New Pool Owner-Chemical Woes

[BOS2412]

Hello,

So glad to have found this site. My husband I just recently bought a house that has a 20K gallon fiberglass pool. We've been pouring chemicals into it with yo-yo results with the pool store directives, so I decided to do some of my own research which got me here.

First, our CYA is off the charts...I mean a few drops in the bottom and you can't see the black dot anymore. So, we drained it about 1/2 way yesterday (read that fiberglass pools should never be drained so didn't want to go too far) and refilled. Tested this morning and it's still way above 100.

Can't figure out FC. It was low after the refill, around 3ppm. I need to shock the pool to get the green algae growing on the sides and the pool calculator tells me to go up to 15, but my pool test kit (Taylor K-2005) only goes up to 5. How am I supposed to know how high it gets?? I added 182 ml of bleach this morning, and now it's above 5 but I don't know how high. I am not using any chlor tabs since our CYA is already way too high. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Our TA is still high after the refill, around 140 ppm. Aerating now (thanks to this board I now know how) to get the TA down and the pH up (currently around 7.0)

Great site with great advice!

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol:

1. I would suggest another 1/2 drain. CYA above 100 is VERY difficult to manage and will keep causing you problems. Even if it takes two drains, I would reduce CYA to 50ppm.

2. Once CYA drain is complete, retest pH and adjust to around 7.2 - 7.6....then do not retest pH until your pool is crystal clear.

3. Once pH is adjusted, start the shock process but read the article in Pool School and follow it very carefully.

(The shock value for a pool with your current CYA is well over 15ppm, more like 28-30.)

Disregard your TA until you finish shocking and clearing your pool, then adjust.

The K-2005 will not test over 5ppm FC. Either the Taylor K-2006 or the TF-100 will test the high values you need to be using.

You can supplement your K-2005 with a FAS/DPD test and you will then have a complete kit.

 

[BOS2412]

Thanks, Dave! I was afraid I would need to do another drain. Ouch. I'll do that today.

I knew my kit must be missing something. Husband accidentally came home with the wrong kit! :/

I'll give these pointers a shot and come back if issues remain. Much appreciated!

 

[BOS2412]

OK, so did another at least 1/2 drain of the pool and refilled. CYA still seems well above 100. Am I doing something wrong with the test? I can't see the black dot well below the 100 mark. Is there something else that could be affecting this test? I don't see how it could still be so high after 2 drains...Most of the water has been replaced at this point! Help, please!

 

[jblizzle]

OK, so did another at least 1/2 drain of the pool and refilled. CYA still seems well above 100. Am I doing something wrong with the test? I can't see the black dot well below the 100 mark. Is there something else that could be affecting this test? I don't see how it could still be so high after 2 drains...Most of the water has been replaced at this point! Help, please!

Well, you have not really replaced all the water as the half left after the drain gets diluted.
If you started at 400ppm (VERY high, but depends if you have been throwing in pucks by the bucket load) after the first 50% drain and refill you would be at 200 ppm.
After the second 50% drain and refill you would be at 100 ppm.

May need to continue to drain and refill to keep lowering the CYA level.

What are you currently using to add chlorine to the pool?
And how long have you been using it?
What were you using previously?

Any info you can provide about what the pool store had you add to your pool will be helpful to get you straightened out.

How clear is your water as that could affect the test results as well?

 

[ping]

OK, so did another at least 1/2 drain of the pool and refilled. CYA still seems well above 100. Am I doing something wrong with the test? I can't see the black dot well below the 100 mark. Is there something else that could be affecting this test? I don't see how it could still be so high after 2 drains...Most of the water has been replaced at this point! Help, please!

Try testing with half the water sample taken from your tap and half from the pool. If your CYA is less than 200 then you should get an amount on the test that you can read. If this test reads 50 then your pool CYA should be around 100. If the test still shows the CYA above 100, then the CYA in the pool is more than 200. There is another thread going on right now with someone in the same situation as you and their CYA is still well above 100 even with an 80% drain.

 

[jblizzle]

OK, so did another at least 1/2 drain of the pool and refilled. CYA still seems well above 100. Am I doing something wrong with the test? I can't see the black dot well below the 100 mark. Is there something else that could be affecting this test? I don't see how it could still be so high after 2 drains...Most of the water has been replaced at this point! Help, please!

Try testing with half the water sample taken from your tap and half from the pool. If your CYA is less than 200 then you should get an amount on the test that you can read. If this test reads 50 then your pool CYA should be around 100. If the test still shows the CYA above 100, then the CYA in the pool is more than 200. There is another thread going on right now with someone in the same situation as you and their CYA is still well above 100 even with an 80% drain.

Good idea ... I should have thought of suggesting that

 

[BOS2412]

OK, so did another at least 1/2 drain of the pool and refilled. CYA still seems well above 100. Am I doing something wrong with the test? I can't see the black dot well below the 100 mark. Is there something else that could be affecting this test? I don't see how it could still be so high after 2 drains...Most of the water has been replaced at this point! Help, please!

Well, you have not really replaced all the water as the half left after the drain gets diluted.
If you started at 400ppm (VERY high, but depends if you have been throwing in pucks by the bucket load) after the first 50% drain and refill you would be at 200 ppm.
After the second 50% drain and refill you would be at 100 ppm.

May need to continue to drain and refill to keep lowering the CYA level.

What are you currently using to add chlorine to the pool?
And how long have you been using it?
What were you using previously?

Any info you can provide about what the pool store had you add to your pool will be helpful to get you straightened out.

How clear is your water as that could affect the test results as well?

We just bought this house, so I don't know how they cared for it previously. It does have a built-in chlorinator using Chlor Tab pucks, so I assume the elderly couple just kept that thing loaded up for years (my guess is that it had little to no use). We plan to switch to bleach once we get the CYA to a proper level. The water is clear.

 

[BOS2412]

OK, so did another at least 1/2 drain of the pool and refilled. CYA still seems well above 100. Am I doing something wrong with the test? I can't see the black dot well below the 100 mark. Is there something else that could be affecting this test? I don't see how it could still be so high after 2 drains...Most of the water has been replaced at this point! Help, please!

Try testing with half the water sample taken from your tap and half from the pool. If your CYA is less than 200 then you should get an amount on the test that you can read. If this test reads 50 then your pool CYA should be around 100. If the test still shows the CYA above 100, then the CYA in the pool is more than 200. There is another thread going on right now with someone in the same situation as you and their CYA is still well above 100 even with an 80% drain.

Good idea ... I should have thought of suggesting that

Thanks so much for the suggestion! We'll give this a try and see how far we still have to go. My water bill is going to be frightening this month!

 

[jblizzle]

Have you already switched to bleach or are you still putting tabs in? Because that is your source of CYA and if you are still adding pucks you are fighting against yourself.

FYI, if your water and sewer are on the same bill, you should be able to call the water company and let them know that you are filling your swimming pool causing the rise in water use. They may then not charge you the sewer fees for the extra water above your normal use.

 

[BOS2412]

Have you already switched to bleach or are you still putting tabs in? Because that is your source of CYA and if you are still adding pucks you are fighting against yourself.

FYI, if your water and sewer are on the same bill, you should be able to call the water company and let them know that you are filling your swimming pool causing the rise in water use. They may then not charge you the sewer fees for the extra water above your normal use.

We just switched to bleach only we found this site and discovered the pucks were the issue. We won't be using them anymore! Our pool drains to the street so I don't think it will charge us for that.

 

[jblizzle]

Do you have sewer or septic tanks? Water companies with sewer do not "measure" the sewage. The sewer fee is based on the amount of fresh water used ... so yes, they probably will charge you for sewer even if you do not put the water into the sewer.

 

[BOS2412]

Thanks for everyone's assistance. We did another 80% drain and finally have CYA around 60. Now, on to other battles such as oak pollen.

 

[anonapersona]

For pollen you might want to use a skimmer sock. Online sources are much cheaper than the local store, usually, but try a pack locally first to see if it works well for you. I have a cartridge filter and it is a pain to clean. So much better to catch the fine stuff before it gets to the filter. Oak catkins will fill a filter pretty quick. You will need to check the skimmer every other day, or even daily depending on the weather. Best to upend the skimmer basket in a bucket of water to rinse the sock out.