Finally able to open my pool after major IG leak repair.

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johnstonc

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Jun 18, 2012
9
I'm not positive where to start looking. I've learned a lot about my pool since last year (I thought it was concrete when I bought the place). I started noticing problems with my plumbing at the end of last season. I put of messing with it until the spring. At that time I had a company come out and diagnose a leak in the ground somewhere close to the main drain. It was going to cost quite a bit to fix (had to save up money) since they had to bring out a backhoe and crew and sand and new plumbing (I replaced the 1 1/2" with 2" from the skimmer and drain to the equipment). I also put in a new 2 way valve, which should have been done when it was installed. There are several things about this pool that I have learned in a year's time that aren't right. I think I have fixed the majority of them now. I pray no more problems, especially in ground.

However, that brings me to my question(s). Since the pump hadn't been run since last year, I had plenty of unsightly green algae. The bottom of my pool, when I was able to see it last, was covered in it. My idea was, get the pool fixed, then drain it down about 1/2 way and use a pressure washer and sump pump to discard the crud. After talking to the guy who fixed the pool, he suggested bottoming out my pH with muriatic acid and then shocking the mess out of it. His reasoning was, with the pH lower, the chlorine would work more potently. I had heard a similar recommendation from a friend, as well.

So on Saturday, I did just that. I kept an eye on my pressure during the whole process and now it appears the green has been replaced with a brownish tint and I still can't see the bottom. It almost appears to be sediment clouding up the water, but I'm not positive. I have backwashed a bunch of stuff from the filter and rinsed. I have also re-shocked the pool today and later on, added clarifier to the pool per bottle instructions. For all I know, I may wake up tomorrow and things will be clear, but I have serious doubts about that.

My wife is hounding the dog out of me about getting it cleared up, but I don't want to waste a bunch of time, money, and chemicals if there is something better, easier, cheaper, etc. that I could be doing. I did kill a ton of water bugs and dragonfly larvae and a snake I found this morning in my strainer.

I guess to put it in question form, should I be doing something more? Or different? Or should I go back to my original plan of draining?

I can get you chemical readings if necessary, but I figured I'd ask first, and I know the FC is going to be high because of the shock I've used today. pH earlier was 6.8 or so, but I left it low based on what the guy who fixed the pool told me about the chlorine. I can also post pics if needed.

I'm ready to get this put behind me so my son and nephew can swim and I can sit by the pool and toss back a few cold ones. :cheers:

Thanks for all your help.

Chris
 
I got the BBB down pretty good lat season. I saved a ton using bleach. I haven't had a chance to work on it yet this year. I bought the TF-100 test kit. I found this online about chlorine and pH. It matches up pretty much with what my pool guy told me. His only warnings were not to let anyone in the pool while the pH was that low and the chlorine that high and don't keep it that way for a long period of time.

What Impact Does pH Have on Chlorine?
The power of chlorine is greatly influenced by how well you manage your water's pH level. As the pH of your pool water increases, the killing power of your chlorine decreases. At a pH of 6.0, you will achieve approximately 96% of the potential from each pound of chlorine. But at what cost? Such a low pH would also wreak havoc on all surfaces the water comes in contact with (for example your equipment, pool surface, liner, and the swimmers themselves). It's just too corrosive. By pushing the pH up to 7.0, the efficacy of the chlorine drops to 73%. Raise it up to 8.0 (where many a pool seem to drift to), and it drops dramatically... down to 21%! At a perfect pH level of 7.5, we can expect to have about 50% of our chlorine in the molecular structure of Hypochlorous acid (the active, killing form). The remaining half is in the form of hypochlorite ion, which is also an active form of chlorine, but very weak and slow to kill.

Chris
 
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