Michael in Manteca California the Central Valley

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sjmichaeld

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Oct 29, 2013
53
FC--------2ppm
CC-------.5ppm
TC-------2.5ppm
TA-------180
CYA------150-200

Just took over my pool and it was crystal blue..i just admired it not knowing immediate care was needed since it looked so great...low and behold, green algae, a thin layer all over....commence the shock...had some chemicals left over to me so i muriatic acid raised my ph and dropped 4 bags of shock. Then cleaned my cartridge filter and everything looks great again..These are my latest numbers one week after algae free. Not really interested in draining my pool to lower cya...not even sure how to drain it. Got a floater with 4 hockey pucks. Where do I go from here...Pool calculator says add 800+ oz of bleach...just pour it in and recheck every week and keep adding bleach..is that it?????
I got the test kit from here (TFP test)
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave:

sjmichaeld said:
Not really interested in draining my pool to lower cya...not even sure how to drain it. Got a floater with 4 hockey pucks. Where do I go from here
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The high CYA combined with low FC is the root cause of the algae problem. Your pool's CYA level of 150 - 200 makes it impractical to manage the water chemistry. So, a partial drain & refill is exactly the remedy that is needed. Otherwise, you will be fighting a losing battle. Why are you not interested in doing this?

sjmichaeld said:
...dropped 4 bags of shock.
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What kind of shock product did you use? If it contained dichlor, this adds about as much CYA as it does chlorine. Going forward, I would stop using the pucks as your primary chlorine source - these will raise the CYA level. In addition, do not use any "shock"-labeled products. Use liquid bleach as your primary chlorine source and for shocking (we call it SLAMming) your pool.

sjmichaeld said:
muriatic acid raised my ph
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Actually, muriatic acid lowers pH

I would suggest reading these Pool School articles to get up to speed on pool water chemistry: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry, Basic Pool Care Schedule, Recommended Pool Chemicals, How to Chlorinate Your Pool, Chlorine CYA Chart, SLAMming Your Pool.

Although you stated your location in the topic title of this post, please add this information to your profile . Your climate is important to the advice you receive. By doing this, it will appear in all your posts without you having to enter it each time. Here's how to this: Adding location to your profile and pool info to your signature.
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave: Repeating what BoDarville has already suggested....
Not really interested in draining my pool to lower cya...not even sure how to drain it. Got a floater with 4 hockey pucks.
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You may want to re-think that after you learn more about the FC/CYA relationship. Your CYA is already MUCH too high and you are only adding more with the pucks.

That's probably the reason you got that algae. With a CYA like yours, your FC should be kept around 10 ppm or you will likely get more algae.

Read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School and then look at the FC/CYA table to understand better just how low your FC is.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

I guarantee the algae is not gone ... it may look like it is for now, but it will be back.

That shock plus is dichlor, The 4 bags, only raised the FC by 10ppm (which would have gotten you to maintenance level) and added 9ppm of CYA.

Likely your CYA is higher than 200ppm, if it is only 200ppm, then your SLAM level is a FC level of 79ppm which you would have to maintain until you pass the 3 criteria to stop. Then your maintenance FC level would have to ALWAYS stay above 15ppm to guaranteed prevent algae from starting again.

You likely need to replace at least 75% of your water and then switch to ONLY liquid chlorine.
 
How much you can drain at one time is dependent on the ground water level in your area. It would be safest to drain about 1/3 at a time ... doing it three times should get you close.

If you can isolate the suction to only be from the floor, then you may be able to use your pool pump to drain the water (maybe remove your cartridge from the filter and hook a hose up to the filter drain? Or maybe you have a hose bib right after the pump?

If none of those, you can rent or buy a submersible pump.

The cost depends on how much your water costs. Mine is really cheap, so this would cost me < $20, but yours is likely more could be $100-200 in water.

There really is not a better alternative.
 
so drain 1/3 of my pool then refill to normal level then repeat two more times? And just refill with the hose, how long would I have to leave it running? How can i find out if I can isolate from only the floor. I really no nothing at all about pools, pumps, drains, I am completely green. I wouldnt even know where to drain the water. If you can give me a specific step by step guide that would be very helpful.
 
Yes, you would drain 1/3 and fill and repeat twice. Then circulate the water for at least an hour and then retest the CYA to see if you need to do it again. Not sure what you mean about how long to "leave it running" ... if you mean the hose, then you run it until the pool is full ;)

Well, I can not tell you where you can drain the water too as some municipalities have rules. You can use it to water your grass / plants.

Post up a picture of your equipment and valves if you do not understand them.
 

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Is it better to drain my pool now in the winter or just wait for summer to do this..also is it better to drain my pool now in the winter and leave it empty until summer since i will not be using it and i can save on the energy costs during the winter months.
also i heard that draining your pool can cause damage to the pool from the pressure on the walls etc, is this just myth or do i need to know more about my pool before i drain it
 
The pool can float out of the ground if you drain it and have shallow ground water. If the ground water is deep, then you could drain the entire pool (I did that to mine and that is what is done to re-plaster). Even with high ground water, draining only 1/3 at a time should be safe.

Do you actually close the pool in winter? If not, then you should be running the pump daily and maintaining the chemistry.

If you just want to ignore the pool for now and deal with draining the water and starting over in the spring, that is fine. Although depending on your weather you have to decide if you need to close the pool down or should run the pump if the weather temporarily gets cold.
 
I have two places the pool overflows into and under the cement that is then accessible through the caps. When i take one cap off it has a valve set up that looks like the inside of a toilet bowl. the water is so dark i cant see through it. I am guessing that this is where the level is and when it gets too low it turns water on to keep the water level up? does this sound right. And under the second cap is a basket that was full of leaves. I emptied that and the water in there is very gross looking. After i took out the basket there is another removable contraption that is a white cylinder that has a sliding cap. I am not sure what this is or what it does. It seems to fit under the basket. Frustration are mounting I dont want to give up and just call a pool guy. i am hoping this site is a one stop place for me, but it seems as if this is only the case for experienced people. As a novice such as myself is easily confused and can not seem to get the answers i need.
 
Sounds like the first you mentioned is an auto-fill valve which will keep the pool full. And the second one is the skimmmer (which you should be checking often and keeping empty).

The contraption under the skimmer basket is called a float diverter valve. That is how you adjust the amount of suction comes from the floor drain instead of the skimmer. So, this means that you can not likely use the pool pump to drain the water below the skimmer since that float diverter does not usually isolate the floor suction well enough.

Like I said before, add pictures if you need help figuring out the equipment and valves.

Most pool companies do not understand the CYA/FC relationship, so calling them may not help you get the pool cleared up.

What are your questions that you still need answers to? We all started in the forum not knowing much of anything.
 
The two areas where the float valve and the skimmer are very dirty. Is this a concern? Do I clean this water or leave it be?
How do I know if the suction is adjusted correctly?
How do I adjust it?
If I need to drain 75% of my water to reach optimum cya levels, why drain 1/3 at a time?
Why not drain 75% and refill and be done?
Water company said it would only cost about $50 so I'm ok with doing this I just want to make sure I do it right.
 
Answers in Red below.

sjmichaeld said:
The two areas where the float valve and the skimmer are very dirty. Is this a concern? Do I clean this water or leave it be?

If there was adequate FC they would be clean.

How do I know if the suction is adjusted correctly?
How do I adjust it?

Post pictures of the valves. If you do not have valves by the pump, then all your water is likely going through the skimmer. You do not need water coming from the floor (some pools have no floor drains). So just open the flap up for now. You can not use your pump to drain the water.

If I need to drain 75% of my water to reach optimum cya levels, why drain 1/3 at a time?
Why not drain 75% and refill and be done?

You can if you KNOW that you do not have high ground water. Otherwise if you drain too much you can damage the pool.

Water company said it would only cost about $50 so I'm ok with doing this I just want to make sure I do it right.
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