Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wrong?

[htownjeeper]

Just when I think I have this stuff figured out, the pool gods throw another situation at me! Sunday, we received about 5” of rain at my house. A couple of times throughout the day I would add a half bottle of bleach here, another half bottle there…etc.

Well, about 8pm I go outside and notice that my pool is right on the edge and about to overflow. So, I turn my valve to Waste and drop it about 3-4 inches. When I get home yesterday, my FC is 2.0 and my CC’s are 2.0 as well. Panic sets in! I immediately see what it takes to bring me up to shock level and overdo it by about 90 oz. All day we have been adding bleach (wife texting and she’s adding as need be). Then, just about 30 mins ago it hit me…what if my CYA is gone?! She reads the directions and did several CYA tests and is comfortable with it. She’s consistently coming up with CYA of 25 (it was 40-45 on Saturday).

So, needless to say I’m getting some stabilizer on the way home as well as a lot of bleach. I’m confident we caught it in time and pretty sure I know what to do to get it right.

My question to the peanut gallery is Where did I go wrong? I didn’t want chlorinated water to spill out into my yard, but I’m sure by dumping water I flushed CYA literally down the drain. What could I have done different?

 

[ROB N]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Have more CYA on hand... It is inherent, with water replacement you will need more CYA and FC. Since you have a plaster pool, i'd check the calcium level too... i'd bet it will be lower also. IMHO

 

[duraleigh]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Do you have runoff that drains INTO your pool?

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

No, no runoff in the pool. Just a ton of rain water.

 

[duraleigh]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Well, 5" of rain in a typical pool of 48" AVERAGE depth (I'm guessing) is only about 10% of your water. That means your CYA should've dropped by only 5%, CH and FC about the same, pH is hard to predict.

I am puzzled by the sudden jump in your CC's. IMO, rain would not be the cause of that unless run-off got INTO the pool. Hopwever, it's there so you are doing the right thing by shocking.

I have never experienced any amount of rain making much change in my pool at all and, if you do the math, it shouldn't. You are not the first one to post something similar, however. I just can't figure out the cause.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

We swam a lot on Saturday. That could have been part of it?

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Put CYA in up for a 45 level, got pH down to 7.2 (got up to roughly 8.0) and maintaining shock level. Added MA an hour and a half ago and just ran tests. FC is still at 27.5 (.5 below level I had it at prior to adding chemicals) and CC is hardly showing up now (was 1.0) prior to chemicals).

Will continue shock levels tomorrow and do OCLT tomorrow night. Does anyone think it's too soon to do an OCLT tonight?

 

[Richard320]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Be careful with the pH and the acid - high FC throws the color test off. Best thing is to ignore pH until shocking is done.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Thanks. I already did it, but I'll keep this in mind.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

I'm a little perplexed here... FC's still drop significantly day AND night but my CC's are not bad at all. CC's are not getting to 1.0 anymore, but my FC is going somewhere! I added the CYA a couple of nights ago, so I can't really tell what level my CYA is, but I put in enough to get me to 45.

Water looks great, CC's are fine but my FC's are dropping like a rock no a regular basis. I have no coloration on any walls and we have been scrubbing/vac'ing anyways just to be safe.

Thoughts?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Have you ran the OCLT? That'll let you know if you need to properly shock. It certainly sounds like you have something growing in there.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Have you ran the OCLT? That'll let you know if you need to properly shock. It certainly sounds like you have something growing in there.

I did it last night/this morning. Lost 4ppm of FC overnight and my CC's were only .5 this morning. We've maintained shock levels the whole time since Tuesday. Water is beautiful which is why I'm perplexed. The only thing not qualifying me as "passing" the OCLT is the loss of FC overnight.

 

[mynewpool]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Have you checked any ladders or nooks and cranies of the pool to where maybe algae or something may be growing?

 

[mynewpool]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Also from reading here your FC drops by percentage not a number. So the higher the FC, the more that the FC will drop as compared to lower numbers. But if you are losing that much overnight then something is there just not visible.

Maybe post a pic if you can.

 

[Ohm_Boy]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

I'm a little perplexed here... FC's still drop significantly day AND night but my CC's are not bad at all. CC's are not getting to 1.0 anymore, but my FC is going somewhere! I added the CYA a couple of nights ago, so I can't really tell what level my CYA is, but I put in enough to get me to 45.

Water looks great, CC's are fine but my FC's are dropping like a rock no a regular basis. I have no coloration on any walls and we have been scrubbing/vac'ing anyways just to be safe.

Thoughts?

Yeah, I got thoughts. You need to shock your pool.
FC loss at night means that there is something alive in the water. Maybe not enough to see or feel yet, but your chlorine knows it's there and it's trying to kill it.

Bump your FC up to shock level for your CYA; since you added enough to reach 45, assume 45 and shock. KEEP the FC level at shock value until there is no longer an overnight loss.

Start on this now.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Was 27.5 at 11am today. Wife just tested and it's at 23.0 CC was at .5 at 11am and 1.0 now.

She's sending me a pic of the water now.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Yeah, I got thoughts. You need to shock your pool.
FC loss at night means that there is something alive in the water. Maybe not enough to see or feel yet, but your chlorine knows it's there and it's trying to kill it.

Bump your FC up to shock level for your CYA; since you added enough to reach 45, assume 45 and shock. KEEP the FC level at shock value until there is no longer an overnight loss.

Start on this now.

Maybe I haven't been clear... I've been shocking since Tuesday. FC's haven't been below 20 not one single minute. And that is only once. We've kept it in the 23-25 range almost the whole time.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Literally 5 minutes ago:

 

[Ohm_Boy]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Oops. Yes, you were clear; 'Twas I who was only skimming the posts and missed that.
So... yeah, you're on the right track. Make sure you don't have a squirrel in a skimmer basket somewhere.

 

[htownjeeper]

Re: Ton of rain...CYA / CC /FC question. Where did I go wron

Maybe I haven't been clear... I've been shocking since Tuesday. FC's haven't been below 20 not one single minute. And that is only once. We've kept it in the 23-25 range almost the whole time.

I need to correct myself. It's been at shock level since Monday evening.