First pool owner with algae problem. Please help

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hpham228

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May 23, 2013
17
I'm glad i found this website. I just bought a house that comes with an in ground pool. I was excited untill i opened the cover. It is more like a swam with algae floating around. I came to my local pool store for the first water test twodays ago. this is the result:
Cya 0
CC 0.3
Fc 0
Ph 7.3
Ta 67
Th 60
So they sold me 8lbs of clc (calcium hypochlorite 57.8%) to shock the pool. I came back this morning for another water test. This is the result:
Cya 0
CC 6.5
Fc 0
Ph 6.9
Ta 76
Th 113

I leave my pump running 24/7 and do the "backwash" 2-3 times a day. I just bought a vaccine hose and the triangle brush this morning but i haven't use it. Please somebody tell me what should i do next. I didn't buy any chemical today since trust u guys more than my local pool store. I will post pictures in my next post
 
20130521_092321.jpg

20130521_092257.jpg

Those are the pictures right after i removed the cover:


And this the picture after 24 hours i put in the clc stuff
20130523_074406.jpg

I already ordered the test kit tf100. It will be here this weekend
 
Welcome! :wave:

As you can see from the pool store results, you just almost doublerd your hardness with that Cal-hypo. That's one of the reasons we encourage plain old bleach to kill algae here. You will also note the Combined Chlorine jumped up a lot. And both times you show zero CYA. Which sort of leads me to suspect your CYA broke down over the winter into Ammonia. It's going to take a whole lot of bleach and at least a week to get that pool clear and sparkling. Maybe longer.

Start in

When you feel like
dizzy.gif
, take a break and go drag some sludge out of the pool manually.

You did well not to allow yourself to be pool-stored any more than you did, but remember they don't do free water tests just to be nice - they're in business to sell you chemicals. So order up your own test kit and look at some of the threads in the Algae room for inspiration.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP

Since you order the best kit available, I would hold off on doing much to the pool before you have it. Spend the next few days reading through Pool School and getting an understanding of the chemistry and also scooping out whatever you can. Once the kit arrives, then post a full set of test results and we can figure out a path forward.

Likely you will need to add some CYA and then start the shock process. If you absolutely feel like you have to add something to the water ... add a bottle of regular bleach a couple times each day ... this will not be enough, but will start to kill some of the algae ... you just need the kit before you start blindly elevating the FC

Here are some good reads that are relevant to your pool:
Defeating Algae
Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis
Shocking Your Pool
 
Thank for the quick responses. Should i go ahead and vaccum my pool while waiting my water test kit arrive? I read somewhere that if i want to vaccum my pool i should put my filter at " waste" position. Is it correct? I'm still trying to understand how my filter is working. And i have spent all night to read through the pool school, i will keep reading until my test kit arrive though. Again, thank for the quick responses
 
Filter = Water enters top of filter and passes down through the sand returning to pool
Backwash = Water enters through laterals at bottom of filter and passes up through the sand and carry dirt out to waste pipe
Clean/Rinse = Water enters top of filter and passes down through the sand and out to waste pipe
Waste = Water bypasses filter and heads out waste pipe.
Recirculate = Water bypasses filter and returns to pool

Waste is good if you have a lot of nasties ... but you could also just vacuum to the filter and backwash when required, this means you remove less water from your pool.
 
I tried to vacuum the bottom of my pool but i noticed there is no suction come out of my vac head. I did fill the vac hose with water and put it in the Skimmer basket. So what am i doing wrong? I also notice my gauge pressure rise up 5-7 psi in a few a hour after a backwash, is it normal? The pool has not been used for over a year possible two. I am not sure if my pump and my filter still working probably, if not how do i know? No friend of mine has a pool that i can ask. Please help....
 
Put you hand over the return eyeball and see if there is water coming out of it and how hard it is pumping and then backwash the filter and rinse and check it again it should have more pressure. The filter is doing its job because of the pressure rise which means it is filtering out debris.....Mike
 

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hpham228 said:
I tried to vacuum the bottom of my pool but i noticed there is no suction come out of my vac head. I did fill the vac hose with water and put it in the Skimmer basket. So what am i doing wrong? I also notice my gauge pressure rise up 5-7 psi in a few a hour after a backwash, is it normal? The pool has not been used for over a year possible two. I am not sure if my pump and my filter still working probably, if not how do i know? No friend of mine has a pool that i can ask. Please help....
Click to expand...
All normal. The flow slows down and the pressure goes up as the filter gets dirty. This means it's doing its job.

Turn the pump off. Move the filter handle to backwash. Turn the pump on. Wait until the water runs clear. Turn the pump off. Turn the filter handle to rinse. Turn the pump on. Wait about 20-30 seconds or until the water runs clear. Turn the pump off. Move the filter handle to filter. Turn the pump on. Note thw pressure gauge for your "clean" pressure. You'll want to do the above backwashing procedure when your pressure rises 25% above the "clean pressure."

I made it painfully obvious above for a reason: never move the filter handle while the pump is on.
 
So here is the result from my test kit tf100:
Fc: 1
CC: 3
Ta: 50
Ch: 100
Cya <20. I believe its zero
Ph: 6.8

Please tell me what should i do next? Please be as specific as u can since I'm new to this stuff. Thank you
 
1. Raise your pH to 7.4 using muriatic acid. Use poolcalculator.com to figure the dosage.

2. read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School

3. read "How to Shock Your Pool" up in Pool School

4. Shock your pool according to what you have learned in those two articles. We'll help you with all your questions.
 
From what i read in the pool school and other thread. It would take up to one week to raise cya level ( i don't know how long does it take for Ph) so does that i meant i will have to wait until my cya level reach 30-40 in order to start shocking the pool? Or can i just do everything at the same time?
 
I think duraliegh meant to say raise the pH with BORAX, not muriatic acid.
Click to expand...
SILVER ALERT!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: thanks for catching that, rdhetrick.

hpham228,

Get your pH in line first......it'll only take about 30-60 minutes. Next, add your CYA and even though it does not show on the test, you can assume it is ALL in there and go ahead with the shock process.
 

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