Successful BBB maintenance for 2 years, now problems.

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Sew Shine

Sew Shine

0
Jul 1, 2013
9
Hello,

I ran across your site and the BBB method several years ago after having problems maintaining my pool. I had been following the advice of my pool store and kept shocking my pool...only to test later and find ZERO FC. Through your site, I found out that the pool store had my CYA through the roof and I couldn't keep the FC in the pool! I fixed the problem, started using the BBB method and never looked back....until this year.

I've had problems with a very light green tint to the pool. Over the past three days, I kept the pH low (around 7) and kept my FC at 26-30. I kept my pool filter running (sand). Three days later and my water looks the same. What am I missing?

I have a 6,000 gal pool. Raised, vinyl liner. I used to use a SWG and liked how the water felt with salt in it. Now I use BBB without SWG but I still put salt in the pool for the feel of the water.

I took my water to the pool store just to compare tests, and see what they would advise. Their "ideals" are way off from what is recommended here. Surprisingly, our test results were pretty close.

Here are my readings today
CYA 30
FC 9.5
pH 7.2
TA 70
Pool store says:
CH 27 (they want this to be at 175-225) I don't routinely test CH because I have a vinyl liner. When I questioned them about this, they said that i really DO need to worry about it because it can throw the balance of the pool off and can dry out your skin when it is off. I don't buy it, but wanted to make sure that I'm not crazy.

The FC is low today because I didn't shock yesterday. I decided to stop my shocking until I was able to talk with y'all. I didn't add chlorine yesterday because the three days prior I had been keeping the shock at 26-30 and hadn't seen a lot of results. Rather than keep throwing chemicals in, I wanted some advice. I'd appreciate any input you could give. If you need any more info, please let me know.

THANK YOU!
Rebekah

PS I use liquid chlorine bleach as my chlorine source.
 
What is your fill source? Well or city water?
 
Welcome to TFP!

Are you using a drop-based test kit? Just want to be sure about your numbers.

Disregard the advice about your CH. As you mentioned previously, you have a vinyl pool and therefore, low CH doesn't really affect anything.

Is the water cloudy or is it clear and sparkly, but green? Clear and sparkly green may mean metals in the water. If it is cloudy, you are losing over 1 ppm FC overnight, or your CC is > 0.5 just shock your pool. Assuming that your test numbers are correct and I am guessing that they are, you need to bring your pool to shock level which is 12 for your CYA. Then keep it there until your water clears, your FC loss overnight is 1 or less, and your CC is 0.5 or less.

ETA: Consider having your water tested for metals at the pool store since you are using well water.
 
CH won't matter. YOU are correct.
You are following the shock process with liquid bleach, right? I see it is your source for maintenance, just want to confirm how you are performing the shock process.

What you are missing is POP. Pool Owner Patience. It can take 2-3 weeks to complete the shock process, in some cases even longer. I helped a friend shock his pool and it took 6 weeks to complete. 2-3 days isn't going to do it.

Can you post a picture of your water? If your water is clear but green, it might be metals (I got beat to this post!)
 
Thank you for the quick responses. Oye! 6 weeks!? No swimming the whole time? Or ok to swim?

As far as my test kit goes, I use Taylor K-2006 kit. Just got a new one this year to make sure my test chemicals hadn't gone bad. I don't ever test CH, just do the FC, pH, TA, and CYA (at the beginning of the season only).

I'll get a picture of the pool ASAP. I would say my pool is sparkly but with a slight greenish tint. Maybe you are right and it is just metals. I've always filled from my well and never had this issue before, but I know that the well can change over time.

I am using liquid bleach to shock. Had been keeping my levels up at 26-30 and kept adjusting my pH down to 7. Maybe I gave up too soon, maybe it is metals. The pool store wanted to sell me a boat load of chemicals to fix all of my problems. Their ideals are nowhere near what BBB recommends. I trust y'all more!

Thanks!
Rebekah
 
I read that for mustard algae, you needed high levels. After regular shock levels failed to clear the pool, I assumed I was battling mustard algae so I raised the levels. :(

Trying to get pictures posted soon!

Thank you so much for all of the help!
Rebekah
 

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An HEDP-based metal sequestrant such as those listed in the Pool School article Metals in the Water and Metal Stains. For extreme cases with lots of metal in the water, some people shock the pool to high pH and FC levels and use pillow batting, though that only works when there are actual rust particles (and for vinyl pools less likely to get stained, such as yours) whereas your water looks like the metal is fairly dissolved into the water. Definitely looks like iron, though.
 
Thank you! I didn't even think of metals...just assumed algae. The pool store said I was probably right--ugh. Should have come here first. Haven't used them in 2 yrs, don't know why I went today!

Love this forum (have been a longtime lurker)!
Rebekah
 
One other thing...perhaps I didn't regenerate my water conditioner often enough when filling the pool this time. Would it be better to drain and refill or deal with sequestrant? The main drawback of draining is that the water has warmed up! Comes out of the ground SO cold!
 
Post pics when it's nice n blue because you certainly have the crystal clear part down! :mrgreen:
 
You have a conditioner for the well water. Is that a water softener? If so, the next time you fill you may want to do it in stages and regenerate between stages based on the water quality before the softener and the softener capacity. The mineral bed can be exhausted rather quickly when filling your pool, especially if you were close to the time for it to regenerate. If it is iron that could help quite a bit. Good luck!
 
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