Unable to stop algea and high CYA

[anisudha21]

Hello,

I am having a hard time getting the algea out and it keeps coming back. My CYA levels are showing 161 (after I used greenout a month back and steps suggested by a pool store expert, it almost doubled). I read the articles here and it suggests I should drain water and refill. Can i do a partial drain and fill it? Will a partial drain have the risk of pool shell floating up. We are in AZ and will the heat damage the finish, if i do it in couple of days? I hope one of you experts will save me from this desparation and financial crisis.

12888 gallons IG pool, Pebble Sheen
Jandy ePump, 460 Sq ft Catridge filter
In Floor cleaning system

 

[JohnT]

"pool store expert" I hope you see the humor there now. Sadly, pool store employees seldom have any real pool care experience.

You can drain and replace in any amount that works for you. The more you drain, the faster the reduction will be, but even a few inches at a time will get there eventually.

The important thing is to stop using any form of stabilized chlorine. Dichlor or trichlor are off-limits, and in Arizona you need to watch calcium, so cal-hypo is a no-no as well.

 

[pwrstrk]

Welcome to TFP !

Spend sometime reading in pool school. Here's a good place to start pool-school/pool_water_chemistry

I would also recommend getting yourself one of our recommended test kits. I use the TF 100, best out there IMO. pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison
Any other questions ask away. Put your pool info in your sig it will help us help you.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to TFP.

Do take the suggestions above and learn all you can absorb.
Unfortunately, you will struggle until the CYA comes down to a reasonable level.

 

[Charlie_R]

I see a partial drain/refill cycle or three in your future. If you are in an area where you get lots of cold weather over the winter, you can wait until spring opening to deal with it.

 

[anisudha21]

Thank you so much for your responses. The pool was green again yesterday and I got so frustrated and walked inside. I hope I should be able to get it back in shape.
Here in AZ, the November, December is very cold (not always freezing cold). Charlie said I could wait till cold weather. That means I again have to use lots of liquid chlorine or bleach till that time, right? Today it is showing 88 degrees highest temperature and I was hoping I could grab a pump from Home depot and drain three feet (pool is 3-5-4 feet free form). Did you say I could wait because of any risk in draining? Basically I am scared reading around a lot and on the "draining a pool can be the greatest mistake a homeowner can make" or the pool store guys argument that it could damage my pebble sheen finish. . I hope that is not the case since others said, I could drain.

I am working on my signature and convincing my husband on $68 test kit. It makes sense, but I have thrown a lot of money last couple of weeks.

Anitha
12888 gallons IG pool, Pebble Sheen
Jandy ePump, 460 Sq ft Catridge filter
In Floor cleaning system

 

[anisudha21]

Also, I wanted to ask if there is an article on steps to drain a pool. I read City of Phoenix says use a 700 gallons/hr submersible pump and putting the hose to sewer clean out. I need to check for any backing up while doing this. I am wondering if I could put the hose to the regular drainage where the rain water goes out of the street.

 

[Patrick_B]

Probably not based on what you said. A lot of cities only allow backwash or drain to the sewer.

 

[anisudha21]

Thank you. Can you also please guide me on the risk associated with draining half of the pool in Phoenix weather (88 degrees). Is there a chance it will damage the pebble sheen finishing? Is there a risk of the pool shell floating? If so, will it be less since I am only draining half of the pool? Please help.

 

[pwrstrk]

You risk floating the pool if you have a high water table. Did the PB hit water when they dug out for the pool ?
As for the pebble sheen being damaged I don't know for sure. I would think not, but I could be wrong.

 

[anisudha21]

Thanks. We did not see water while digging the pool...it was just hard soil and small rocks.

 

[duraleigh]

It's pretty easy to drain/refill simultaneously and your water level will not vary.

Simply siphon or drain off water about a foot below the surface at one end and add your refill water from a hose on the pool floor at the opposite end.

 

[Charlie_R]

Now that we know what general area of the world you are in, yes, drain/refill as soon as you can. Duraleigh has given you a good solution to avoid any possible problems with your pebble sheen finish. A couple of garden hoses would be all you need for that.

 

[anisudha21]

Sorry, I am confused now. So I don't need a submersible pump? I can do it with just a hose? How do I do that?

 

[danacc]

To drain with a hose, you'll need to create a siphoning effect. This means the hose end in the pool needs to be at a higher elevation than the hose end in the sewer drain. To create the siphon, you will need to get the hose itself full of water, and keep it that way until the 2 ends are placed where you need them.

You can also use a pump, just make sure it is sucking water at about the 1-foot-down-from-surface level. You want the water to drain from the top where the old, warmer water will be, and fill at the bottom where the new, colder water will want to stay.

 

[anisudha21]

Hello again,
I just wanted to give a status update. We got a pool pump and started draining. Had a hard time opening the sewer clean out cap. Almost three hours now and it is down 2 ft. I think i can go one more feet since the hose is only that long. They said the pump is pumping at 3k gallon an hour. So i will be draining much more than half the water. I will have the garden hose on all night to fill water back. Thanks again for guiding me through the process. I will update the status tomorrow morning.

BTW I got HTH liquid chlorine from Walmart. It was $6 for 2 gallons. I was looking for the bleach and it said 8.5% concentrated and $2.98 a gallon. Then i saw the liquid chlorine on sale at same price and 10% concentration. The pool store person used to tell me that there is a shelf life for liquid chlorine, so home depot or Walmart ones are not good. I don't know the same applies for bleach also and if the one I got is good. The store person said they are not allowed to sell it if it is not good. I hope so.

 

[Charlie_R]

All forms of liquid chlorine do degrade over time, that much is true. If it is kept in a temperature controlled environment, that degradation slows down quite a bit. Chem geek has posted several times a chart that shows the rate.

You can check the date code on the bottle. This will tell you how much strength the LC may have lost over time. It will still be good, just at a lower strength. All this means is that it would take more of it to do the job intended. Your pool store guy is only partially correct. HD and Walmart LC or bleach will still be good for your pool.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Most places turn over liquid chlorine pretty quickly unless it's pretty early in the spring. I wouldn't worry about it much.

 

[anisudha21]

Thanks guys. There is almost 1.5 feet to fill now. There is a pretty think deposit of green (mustard green?) algae at the bottom, but the top layer looks clean so far. Haven't added any chloring so far. Waiting for the water to fill. keeping my fingers crossed and reading the articles again to get ready. Please let me know if you have any suggestions till the water fills. I hope the CYA levels will be in check.

 

[anisudha21]

Hello again. The pool is almost filled. It may take a few hours to get the water circulated and get a good read of CYA. Should i wait till I know the CYA levels to shock the pool?
I have a basic question on the CYA-FC chart. I was told FC 1-2 is acceptable for swimming. The article says places with high sunlight (that is us in AZ) need to keep the CYA in 50-80. The FC levels are 4-5 minimum. Isn't that high level of chlorine. The pool company's suggestion for us was to maintain the free chlorine .5 - 1 since we have Clear O3. Isn;t that the case? Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance for your time and kindness to offer help fast here in this forum, right when i needed it.