is holding where it should be. DE is available in 10 lb bags at pool stores.

It is wise to focus on the FC issue - you can always adjust the TA later if you need to.
 
Your pool is just like mine in every detail. The BBB method will work one you get everything going in the right direction. The first thing you want to do is get a good test kit if you don't have one and read the pool school so you have a better grasp of what is going on in your pool. I have the k-2006 kit and you will find links to the kits in the pool school under testing. I have no idea what oxi clean will do to your water but I wouldn't try that again. I have never see it recommended here. Once you get a test kit post the results and they will get you going in the right direction.
 
Oxiclean is sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. Sodium carbonate increases the pH and hydrogen peroxide neutralizes chlorine. Adding 28 pounds of Oxiclean will cause many problems.
 
I wondered i the Oxi Clean was my problem. Although it did do a really tremendous job on the walls, I can assure you I wont do it again. I just thought it might be worth a try! Its been in there six weeks and the Oxi Clean website says once mixed with water it no longer effective after 6 hours. COuld it still be in there?

Test Kits! I ordered the K-2006 from Amazon (best price) when I got it, it was the K-2005. I sent it back only 3 days ago and am waiting for the correct item. Right now I am using a Walmart 5 in 1 test kit.

The calculator. I thought I was using it correctly, unfortunately it doesn't tell me if I am! I do not fully understand the shock value of 24?

Also, DO I need borates and do I need DE?

I failed to include earlier that the pool store tells me my pool is 20,000 gallons.

Pics from today. It is getting worse by the minute.

IMG_0113[1] by FotoFein, on Flickr



IMG_0112[1] by FotoFein, on Flickr
 
A shock value of 24 mean you need to bring the chlorine ppm up to 24 and try and keep it there until you lose less then 1ppm overnight and your cc is less then .05ppm. There are only 2 things that eat up chlorine, something in the water and sunlight. If you do a FC test after sunset and again at sunrise and you lose more the 1ppm, there is something in the water eating the chlorine and you need to continue shocking. The pool calculator can assist you on figuring out just how many gallons your pool is. Mine is the same size and has an 8' deep end and is 27400g. Don't worry about borates right now and I would not worry about DE either. I just went through this with my pool and it was a PITA but it was worth it in the end. I would order additional regent for testing chlorine, I went through a bottle and a half shocking my pool. Make sure you attend Pool School, there is a button on the top right.
 
You're not going to be able to shock or test correctly until you get the K-2006. Let us know when you get that and we'll be happy to assist you in getting this cleared up.

You cna start the process by buying lots and lots of bleach. To get you to a shock level of 24 from zero you need 5½ large (182oz) bottles of bleach all at once. I usually suggest that you buy at least 20 jugs to start with.

I know you say you're on week 6 but really once you get the good kit you'll actually be on day one.

THe good news is that once you're through this you'll have control and will be using a lot less in the future.
 
Thanks everyone for all of the help. I am going to Sams today to stock up on the bleach. I am still waiting for the test kit and it does not even show shipped yet. Thats what I get for trying to save a buck. Just a few more questions,:
does it do any good to start the shock this morning and throw the solar cover on to help block sunlight?
Or is it best to just wait until night time?
It is cloudy and potentially rainy right now but that can change throughout the day.
Does cloudy sunlight take chlorine away too?
At what chlorine level is it safe for my kids to swim? They are going to go crazy through this process!!

IMG_0081[1] by FotoFein, on Flickr
 
Borates are optional and adding DE to the sand filter is optional.

It would indeed help to raise FC to 20 today, but don't put the cover on. You want the cover off when shocking.

Yes, cloudy diffuse light still uses up chlorine, though not as quickly as full sunlight.

No swimming till you are done shocking.
 

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I swam in my pool during the shock treatment. My shock level was 20ppm and I swam as high as 23ppm and nothing has fallen off yet. Doing this will decrease the effectiveness of the shock because you will be adding additional contaminates to the pool when you get in it.
 
Ok! I have plenty of bleach on hand. If I am doing the calculator correctly it says I need 5.01 bottles. (182oz) Am I wasting money to go ahead and put in 6? Does every little bit help? Also, when do I check it again? Every hour or day? When I do check it the goal is to add more and keep it at FC 20? Right? So If I check tonight and its at 10, use the calc to figure how much to add to make 20? Or just keep adding 5/6 bottles everyday? Should I go to walmart and buy the lesser recommended, although recommended in a pinch, test kit for now?
I wish I would have just asked you guys from the beginning... It is sooooo much easier with personalized directions!
Thankyou, Thankyou.
 
Yes, your goal is to keep the pool at shock level until you have less the 1ppm drop overnight and your CC is less then 0.05%. You are not waisting the bleach by adding more, it will probobly speed up the process. Check your pool every hour or so when you first start the process, the harder you hit it, the better your results will be. I had a hard time keeping mine at shock level during the process because of my work schedule so I ended up raising my target level 3ppm higher then what was recommended and that worked for me. I fought mine for about 2 weeks (which is unusual) before I decided to raise my FC level and get serious. Then it took another 2-3 days. If you are home enough where you can keep it at 20 that is the ideal situation. If you can find a test kit locally that will measure the FC and you want to get started I see no reason not to other then money. I would not start the process until you have a test kit in hand but thats me. Another good thing to do is put your pool information in your signature. That way when people look at your post they know what kind of pool you have without having to review the entire thread. Does your pool have a deep end?
 
BadOleRoss, I attempted a signature, tell me if it has everything anyone would need to know.
Also, I went ahead with 6 bottles of bleach today and tested after 1 hr. I realized my test kit only shows CL up to 5! So I am guessing again!
I am off to Walmart to buy a "better than what I have but not as good as I am going to get hopefully soon" test kit.
Also, it may be normal, but my water was just cloudy until I hit it with the bleach....now its green and I saw water bugs in there! Yuck...it's heading back to swamp really fast!
Wish me luck :roll: :roll: (with the pool and at Walmart! HaHa!)
 
Signature looks good. You really need a good test kit that will give you accurate FC levels to get started. You can dump some chlorine in there but without a kit that shows you your FC level up to shock levels you really have no idea where you stand. Keeping the pool a 5ppm right now cant hurt but I am not sure you are gaining any ground. Right now, the test kit is the key!
 
Update! Starting at noon yesterday I kept the CL at 24 ppm (guestimation) by starting with 6 bottles of 182oz Clorox and adding 1 more every 2 hours until midnight. (A Total of 12 in 12 hours of mostly full hot sun.) By 8 am this morning I had clear water, but a CL of .05. I added another 6 bottles and have kept up at 1 every 2 hours all day. So far its holding and looks great. We will see what the night holds!
Quite of bit of "dirt" has collected in the bottom, should I vacuum or just keep treating and clean it all up when done?


IMG_0121[1] by FotoFein, on Flickr

IMG_0123[1] by FotoFein, on Flickr

IMG_0122[1] by FotoFein, on Flickr
 

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