Something isn't right

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thunderkyss

0
Jul 24, 2010
172
Pt. Arthur, TX
I've got something going on in my pool, but I don't know what.

I've got an 18,000 gallon cloud shaped pool with an attached 6' spa. I bought a TF-1000(?) test kit. I've got a Pentair Chlorinator that I use to keep the chlorine level between 5 & 7 ppm. With the amount of evaporation I am getting, plus the splash out I get (the pool gets used often by kids) my CYA (tested twice a week) stays around 50.

three weeks ago, I noticed stains growing on one of the walls of my pool. I checked all my numbers, & everything looked good. FC was between 5 & 7
CC was 0
TA was 70
PH was 7.6

The pressure on my filter had not gone up any higher/lower than normal.

I stepped up the brushing & asked the pool store guys for advice. They suggested I put a measured amount of Black & yellow mustard killer in the pool I did so, but didn't really see any difference in the stains.

So a couple of days later, my pump goes out. I forgot to call my pool builder the day after I found out (thursday - this pool was installed in March) Friday I called, they sent someone to fix my pump Wednesday. So my pool sat with no circulation for a week.

Now the stains were every where. With the pump fixed, I broke out the vacuum. The manual vacuum, the robot stayed in the pool, but had no affect. the manual had no affect. But the brush seemed to do a good job. So I've been brushing my pool daily. I'm kicking up green dust & my filter is knocking it out.

I dumped 7 gallons of bleach into the pool. I checked the chlorine level 5 hours later..... nothing. No FC, no CC. I dump another 7 gallons in the pool, and went to bed.

Three days later, & I've done the same thing a few times & I'm still not reading any FC/CC....

Last two days it's been raining pretty heavy here (Tropical Storm Lee) I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

4 hours ago, I dumped 9 gallons of bleach into the pool I checked the chlorine levels an hour ago.... nada.

It's not possible to use up 20 ppm of chlorine in 3 hours is it?

How soon after I add the chlorine should I test to get an accurate reading of what I put in?


If it helps, I've got a Hayward Tristar pump.
 
Here are some pictures. Keep in mind it's still windy, but the water is pretty clear. The bottom of the pool is 7.5' & I can see the bottom pretty good.

Pool004.jpg


Pool003.jpg


Pool002.jpg


Pool001.jpg
 
A complete set of water test results would really help.

Have you felt the stains? Are they at all slimy, or do they feel rough, or do they feel much like the rest of the surface? Also, try holding a vitamin C tablet against one of the stained areas for 30 seconds and see if anything happens.

If you are going to shock the pool you need to be methodical about it, not just add a bunch of chlorine today and then again three days later. Add chlorine to shock level, wait an hour with the pump running, measure the FC level again, and bring it back up to shock level, repeating as frequently as possible until you have a measurable FC level and then a little more slowly but still at least twice a day until you aren't losing any FC overnight. It might help to read the article on shock in Pool School again.

When you say "Black & yellow mustard killer", do you mean ProTeam® Mustard & Black Magic? In general it is a good idea to stay away from products like this one, and that goes several times as much when the problem you are having doesn't match exactly with what the product is designed to do. Adding extra things you don't need creates more complexity and more ways for things to go wrong.
 
Many pools will consume large amounts of chlorine even one hour after adding it, which is why hourly testing while shocking (at first) is necessary.

It would be very easy for a pool in the middle of an algae bloom to consume 20ppm quickly. As Jason requested, a full set of test results will help us help you, plus please revisit pool school's information about algae and shocking. Maintaining the shock level is key to success.
 
I've got a K-2006 test kit, not the TF-100

Full Test results are
FC: 0
CC: 0
PH: 7.6
CH: 280
TA: 70
CYA: 50

I understand that I should be methodical about it, & that's why I'm here, trying to figure out what the method should be. The Pool school shocking instructions says:
Repeat steps 1 and 2 as frequently as practical, but not more than once per hour, and not less than twice a day, until:
Click to expand...

Which is what I've been doing. It's apparent that 3 hours is too long. I plan on shortening that time.. I honestly thought one hour would be too soon as I can't see how the chlorine would get evenly distributed in only one hour..... but if that's what you recommend, I'll start checking every hour.
 
ok

a little more than an hour ago, I dumped 10 128oz jugs of chlorine into my pool according to the pool calculator to get my pool from 0 FC to 28 I needed to add 8.16 128oz jugs. To be safe, I went over.

Tested my water for FC & CC a few minutes ago & I read 12.8 FC 0 CC. The pool calculator said I should add another 4.4 jugs.... I added 4.

All the stains appear to be gone, I brushed the pool an hour ago & just finished brushing it again.

I say appear to be gone, because the places I remembered seeing stains on the sides of the pool that I can see there are no stains. I can't see the deep end very well any more. Running the brush around the pool makes it even worse, but I tried to hit every spot regardless.

The water isn't green, it's just hazy.... very hazy.
 
Just got back from the store, bought some more bleach. I realize that I am a bit dyslexic. Those are 182 oz. of bleach, not 128. So to go from 0 to 28 ppm, I only needed to add 5 jugs of bleach (6%).

I added twice that amount, so I should have been at 56 ppm (28+28=56) but I was only at 12.8

& to go from 12.8 to 28 I should have addd 3.11 instead of 4.4 jugs, so I should be good, since I added 4
 
Use whatever it takes to get the pool to the level you want it to be. Also, verify your volume. The pool is eating the chlorine rapidly, but it sounds like you've made a dent in it finally by keeping the chlorine level up.
 

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Well........... I'm screwed.

I just ran out of the R-0871 Titriatic Regent. So I'm running blind. I dumped two more 182 oz bottles of Chlorine into the pool till I figure out what to do. Pool store is closed today so I can't see if they have any.

I've got another test kit, a Taylor Chlorine/Bromine 5 way test kit. It's got a bottle of Orthotolidine <0.1%..... can I use this in place of R-0871?

I think I'm stuck.
 
thunderkyss said:
I've got another test kit, a Taylor Chlorine/Bromine 5 way test kit. It's got a bottle of Orthotolidine <0.1%..... can I use this in place of R-0871?
Click to expand...
You will not use in place of the R-0871 in the FAS-DPD test, but as it's own test. You can use the OTO test short term...you will need to use a dilution since the OTO test really only reads up to 5-10 ppm TC. Use Distilled or RO water for the dilution. You will not be able to determine CC levels, but the TC you can measure with the OTO test will be close to FC. TC=FC+CC
 
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