Fighting Algae--need a little advice

[pedsrn]

I knew better, but was lazy at the end of last season and did not winterize..at all! Thought, eh, I'll add a little bleach thru the winter, run the pump and we will be fine. Never touched it again.

So, we have been fighting a terrible algae bloom for three days now. So far, we've put a ton of bleach, baking soda, added salt.

FC 5.5 (hubby down now adding 3G of 8% bleach)
CC 1
Ph 7.6
Alk 70 (adding more baking soda too)
CH 100
Salt level unknown (payday i'm buying a salt kit!) but based on the SWG sensor, it's still low.
CYA--that's my question

It's ugly and has the thick white froth (no, no quat only what i listed above)

I have not added nor tested it yet this year. I had a leak when we opened so we lost a significant amount of water (about 8") and I closed with a cya of about 30, so i'm pretty sure it's low.

Question--Should I go ahead and test cya and start adjusting it now or wait until I have the algae conquered? I have been thinking the latter, but am now reconsidering.

TIA!

 

[jblizzle]

Why are you adjusting the TA? 70ppm is fine and not a priority ... everyone likes to do this, I assume because it is easy

Anyway, definitely test the CYA, how else do you know what FC your should be targeting for the shock process?
You lose less FC to the sun if you have the CYA around 30ppm which doing the shock process.

If you have not already, turn the SWG off until everything is clear and you are done with the shock process.

Some reading as a reminder:
Defeating Algae
Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis
Shocking Your Pool

 

[cheddar85]

Jason pretty much covered it, I just wanted to add one thing. If you're water is really murky, this could be important and only takes a minute. Take your CYA view tube, and fill it with just pool water. Make sure you can still see the dot, because if not, that could throw off your CYA test without you realizing it. Like Jason said, you've got to know your CYA level to properly go through the shock process!

 

[pedsrn]

Thanks guys! Yeah, Jason, alk is pretty easy! Lol. Was shooting for 80.

I'll check the cya. I was just shocking the dickens out if it--prob pouring $$ into the sun.