I inherited a problem and need help

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tim_schandorff

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Sep 4, 2012
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I just moved into a house that has a pool. I am in a very sunny climate (actually in the Caribbean) and the pool is between 25-30,000 gallons. When I arrived the pool was so green it looks more like a yard than a pool. a bunch of bleach had been dumped into it and shock but nothing changed. We then use some yellow algae killer and shock and it went cloudy but mostly blue. Here's the tricky part. Because I live in a country with poor infrastructure I don't have electricity all the time so I can't always run my pool pump. after hurricane Isaac went through I didn't have power for 10 days and ALL the green came back. I was reading on the pool school that CYA levels should be about 50. mine are WAY higher than that, about 150 and it isn't registering any chlorine even though we added a bunch and I have tablets in the basket. So that' the situation now here's my questions. Feel free to answer questions I should have asked but didn't as well.

What do I do first? Should I kill the algae and then vacuum it to waste, then replace the water that I lose? or do I need to lower the water level before the algae is gone? I would like to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

It costs me $50 for about 3000 gallons of water so is there a way to get the CYA number down without loosing a lot of water?

If I am successful in clearing up the algae with something like yellow out will the problem come back due to the high cya level?

Can you recommend something long term that would help me avoid problems due to turning off the pump for extended periods of time?

Thanks for all the help and the great database of information I've already learned a lot.
Tim
 
You will have to do a partial drain to lower your CYA levels. Unfortunately, there's really no way around that, because it will be nearly impossible to maintain a pool with a CYA level anywhere near 150.

Second, you will need to buy a good test kit. Also nearly impossible to maintain a pool without one - you can't know what to put in the pool until you know exactly what's there already. The initial outlay for the kit might seem rough, but you will make your money back several times over in just one season.

Don't buy yellow out, it's worthless and unneeded. If you can return it, do so. (Use the money to buy a good test kit.)

You can bring the pool back to sparkling without losing too much water (other than the drain required above), but it will take some work on your part and a lot of bleach.

If you can post a complete set of test results, we will get you on your way to shocking it back to clean.

As for the power problems, I think that once you get the pool cleaned and maintained properly, you will have no trouble making it through the occasional power outage.
 
Welcome to TFP.

You should get rid of the pucks now and not use them again. They're what's creating your problem to begin with. Switch to liquid or Cal-Hypo if the CH is low.

Given your particular set of circumstances you're going to have problems from time to time. You're going to have to get that CYA down in order to effectively manage your pool or even get rid of the algae. You can add algaecide in larger doses than regular maintenance suggested and that may buy you some time but ultimately getting rid of the CYA is the best answer.

Depending on how much rain you get each year, you may be able to utilize that to your advantage to lower the CYA.

I would work on killing the algae and then vacuuming to waste and refilling. That will lower the CYA some as you go.

As for being out of power for several days at a time, you can handle that if you're willing and able to chlorinate with bleach and brush the pool daily during that time.
 
thanks for the response. For that size of pool what amount of water will I need to drain out to get that CYA level down? I know you probably can't give me an exact number but are we talking half the water, 2000 gallons or somwhere in between?

When I drain water out of the pool I have the option of just having the pump direct it to waste or I can vacuum it to waste and get the stuff off the bottom at the same time. does it matter which I do?

When I used the yellowout before it got the green out of the pool and turned it cloudy. it seemed to be headed the right direction before we lost the use of the pump for 10 days. Can you explain to me why I shouldn't do that again in conjunction with a partial drain? Not that I don't believe you just wanting to learn how this works.

Also, please explain a little more about the test kit that I am looking for. Right now I am just using the test strips called "AquaCheck" that were here when I moved in. How does the other one work and what does it tell me that this one does not?


thanks for the help.
Tim
 
From your CYA number you need to drain about 75% of your pool to get the CYA close to 50 ppm. I know it hurts but in the long run that's what has to happen.

I'd vacuum to waste. That way you're getting rid of the algea at the same time you're replacing water.

You may have luck getting rid of it using Yellow Out but in the end you're still going to have to lower the CYA in order to maintain the pool algae free. Yellow Out is EDTA (Disodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid dihydrate,diammonium sulfate).

The test kit we recommend is a drop based kit and it tests all the parameters you need to maintain your pool correctly at a resolution that's useful. Strips are inaccurate and the resolution is useless.
It tests;
pH
FC
CC
TA
CH
CYA
 
Re. draining water to get the CYA down - If you do a cost comparison, you may find that water @ $50/3K gallons is cheaper than buying lots of Cl (bleach or cal hypo) to fix your algae problem.

A drain & refill will require lots less POP (pool owner patience), too. Be careful about a total drain - depending on how high the water table is you run the risk of popping your pool out of the ground.

Good luck!
 
ok I appreciate all the help. Can you also give me an idea of how much bleach will need to be added on a daily basis to a pool of this size? If I shouldn't be using the pucks anymore I assume I will need to add bleach very frequently how much does it take to make a difference? also it looks like there are several shock products on the market how do I choose and where should I buy it. (must be able to order it online).
thanks.
Tim
 
Shock with bleach. One of the tenants here at TFP is that the "shock" is a verb....not a product. You will have no need for the other products plus they all have side effects potentially troublesome to your pool water.

A good average chlorine consumption seems to be around 2-3ppm daily. You can use the poolcalculator to figure out how much bleach that is for your particular pool.
 
ok so assuming that I am using the calculator correctly that means about 1.5 gallons of bleach each day to keep the pool in the 3ppm range. The problem with that is that bleach costs about $6.00 per gallon here. that means that I am looking at $3285 per year in bleach alone. Is there a less expensive way to do this or is that probably why the former owner used the pucks that caused the stabilizer to rise?
again thanks for the help.
Tim
 

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What is the strength of the bleach you have there? Are you able to find the 12% stuff at a similar price?
Is cal-hypo available? (although that will add calcium which will eventually require a water drain as well to avoid scaling)

If not, sounds like you have to decide if you want to spend your money on the bleach or on the water when you have to lower the accumulated CYA.

BTW: I get about the same amount of 6% bleach as you do to add 3ppm per day ... if the weather is cooler (not sure how much you have seasons there), the consumption may be less. You could also use a cover to reduce the consumption.

OR ... a better option might be switching to a SWG to "generate" the FC for you ... since the bleach costs so much.
 
jblizzle said:
What is the strength of the bleach you have there? Are you able to find the 12% stuff at a similar price?
Is cal-hypo available? (although that will add calcium which will eventually require a water drain as well to avoid scaling)

If not, sounds like you have to decide if you want to spend your money on the bleach or on the water when you have to lower the accumulated CYA.

BTW: I get about the same amount of 6% bleach as you do to add 3ppm per day ... if the weather is cooler (not sure how much you have seasons there), the consumption may be less. You could also use a cover to reduce the consumption.

OR ... a better option might be switching to a SWG to "generate" the FC for you ... since the bleach costs so much.
Click to expand...

I think you are right, with bleach costing so much a salt water generator is a no brainer. Especially if the coping in the pool is concrete. Even in areas where bleach is cheap a salt water generator ends up cost about the same as bleach.
 
Ok so I have emptied my pool...now what? The way that you buy water here is by the truck (about 3000 gallons per truck) and so we know it will take about 7-8 trucks to fill the pool. After we get all the algae cleaned out of the empty pool and they start dumping water in it (keep in mind this is not drinking water from a city system so it will probably start with some minor contaminants) how should I go about adding chlorine? Should I be adding a certain amount per truck as it is being filled or just shock it like crazy when all the water is in there? Also now that I have all new water do I need to add some stabilizer to it? I know to much stabilizer was the problem to begin with, but if I understand correctly bleach (which everyone says is best) doesn't have any at all.

I know that is a bunch of questions but I really don't want to waste the money on all the water by not treating it properly right away.

Thanks for all the info.
Tim
 
Once you get the pool filled, get a full set of test results.

The will not have any stabilizer in it, so you will initially want to add enough to get to about 30ppm, and then you will likely need to go through the shock process to clear it up. You are correct that bleach will not add any CYA.

How long will it take to get all the truck loads? hours? or days? If days, then adding some bleach and brushing well to mix it will help to keep anything trying to grow at bay.

I still think a SWG could be a good idea in the future since your daily bleach is going to be so expensive.
 
Best option may be a salt water chlorine generator. Basically electricity and salt are used to create bleach in the pool. How much is your per kw cost?

Keep bleach on hand for power outages, also useful to disinfect drinking water. Or get a generator...

-sent with Tapatalk 2
 
I spoke with someone here who has an SWG and they like it but they also have much more consistent power because of where they live. they said that they would not recommend it since we would still have to supplement with bleach very frequently due to power outages.

My understanding is that the trucks will all arrive on the same day and then the pool will be full. could I use the tablets for a bit until that CYA number is up around 30ppm or is there a different product that I should get? since I already have the tablets and know that they are VERY effective at adding CYA it would be nice to use those. how much chlorine should I use for the initial shocking? (about 25,000 gallons).

thanks for all your help.
Tim
 
Yes you can use the tablets to slowly add the CYA. Just calculate exactly how many you can use to reach a desired CYA level and then hide the rest of them from yourself ;) You should likely supplement with bleach to make sure the FC does not drop too low.

Poolcalculator will do the math for you. At the bottom you can find out how much FC and CYA each ~8 oz trichlor tablet will add (may want to verify the weight of your pucks).

Starting with 0 CYA, I think the recommended shock level is a FC of about 10ppm (really best if you could get some ~20+ppm of CYA in right away to protect the FC from the sun). Poolcalculator will tell you how much bleach you will have to add for a 10ppm FC rise.

Let us know if you are having problems with the calculator and someone will help you learn it. (OR post up what you get and we can verify you are using it correctly).
 
ok my pool is full and clear I dumped a whole bunch of bleach in right away but I don't think the FC got above 6ppm. Now it is low again and I need to add more. My larger problem seems to be the Ph level. It is ridiculously high. I bought a drop tester (before I realized that it doesn't test for CYA) and it takes around 30 drops before the test turns red. I have added a product that the previous owner left for me called "PH minus" and it may have had a small effect but very little. What is a reasonable amount of chemical to add to get that number down? In the meantime is the pool safe to swim in? we have a lot of people who have been waiting to swim and don't really care if it is perfect, but I dont' want anyone seeing bad affects from the water either.
 
Most pH drop tests that I've ever seen uses only a set amount of drops of reagent (usually 5) to test the pH. What test do you have?

If the test you have isn't, I'd go out and get a phenol red pH test. Most places have them cheap. Actually I'd suggest getting a good test kit period, but for the sake of time you can run to the local Walmart, etc. and pick one up quickly.
 
I haven't seen it asked yet. When you loose power, is it normally for a few hours, or days? ( A hurricane is a whole different story) I few hours here and there won't be too bad for the pool. I usually only run mine 8-10 hours a day. If you can schedule your time around when the power is most reliable it could be fine.

Now that it sounds like you have the swamp under control, we need the numbers from a good test kit to help you get balanced out.
 

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