so here are my numbers...what should i do?

[android6011]

I have been adding A LOT of chlorine to kill all the algae in the pool and I went to pinch a penny to get the water tested and here is what it says:

Total chlorine *.ppm
Free Chlorine 0 ppm
combined chlorine *ppm
pH 8.0
acid demand 7
base demand *
total alkalinity 350ppm
calcium hardness 125 ppm
stabilizer 40ppm
total dissolved solids 3,000 ppm
salt * ppm

everything was low before i started adding chlroine and i have added at least 7.5 gallons in the last 2 days and they said it is at 0 so i just thought that was weird

oh and pool is about 10,000 gallons. Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

One of the common chlorine tests (DPD) shows very high levels of FC as zero. You have added about 47 ppm of chlorine, which is enough to get to the range where the test misbehaves, assuming you didn't lose too much FC to algae and sunlight.

Do you have your own test kit? It is far simpler to fight algae if you have a good quality test kit. The TF Test Kit, see the link in my signature, is excellent and the Taylor K-2006 is also acceptable. Even if you have a simple OTO chlorine test, drops added to a sample turn various shades of yellow which are compared to a color standard, you can do a quick test to see if it is zero or not. The OTO test will turn orange or red for very high chlorine levels and stay clear for zero chlorine.

Your TA level is amazingly high. I suggest you work on bringing that down. High TA levels tend to push the PH up, which can cause calcium scaling, metal stains, and other problems.

 

[android6011]

so what do I need to add to bring the TA level down? Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

There is a complete description here. Briefly, you lower the PH with acid to around 7.0 and aerate the water to raise the PH back up. The acid lowers the TA, while aeration has no effect on TA. It can take a while to make large reductions in the TA.

 

[android6011]

Here are my current numbers now:

CYA 0
Tot Chlorine 2.4
free chlorine 2.4
ph 7.5
alkalinity 180
hardness 110

they said since the pool is still extremely cloudy we should add aluminum sulfate, recirculate for 3 hours, then let sit for 12 hours, vaccum up with pump on waste. then after add the calcium hardener and stabilizer. does that sound good? Thanks

they also said ph and alk are just about perfect, i thought that 180 was high for alk, i guess i was wrong?

 

[JasonLion]

You need more reliable test results. It doesn't seem likely that alkalinity could drop from 350 to 180 in only two days. Stabilizer and CYA are the same thing and CYA can't fall from 40 to 0 without replacing almost all of the water in the pool. That means that one or both of the tests are way off. Without more reliable numbers it is very very difficult to take care of a pool. You really should look into getting your own test kit.

If you have a vinyl liner and don't have a fountain, waterfall, or spa it is probably alright for alkalinity to be at 180. Lower than that is better, but 180 is manageable. Alkalinity at 350 is a much more serious problem. Ideally you want alkalinity closer to 100.

 

[android6011]

i did get the tests done at 2 separate places, im getting some money together to order my own kit but in the mean time i dont want to lose what ground i have gained and let the pool fall back where it was. i followed the one guide you had posted about lowering alkalinity to a T and also, i accidently had added more muriatic acid than advised at one time so that may have also affected it. It has been about 24 hours since i had added that though so i figured i could test it without problems

and i do have a spa but we dont really use it

 

[JasonLion]

Alright, lets assume that alkalinity really is 180 and CYA is really 40. Given that, your numbers are fairly good, if the water is clear. If there is still algae, and without a test kit, it gets to be a guessing game.

How does the water look today, both color and cloudiness/murkiness?

 

[android6011]

there is no more green, the water is EXTREMELY cloudy though, can see maybe a foot down

 

[JasonLion]

After all of the algae is dead, it can still take up to a week for the filter to clean up the water, with the filter running 24/7. You should be able to see a visible improvement every day.

 

[android6011]

the algae has been dead for a little while now and i cant really see a difference. the people at the pool place said that the aluminum sulfate should have everything at the bottom of a crystal clear pool by morning to vacuum up, i guess we shall see :/

 

[JasonLion]

The aluminum sulfate approach can work if you do it carefully, but the filter should have been able to take care of it. The fact that the filter couldn't take care of it suggests that there is some kind of problem with the filter. Has your filter pressure been going up? Have you backwashed/cleaned the filter recently?

 

[android6011]

The aluminum sulfate approach can work if you do it carefully, but the filter should have been able to take care of it. The fact that the filter couldn't take care of it suggests that there is some kind of problem with the filter. Has your filter pressure been going up? Have you backwashed/cleaned the filter recently?

actually yes, the pressure has been going up, i have backwashed very often since I had read that should lower the pressure. It is a sand filter so do you think maybe we need new sand? I would have no idea about how to goabout replacing that.