New and not sure what to do

[arwsgirl]

My cousin left us to house-sit for the month while he's in military training. He's completely unreachable. All he showed us on the pool maintenance was how to backwash the sand filter and to shock it once a week. To my understanding it is a SWG system with a vinyl liner.

The pool was fine yesterday - today it has a light green hue to it and after brushing it, skimming the junk off the top and shocking it it hasn't improved.

I tested it.
ALK 210
PH 8
FC 10
HRD 200
CYA 80

Help? It could stand to have more water put in as well but I'm afraid to touch it.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

What did you use to test the water?

At a minimum you have to keep the water level up toward the middle of the skimmer or you risk damaging the pump if it starts sucking in air.

Can you post a few pictures of the equipment so we know what you are working with?

 

[arwsgirl]

Pics

 

[arwsgirl]

more pics

 

[jblizzle]

You are in a tough spot, since you are just "watching" the pool for someone else, who apparently has been lax in maintaining their own pool based on the advice and tools they have provided to you.

First, that does look like a SWG, so that should be adding chlorine every day and you should not have to "shock" the pool {Note we use that term differently ... see Shocking Your Pool}

Second, we generally do not trust numbers test strips. They are just too inaccurate and not reliable.

So, here is the advice we would give if this was your pool:
1. Order one of the good recommended test kits
2. Read Pool School while waiting for the test kit
3. Follow the shock process (see link above) to get the water clear

Now, the question becomes, what do you want to do?

For a CYA of 80ppm (if this is believed), you should be maintaining a shock FC level of 30ppm until the shock process is complete ... no way to do that with the test strips you have.

What is the powder you are adding to the pool to "shock"? If it is Dichlor, you should really stop using it of the CYA is going to get too high.

 

[arwsgirl]

It's the aquachem xtra blue

 

[arwsgirl]

I read pool school and we don't mind balancing this out if we can without breaking the bank. I've just never done this. Also don't mind getting a better test kit.

 

[jblizzle]

That powder is Dichlor, so DEFINITELY stop using it ... switch to liquid chlorine (or bleach).

You really need the FAS-DPD chlorine test and with the high CYA level, your required FC level is also very high. This means you will be using a lot of reagent for each test. I would suggest ordering the TF-100 with the XL option ... although it is not cheap. The cheapest option would be the K-2006, but I am afraid you will run out of reagent too quickly.

On the plus side, your cousin may return to a pool that is much clearer than they had ever seen it ... and you can then teach them what you did using the new test kit.

 

[arwsgirl]

I found his test kit. It's an aqua chem kit that tests chlorine to 5 and strips that said chlorine was 10+, ph was 7.8 and stabilizer was low.

 

[arwsgirl]

Since the strips I got aren't very accurate would it work to get a pool store to test for me? I know they'll try to sell me stuff but would their results be good?

 

[jblizzle]

We also tend to not believe pool store testing, but if they use a drop based test, it should be better than the strips ... except for the CYA test.

 

[eaamon]

PS do not stop brushing the pool. it removes a coating the green algae makes and it becomes
easier for the bleach to kill the green. it too may help every 4 days until clear.
since the test strips first one CYA level looks good for a SWG pool
and second shows CL 10+
Ph 7.8
and the TA or alkalinity 210 with first strip.
you could compare the pool store testing and use both as a guide and not gospel.

they look good.
what I would do is nothing, no chemicals.
but find a way to leave the pool filter on for a longer time. or 24 hours.
if pool filter pressure goes 10 psi above the back flush restart. only then do
another backflush....let the filter clean the pool. it can not get any cheaper than that.

 

[eaamon]

OH one more thing. as was quoted it does look like you have a SWG salt water generator.
when you go to the pool store have them test for salt too.
I am not familiar with what your is. but my old anchient one has a button on it the reads out
what my level of salt is. you need it 2000 and not higher than 4000 for most. most use 3200
as a good position to run it in. the SWG breaks down the salt into chlorine so you do not need
to add any tablets. just some bleach from time to time for shocking it.
the SWG is the horizontal thing just left of the pump strainer.

 

[jblizzle]

The filter alone will not clear the pool if the FC is not adequate. You must maintain shock FC levels. Also, clean the filter when the pressure goes up 20-25% of the clean pressure, waiting for a 10psi rise is usually way too long.

Also, if you maintain adequate FC with the SWG, then you never need to just add bleach to "shock" occasionally.

@eaamon, please learn the methods we teach instead of posting contradictory information.

 

[arwsgirl]

We kept brushing and had the filter running constantly. We were able to swim today. This morning the drop test we have said the chlorine was less than 5 and the ph was just a tad low. Much closer to normal than previously. The strips he had here also said the alkalinity was back where it should be but that the stabilizer was low. So...it is now clear and nice but its raining tonight and probably tomorrow so tues ill take some water to the pool store and get them to do both a strip and a drop test and compare.

 

[arwsgirl]

I also didn't mention that his cousin doesn't have a working pressure gauge on his filter.

 

[eaamon]

I also didn't mention that his cousin doesn't have a working pressure gauge on his filter.

gages are about $7.95, if there is a place to install it. but need not worry. you might only backflush when output gets slow
and skimmers barely work, for now

We kept brushing and had the filter running constantly. We were able to swim today. This morning the drop test we have said the chlorine was less than 5 and the ph was just a tad low. Much closer to normal than previously. The strips he had here also said the alkalinity was back where it should be but that the stabilizer was low. So...it is now clear and nice but its raining tonight and probably tomorrow so tues ill take some water to the pool store and get them to do both a strip and a drop test and compare.

as for changing numbers in chlorine and CYA.
sometimes I think it is the CYA absorbing the FC until it reaches a saturation point.
I had 310 CYA last year. this year less than 200. here they teach it to be some thing is eating the FC.
bacteria, algae or mixing with CYA you were not at my pool. my test strip reads 100/pool store now at 140!?
but the more chlorine I added kept bringing the test strip CYA number
for it down until it was happy. this is why to let the pool chemicals become stable.
like the hitch hiker's guide "don't panic" now a few more days, so where did the PH settle out to.

 

[jblizzle]

sometimes I think it is the CYA absorbing the FC until it reaches a saturation point.
I had 310 CYA last year. this year less than 200. here they teach it to be some thing is eating the FC.
bacteria, algae or mixing with CYA you were not at my pool. my test strip reads 100/pool store now at 140!?
but the more chlorine I added kept bringing the test strip CYA number
for it down until it was happy. this is why to let the pool chemicals become stable.

Well, I would personally not trust any results from test strips. In reality, some of the CYA is broken down by the FC, but this occurs very slowly and is usually not noticeable just due to the accuracy of the CYA test and due to general water replacement.

Most chemicals are thoroughly mixed in the pool in around an hour. CYA is really the only one that may take up to a week to show up on the tests.