Newbie Mad Scientist Trying to Clear Pool Up!

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J

Joshmeyer99

0
May 16, 2012
11
Okay, I have read some pool school and post requests, so here i go......

I live in Bemidji, MN (northern MN), I have a 16' AG hard frame pool, (intex, target) that holds 5600 gallons according to pool calc, and I just set it up four days ago. Upon setting up, (third year owning pool) I found leak near bottom after filling about 2inches. Water sat for two days, i just lifted that side of pool frame supports on block and patched pool. Began filling the next day, good to go :). We have very hard well water so when pool was half full, water is very tan/brn, were use to that. Went to local pool store and was talked into buying a Water way Sandfilter system: 16", 1hp motor, 35 gpm, so it takes pool about 3 hours to turn over. Hooked up new pump and waited for water to fill, took until next day. Now, water is brown, i turn on pump and man she pumps water nice. Upon pool shop request, i throw in full bottle of stain-x, and quarter bottle of algaecide. Water went from brn to cloudy brownish greenish. Then i threw in half of shock package at night, and 2oz of chlorine,(powder in bucket),. Morning came, same thing no change.

Then i found this website and my eyes were opened, and took this information to local pool shop and they just stand there and look at me funny and say why do you need a test for all that stuff, these test strips are all we ever use. When asking about pump and where pressure should be at/when i should clean out, and he responds, the pressure should never be that great. Okay, thats pretty vague and i no longer will go that store because after this website, i now know more then they can offer.

So for the time being, all i have is are these test strips results until I order the drip test kit.
TC-about a 3
FC- about between 1 and 3
ph- between 7.8 and 8.4
Total Alk- above 240
Cyanuric acid- 0-30

I bought 4 jugs of chlorine 6%
box of shock xtra (shock, buffer, clarifier, flocculan) Active Ingred- Sodium Dichlor-s-triazinetrione dihydrate 64%, alkyl(95% C14, 3%CO2, 2%C16), Dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride 1%, other 35%. Avail chlorine 35%

I also have ph down, and chlorine in 5 gal bucket, and algaecide left.
Whats the best advice you can give?

I have backwashed and rinsed 3 times, dirty water only lasting maybe 15 seconds. Pool is just milky white cloud right now.
 
You say the CYA is 0-30. That is a pretty big range given the process you are going through. Having a good idea of there these are allow you to shock effectively.

You want your ph to be 7.5 -7.8 so lower that to start.
Get an accurate CYA to ensure you are dosing the correct amount of cl, then head over and take a look at the OCLT and perform that. That will be a good indicator if you need to keep adding stuff in, or if you just need to give the filter more time to clear out the dead algae.
 
I have good news, after last post, I Tried out adding 3 oz of shock xtra and 96 oz of bleach, and 12 oz of ph lower. Checked pool just a few minutes ago and I can start to see bottom! It's slowly clearing up. Drip test are in mail but this is new strip test results:

TH- 250
TC- 10
FC- 10
PH- after 15 sec it's 7.8-8.4 but longer it sits, darker pink it gets which is higher than 8.4
TA- higher than 240
CYA- 0

Should I add anything for the night?
 
add bleach bleach and more bleach.
Click to expand...
There is a reason for the shock values posted in the charts. Too much chlorine can damage a vinyl lined pool beyond repair. With (apparently) ZERO CYA in your pool, you are getting the full effect of the chlorine and I suggest you not add any more chlorine until you can test more accurately and I especially hope you chose not to add beyond shock value.
 
I only added the recommended dose on shock package to my pools volume and that's only shock I added today, yesterday morning I used dose from opened packet I had from last year, which is why my levels were probably not that high. I didnt add any more chlorine tonight and will wait until morning to check levels and see if chlrorine has dropped.
 
Okay, checked pool this morning, finally cleared up, just a little haze left and she is crystal clear! My readings this morning were: * remember, these are test strip results

TC- Between 5-10
FC- 5
PH- 7.8-8.4
TA- above 240
CYA- 0
 

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