Completely frustrated...

[kohlleffel4]

I set up a small AG pool for my child this month. We had a lot of trouble maintaining the chlorine level, so we switched to tablets. Then we began getting rain (everyday for a week). After that, we had backswimmers in our pool. I was told to shock it everyday for a week to kill them. I did that, and on day 6, there were still a few in it. I had the water tested on Saturday and the employee told me that the balance and chlorine levels were all good. The water was clear. I asked what to do to get completely rid of the backswimmers. She sold me a bottle of liquid algaecide and told me to pour half to a full bottle in. I did that and the water turned opaque over night. Since it was Sunday, I couldn't go back to the pool store. I read online that when algaecide did that, shock would clear it, so we shocked again and have been running the pump for 24 hours. The water is better, but is still cloudy. I am at the point that I am considering draining and scrubbing the liner and starting over. Is there anything else that I should try first?

The pool is AG, vinyl, holds about 3200 gallons. It has a cartridge filter (which we also changed several times during this process).

 

[techguy]

IMHO I would drain,scrub and fill. Based on what you said, you have added several bags of powder and several pucks. The indicates to me that you have too much stabilizer (CYA) in the pool and the only way to resolve too much CYA is change the water.

While you get the pool full, read the pool school article for small pool, buy a box of liquid chlorine/bleach and only use liquid chlorine for this pool. These pools are too small to use stabilized pucks.

 

[Donldson]

pool-school/temporary_pool_guide

Assuming you drain and refill I would recommend these instructions. The only part I disagree with is step 7, which suggests an algeacide. The reasoning is that it is very hard to fight algae with the filters in those pools. I don't think it needs done if you are sure to maintain the chlorine level, but if you use it remember that is suggesting a very specific type of algaecide. Regularly using a type with copper in it (like the cheap ones at walmart and most at the pool store) can cause some problems, such as green hair.

Give that a read or two and see if it sounds like a simple enough process for you. You will still need to do a drain, most likely your water is borked, but you can restart fairly easily. Also backswimmers are not harmful and I wouldn't worry too much about them, but a properly maintained pool should help deter them.

 

[kohlleffel4]

I just took in a sample and got new readings:
free chlorine 2.5 ppm
total chlorine 2.5 ppm
combined chlorine 0.0 ppm
pH 7.3
Hardness 90 ppm
Alkalinity (w/stabilizer correction) 87 ppm
Cyanuric acid 10 ppm
Copper 0 ppm
Iron 0 ppm

Looking at this, is it still a total drain or can I save it?

 

[techguy]

What did you use to get these results?

Your own test kit?


Looks like pool store results.
What did the store do to get these results?
Computer, strips or drops?

 

[kohlleffel4]

No, I took a smaple in and they ran it on the computer

 

[techguy]

How many tablets have you added to the pool? were the fully dissolved?

The reason ask is nearly every tablet adds CYA to the pool and they are not showing any CYA (AKA: cyanuric acid/stabilizer/conditioner). We normally do not trust pool store computers as they are frequently very inaccurate. We prefer to do our own testings.

I am not sure what your best course of action is here. I am assuming you have a cartridge filer (the ones with the blue ends)

and these are very inefficient/ineffective filters. They let most very small debris pass through the filter media. A Unicel brand filter is more effective at trapping the fine debris that you seem to have from the algaecide. Algaecides are not normally needed (but they have their uses) in a properly maintained poor. The issue is you already have it in your pool

One choice is to start over with fresh water (and a better filter cartridge) and remove the algeacide form the conversation

Another option is change your filter and hope it filters out the debris. This option doesn't sound like it will happen without a cartridge change

 

[kohlleffel4]

There two tablets in the floater and very little of it has dissolved... that is the kind of filter we have... I will definitely look for another kind... and after everything that I have read, I think we will do the fresh water as well...

 

[nismostate]

if your tired of being frustrated with the pool, get a tf-100 or k2006 test kit and get your own test results.

 

[techguy]

OK, if you go with a fresh fill, I highly suggest you only use liquid chlorine to keep you pool clean. it will only take a cup or two per day. Once you get the water changed, add the amount of chlorine/bleach shown in the poolcalculator.com.