2 weeks to get pool clean

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vik

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Jun 4, 2011
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I have to warn you ahead of time I'm using a Leslie's DPD test kit which only gives me "accurate" readings up to 5ppm for FC and CC is a guess based on color change and the CYA test doesn't tell me anything about the CYA below 30ppm.

100,000~ gallons
> 5 FC
< 1 CC
> 5 TC
7.2 PH
60 Alkalinity
190 CH
< 30 CYA

So basically I opened my pool this season at < 10 CYA (maybe even 0). I bought 40 lbs of dichlor and have put about 30lbs of it in the pool already. Doing the math, I should have about 30ppm of CYA in there by now but it's mostly likely around 15ppm.

Right now, my pool is green and a little cloudy. I just poured 10 gallons of 12% bleach into it plus about 3-4 pounds of dichlor. I started at about .5 FC. The sun is basically gone.

My questions:
1. Do I have to reach shock to clear my green pool?
2. If so, should I pour the rest of my 5 gallons of bleach in there or should I be okay with what I've already added?
 
1) Have to?? In practice, yes you need to get to shock level and raise it back up to shock level several times so the pool spends some time there.
2) If you added the chlorine after the sun went down, then you added enough to get to shock level. However, it isn't clear if you are still at shock level or not, since it might have gone down since you added chlorine.

Things will be much easier when CYA gets up to at least 30. Right now you are losing a lot of chlorine to sunlight, which makes maintaining shock level very challenging.

In the long run you will be much better off if your get a FAS-DPD chlorine test. In the meantime, to get a better idea of what the FC level is with that test kit, you can do the test with dilution. Mix one part of pool water with two equal parts of chlorine free water (for example distilled water), do the test with that, and multiply the result by three.
 
I used 1 part pool water 2 parts Poland spring water and got a reading of 2.5. Going to pour the rest of my dichlor in there after doing a backwash.

Edit
Don't think the dichlor will be enough. Putting the bleach in too.
 
I tested the FC/TC just now (2 hours after adding more chlorine):
FC: 12 (4*3)
CC: 0
TC: 12

I think I'll let it sit overnight and check it out tomorrow morning.

I would love to invest in that test kit but even if I order it today, I won't get it for a few days at least. If my pool is still green in a few days, I'm in trouble as I'll need a week or more to filter out all the dead algae. After the pool is clean, my CYA probably won't be too high for my current kit to do the job.

If my CYA goes up or I run out, I'll definitely get the kit though.
 
So I let it run over night. There's still a significant amount of algae and it's still cloudy but I can almost see the bottom of the shallow end. I can't tell if I achieved shock but at least I'm winning the battle.

The FC is reading over 5 when tested normally. I did the diluted test and got less than 5. I'll order that test kit :)
 

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Current Condition:
Brown algae on walls, cloudy water, greenish deep end.

Time line:
Day 1: Dark green, < 1 foot visibility
Day 2: Light green, < 3 feet visibility
Day 3: Pale Green, < 5 feet visibility
Day 4: Pale Green near walls and whitish near bottom in the shallows, pale green in deep, < 5 feet visibility
Day 5: Pale Green near walls and whitish near bottom in the shallows, pale green in deep, < 5 feet visibility

As you can see I haven't had much improvement in the last 2-3 days. I've been brushing every day. I make sure to skim off all the leaves. I vacuum a little. I even took one of the seven skimmers and attached a host to it and left the other end at the bottom of the pool. Last night my FC had no noticeable drop (still waiting for that kit to come in). Am I missing something? What should I do?
 
vik said:
Current Condition:
Brown algae on walls, cloudy water, greenish deep end.
Click to expand...
If you are brushing every day, and the pool is at shock level, I wouldn't expect there to be any algae on the walls. The brushing should have removed it and shock level should have prevented it from growing back.

What are your current test results?
 
>5 FC
0 CC
7.2 PH
60 Alkalinity
190 CH
< 30 CYA

I haven't received the test kit yet so I don't have exacts. I can say that since the 18th I've used nearly 40 gallons of chlorine which is about 8 gallons a day so even if I lost 80% of my chlorine daily I should have remained at shock levels. I also tried to put the bulk of my chlorine at night so my low CYA wouldn't be as much of a factor.

The thing is when I brush, all the algae doesn't come off. Most of it stays on the wall. It's VERY stubborn.
 
FC 3.5-4.0
CC 1.0-1.5

I got the test kit! I haven't put any chlorine in since last night so it must have been shocked at the time. Still brushing and vacuuming. I put in nylon knee high stockings on the skimmer baskets today too. I relay hope I am able to see the bottom soon :(
 
Yesterday Night:
FC 12.0
CC 0.5
PH 7.2

This morning 2 hours after sun rise:
FC 10.5
CC 1.0
PH 6.8
TA 90
CH 190
CYA 35

I didn't lose much of my FC overnight but there's still algae on the walls and the deep end still looks green. I'm guessing the dichlor I used to shock the pool dropped my PH enough overnight to make it ineffective (was losing too much chlorine to the sun to keep using bleach)?
 
You need to be extremely careful about using dichlor to shock, as it raises the CYA level extremely quickly. Higher CYA levels require more chlorine, and if you keep using dichlor you quickly get into a cycle where you can't raise the FC level fast enough to keep up with the increasing CYA level.

If you have algae on the walls you need to brush the entire pool, and should be brushing daily while at shock level.

You lost 1.5 ppm of chlorine, CC is above 0.5, and there is visible algae, so you need to continue shocking.

Again, raise the PH up to at least 7.2 before adding more chlorine.
 
Just agreeing with Jason and adding a little to what he said. Once you are close enough to actually need to run the OCLT you'll need to make sure you do it late enough, and early enough that there will be no sun on the pool. Also, now that you have a good test kit you can test and add as you need to and it'll go faster if you'll keep it as close to shock level as often as you can.
 

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