first Opening and a green Swamp

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firepilot

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Nov 26, 2011
76
Lewiston Idaho
Hi,

Just pulled the cover off the pool this am. It is just green with and nasty. I received my TFP-100 and got it out to give it all a try.

Right now the results are:

FC 0
PH 7.5
TA 100
CH 260
CYA 90

In all fairness the water temp is 50 degrees. So while I head out and buy some bleach and such I have the water sample warming up to 70 plus. I don't know how much difference that will make but I'll find out.

Next step is to get the filters and pump going. I have a caretaker system. As near as I can tell the pool guy who closed it unly pulled and plugged the 3 shallow heads. I have 5 ports. I can see 2 of them so not sure how to deal with the 3rd one with the water so murky.

I have pulled the filter cartridges and cleaned them. We had a alge bloom last year toward the end of the season> the pool guy cleared it up but then when we shut things down never cleaned the filter.

No more pool guy.

Thanks for any advice you all might have.

Phil
 
I start here pool-school/defeating_algae and here pool-school/shocking_your_pool. You have the test kit so you are good to go there. One question...was the pump running when you ran your tests? The water needs to be well mixed prior to pulling samples. You need to let the CYA sample rise to room temperature prior to testing it. Then, if your CYA is still really 90 ppm, I would change out half of the water before doing anything else.
 
Thanks

Pump is not running yet. So I'll address that first. Not sure what to do about the caretaker and not being able to get the 3rd plug out yet.

I have to look at the plumbing and see if I can isolate it. That is my biggest concern at this point.

I go ahead and re run the tests as soon as I get the bleach and get the pump running.

Phil
 
I had a caretaker system previously and also have a different wall return circuit. Do you have a different return path you can use just to help with the circulation until you can get your plugs out?

After confirming your CYA level, I agree with 257 that you may need a 50% water change to get it within the reasonable range.
 
Ok as I understand it changing water and getting the cya level down closer to 30-50 will make a big difference on my chlorine costs.

I'll get it going. I was talking to my wife and there are 2 heads on the steps and one on a shelf built into the deep end. So I should be good to go when I get home.

Phil
 
Thanks,

I have the sump pump running right now. I'm going to drop it by about half and re-fill. Then we will get her going!

Last year the pool guy would come by once a week. Throw a couple of bags of shock in, put 2-3 pucks in the skimmer and pour in Muriatic acid.

Would treating the pool this way contribute to the really high CYA?

Alos last year my wife was have some pretty good reactions to the chemicals in the water. I wonder if these are all contributing factors.

Phil
 
Hey, firepilot,

Welcome to the forum. :lol: Just want to emphasize the CYA test. Trying to manage your pool @ 90ppm CYA is REALLY difficult.....almost impossible. Managing your pool @ 40-50 CYS is a snap!!

No sense putting in the bleash right now if you just have to drain some of it. Get a good handle on your CYA, get it corrected, if necessary, and then get the bleach in there. You will be so thankful you decided to make that CYA correction. :lol:
 

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firepilot said:
Last year the pool guy would come by once a week. Throw a couple of bags of shock in, put 2-3 pucks in the skimmer and pour in Muriatic acid.

Would treating the pool this way contribute to the really high CYA?
Click to expand...

EXACTLY!!! All the pucks were adding CYA. Depending on the "shock" he threw in that was adding either CYA or CH.

I think skin irritation is usually more a result of high CC (combined chlorine) {did your pool ever smell like chlorine?} or pH being off. If you get everything within range, hopefully the irritation will stop ... unless she has an allergy to something.

Adding salt can also make the water feel a little better as well ... but get everything else in order before worrying about that.
 
ok,

Got a bunch of bleach at Cost Co. 6.00 for about 3 gallons. Went tot he rental store and rented a real pump. 35.00 for a 5000GPH 2" hose seems like a good deal.

Going to drain about 90 min worth and fill her back up tonight. When I start filling it will be below the skimmer so should I throw some bleach in while it is filling? Or turn off the skimmer, just use the main valve and circulate while I am filling?

Thanks

Phil
 
Evening update,

THe pool is filling and I am going to let it go all night. Should be pretty near a good level by mid morning I guess. My wife started to panic about the cost. I looked it up on the city website and our water is 1.78 per 100 cubic feet. (748 gallons) looks like draining 8-9000 gallons is only about $25.00.

I went ahead and fired up the pump and filter and just isolated the caretaker system and the skimmer. I put 4 jugs of bleach in and I'll test for CYA and everything else again first thing in the morning.

I went back and read the swamp sticky again and I see one thing I probably could have done on the CYA test would have been filter the water with a coffee filter. So if the water is still cloudy I'll do that tomorrow.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am super excited about taking care of this pool ourselves. I learned so much just today. I have tomorrow off as well and will hit it hard.

Phil
 
Fill the tube with straight pool water. If you still see the dot clearly, no need to try to filter the water first for the test. Your water would have to be VERY dirty to obscure the test results ... which are only good to +/- 10 to 15 anyway btw.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone :)
 
firepilot said:
Evening update,

THe pool is filling and I am going to let it go all night. Should be pretty near a good level by mid morning I guess. My wife started to panic about the cost. I looked it up on the city website and our water is 1.78 per 100 cubic feet. (748 gallons) looks like draining 8-9000 gallons is only about $25.00.
Phil
Click to expand...

You may also want to call the city and ask them about this. Often your water bill is combined with a sewage bill also. The sewage is totaled with the amount of water you use. The more water you use.....the higher your sewage bill is. Since the water you used isn't going to end up in the sewage often cities won't charge you for that part. Could save you a few bucks. Either way the decision to drain the water was a good one.....and will save you some cash in the long run.

Welcome to the site!
 
Morning,

Well I am a bit baffled. I drained down about 9-10K ok pretty close to half the pool. I refilled last night and went out and tested the water this morning. I must have had the CYA test really messed up yesterday.

I have these results.

FC .5
CC 2
TA 190
CL bottom of scale
ph 7.2
CYA was still over 100!

I measured it several times and I did the turbidity test with just pool water and I can see the black dot. The pool temp is 50degrees right now. I took my sample from a foot or so under water. I put it in a glass and that in a w\pan of warm water to warm to room temp.

So I don't know what to do now. Do I just need to drain the dang thing and start over? liquid conditioner?

I may take a sample to the pool store and have them test the CYA for me and see where it is at.

HELP PLEASE!!!

Phil
 
Often the CYA test is only good to around 90CYA. There's a GOOD possibility that the true reading was WAY higher than the first test showed. How long have you been using pucks and "bagged shock"?? Let's also try to re-test the CYA assuming you still have high levels of stabilizer. Try testing this way.......

If your CYA level is 90 or higher, repeat the test adjusting the procedure as follows:

Fill the mixing bottle to the lower mark with pool water.
Continue filling the mixing bottle to the upper mark with tap water.
Shake briefly to mix.
Pour off half of the contents of the mixing bottle, so it is again filled to the lower mark.
Continue the test normally from step 3, but multiply the final result by two.
Click to expand...

There's a good possibility that the pool store is the place that got you into this mess.....don't trust their readings to get you out of this. I'm not sure if allowing the water to warm up in a pan of water will cause an error in the readings......I'll let duraleigh respond to that.
 

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