Major pool Chemistry problem

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Johnny M,

I know its scary to rely on complete strangers to help you fix a big problem with an expensive investment. I can read your hesitation in your posts. But i PROMISE these people know what they are talking about and only want to help. Because of this forum I was able to buy a shortsale home with a VERY swampy pool and turn it into a crystal clear, sparkling blue pool inside of 2 weeks...and that was while I was working 60+ hours a week!!!

Read pool school and bookmark the pool calculator...its the Holy Bible for us!

Get your wife to read it too especially if she's gonna be helping out. I take care of the pool myself, the only thing my husband does with it is enjoy the fruits of my labors by swimming in it! LOL.
 
My pool is about the same size as yours and I've had to shock twice in two years. The first time it took 6 days and about 60 gallons of 6% chlorox. The second time I had a filter problem I didn't know about and it took 24 days and about 60 gallons of bleach to clear it up. I'll just add to what the others have already said - read and follow the pool school instructions for shocking it works. It will take time - several days at least, but it will work if you follow the instructions carefully and don't get sidetracked by some pool store trying to sell you snake oil to cure the problem.
 
Well, one night done 6 shocks to 10 ppm, and I finally got a reading after the last shock. Pool is blue and getting clearer. I can see all designs on bottom of the shallow end and I lose site of the leaf rake at the 6-7 foot mark. On my way to SAMs for more bleach. I should probably buy a truck. Thanks to everyone for all the advice. Sorry to some for my frustration. I didnt realize that the pool school and lesson on shocking would override the ammonia instructions i was getting. When I was told to add 50 # of dichlor at one time by the pool people and another pool store telling me to add 49 gallons of liquid at one time, my worry level was high.
 
One return should be pointing down in the general direction of the bottom of the deep end. All of the returns should be aimed somewhat off to the side to create a consistent circular movement of the water.
 
Just returned from SAMs club, checked and had 3-4 ppm of FC still registering in the pool. Added three more jugs of bleach to get it back over 10ppm. I know to continue shocking until the FC holds overnight, but at what point does the water start looking clearer? Just wondering.
 
A sand filter will take a little longer to filter out all the dead algae than a cartridge or DE filter. You can enhance the sand filter by adding some DE (about 2 cups into the skimmer) after you backwash. Also you can vacuum to waste and that will speed up removal of the dead algae.
 

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I have around 30 ppm of CYA in the pool. I shocked yesterday afternoon with Dichlor. To add both CL and Cya. I sacrificed some Ph down to 7.0, m that I will adjust. Gotta figur out how much Borax. I held FC today for 6hours it read 3/4. I ran out of my reagent and had to use the guess sticks until my new order comes in. I gotta leave for Boston tomorrow am, and i am trying to figure out how to have my wife treat the pool when i am gone. I am thinking if she shocks it in the am before work and in the evening up to shock level of 10 or higher due to residual fc(i hope) that should be enough. I am going to re shock here as soon as I am done typing. If I get a chance I will try one more time tonight before bed. I added 1&1/2 cups of DE to the filter to see if that increases its efficacy in getting the dead algae out of the pool. I helped my brother open his pool his am and his pool was perfect. Same process we followed at my pool,but drastically different results. My bad luck. But it brought me some knowledge of this website and pool information that I may prevent an opening like this years forever.
 
I'd hold off on Borax until you're satisfied and comfortable with the rest of the water chemistry. Technically, you should focus on the FC until it holds overnight, then look at the rest of the numbers after that. Ph will read high when the FC is ~10 or above too, so don't try to lower it based upon tests results while you're shocking.
 
Well it rained all night, pool looks worse today than yesterday. Not really happy this am. I leave for a four day trip to Boston and think my weekend bleach dump was for nothing. Pool is still cloudy blue. I shocked once more this morning and will have my wife shock it at night. I think the algae is all dead because of how much copper sulfate I put in and the algecide I put in before fiindind tfp. The ammonia levels were high. But I figured if there is no algae that it would eventually out gas. Thanks for the help. Maybe I should just dump the water and try over.
 
Well I was afraid to check but finally got the nerve. I have some free cl (1/2 )on strips. I checked my ammonia levels and they started at >8ppm on Friday, dark green if not worse. They were below 0.25 ppm today, bright yellow. So At least that is going in the right direction. I shocked this morning, and leave it in my wife's hands to maintain. The ammonia levels made me happy and hopeful. Maybe time away will do me and the pool some benefits.
 
See this post for my log of how I dealt with a similar problem. The bacterial conversion of CYA into ammonia isn't predictable which is why you didn't see this in all pools you opened. It does seem to happen more if one waits to open a pool (with no chlorine in it) when the water is already warm -- bacteria grow more quickly in warmer water. Ideally, having chlorine in the water all winter prevents this, but for pools that must be closed due to freezing conditions then closing as cool as possible and opening before the water warms up can help.
 
Read your reply and I am encouraged that I can get this thing figured out. Hopefully. I just need to be there and testing with a better kit than what I got. Hopefully it will be there on Thursday. I really hit it hard with the bleach on Saturday and Sunday. I shocked it again today before I left. Pool went form green/ turquoise to blue cloudy on Saturday to Sunday. No noticeable improvement this morning. But it was raining all night. I was encouraged to see the yellow test of ammonia. Meaning I at least did something positive. 0.25 was much better than the >8ppm I registered on Friday. I think my sand filter takes along time to filter out the fine particles. I remember last year having a cloudyool for the first week. I think I dumped bottle after bottle of clarifier to fix it. I have not tried that this year due to no recommendations from this forum. Any thoughts on that and floc?
John
 
I would actually wait on trying floc or clarifier till the Ammonia is all gone & you pass the OCLT (Overnight Chlorine Loss Test). Doing that negates any interference for the chlorine to work, if any may exist. That way you'll only have one thing left..getting a clear pool. It may get there anyway in the process. Just my honest opinion, & very good to hear that things are swinging in the right direction.
 
Called home yesterday and thevkidscwerevall excited" yo can see the bottom of the shallow end crystal clear but mom says we can swim" I am excited to hear that. I had her shock the pool again last night. Hopefully thi is getting to he end. I will keep you informed on my progress. Can't wai to get home tomorrow and use my new testing kit to see how the pool is reall doing.
 
Johnny-M said:
Can't wai to get home tomorrow and use my new testing kit to see how the pool is reall doing.
Click to expand...
Just to add my bit, I got a new testing kit (The Taylor K-2006) last week, and it has made an amazing difference to what I can do. See my thread about my fight with the dreaded algae newbie-based-in-italy-with-green-algae-problem-t42204.html. I now feel in control of my pool for the first time. These guys certainly know what they are talking about. I can't thank them enough for all the help they have given me. Truly, since finding this site all I have put into my pool is 14% liquid chlorine, absolutely nothing else.
 
Just called home, had my neighbor do tests on my water.
FC 2.7
CC 1.3
TA 115
PH 7.1
Can see bottom of deep end. Still cloudy.
CYA went to 0
Had him
Added 8 lb of CYA
1 box of Borax and will have it shocked again in an hour
 

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