Ready to get things cleared up... All help appreciated.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
T

Tjmac

0
Jan 21, 2014
13
Hello, I'm Thomas and new to not only this forum but, pools in general. My wife and I purchased a foreclosed home December 2013 which has an in ground concrete pool. The excitement of being a pool owner easily out weighed the fact that the pool was literally a swamp. I spent the first week of January sweeping the pool with the net and skimmer net. We were able to fill up 3 28g trash cans with leaves, algae, tree limbs and other organic matter. Week two I went to the local pool store with a water sample and was advised to shock. A total of 30 pounds of shock was added during that week. The water actually began to change. At first it turned a very dark gray color and eventually turned a very light green color but very cloudy. That same week I called over a pool cleaning service Which decided to add algaecide which then turned the water a very pretty blue but, still very cloudy.

The pump has been running 24/7 for the past 2.5 weeks and I still have cloudy water.

Today i finally purchased my personal test kit, wall brush, vacuum and hoses.

Today I also replaced all the sand in the filter as recommend by the local store.


Ph 7.5
Fc 0.5
Tc 2.0
Cc 1.5
Ta 90
Ch 360
Cya is uncertain. The kit I purchased came from Leslie's and I believe it's the Taylor k2005. Either way, when I did the test as recommend, I kept adding water to the valve and the black dot never disappeared. So I'm guessing the cya was lower than 30.


My pool is a free form concrete and according to pool store, it's approximately 18-20k gallon. Triton sand filter with new sand and 2hp cintron pump.

I hope I've included enough information which will allow someone to point me in the right direction. Any and all replies/advise will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Thomas.
 
Well, to properly follow the SLAM Process you need the have the FAS-DPD chlorine test that is found in the K-2006. You can order it separately to give you the equivalent from here: http://tftestkits.net/FAS-DPD-Chlorine- ... t-p47.html

What is all that magic powder you have been adding called "shock"? It is either adding CH (which is now in range) or CYA (doubtful as I would have thought it would be high by now). You need to switch to liquid chlorine / bleach.

Also please do not continue use of algaecides? At best they are a waste of money as they do NOT clear up algae, they attempt to prevent it. At worst, they add copper which will stain the pool and turn your hair green. All you need is chlorine.

How much of Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Note: If you have been adding a lot of cal-hypo chlorine, that could be contributing to your cloudy water. Also realize that sand filters can be slow at clearing up the cloudiness and the use of a little DE can help (but this is for the end of the SLAM process): pool-school/add_de_to_a_sand_filter
 
Jblizzle, thanks for the reply. I read most of what you recommended prior to my post, however, it seems I missed the most important. The "slam process". Thanks a bunch. I called my buddy and he has a test kit which he says will work. Picking it up tomorrow.
I have one more question before I start adding the bleach to the pool. Should I add a stabilizer/conditioner to raise cya levels prior to adding the bleach?

Also, that magical powder I've been using to shock the pool is re-fresh dry chlorinating granular. Thanks.
 
It is easier to SLAM when the CYA is only around 30ppm. Have you also already seen the extended testing instructions sticky in the testing forum? Verify you are doing the CYA test correctly and its level.

Have you ever added any tablets or Dichlor?

That powder is cal hypo and was adding a good bit of calcium to the water. You are in range now, so switch to liquid.
 
Welcome to the forum Thomas!

When you have some time, try to check out Pool School and just start with the ABC's. Using liquid Chlorine (Bleach) will have the least side effect of other products usually available to pool owners. Dont worry about the Cya until you have completed a SLAM.

Your buddie's kist may or may not be ok depending what it is. Even if it does, the best tools you can get to mange your pool are Knowledge and a good test kit. Glad you found us, and hope you enjoy the forums.
 
You have a chlorine lock. Your free chlorine is a .5 your total is a 2. Basically your total chlorine is overpowering the chlorine that is able to work. Your free chlorine is what clears up and kills bacteria. When my customers have this problem I recommend using Cal hypo. Typically 2-3 pounds per 16000 gallons (usually no more then 8 lbs for any size pool) will break up the lock and allow the chlorine to do its job.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
 
Chlorine lock is a meaningless "pool industry" buzz word, try to explain the chemistry behind it. Also cal-hypo is not going to do anything that liquid chlorine can't do better. And they have already been using a TON of cal-hypo.

Please review the methods that we teach in Pool School before posting contradictory information.
 
poolgurl88 -- Chlorine lock is a complete and total myth. Please spend some time reading here to find out what's really going on.
You're right that free chlorine is what you need, but hypochlorous acid (HOCL) is actually what kills the bacteria.
Since their CH is already 360 I wouldn't recommend using Cal-hypo because it'll just drive up the CH more.
 
Hey, how's it going? Again, thanks for all the replies and advice. I got my buddies kit today which was capable if giving me a more accurate cya reading of just below 20. I've looked at the chlorine calculator and it suggest a fc shock level of 10. Does that sound accurate? I'm just leaving Home Depot with 16 121oz jugs of bleach. Just wanting to make sure things are accurate and go as planned. Thanks.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
poolgurl88 said:
You have a chlorine lock. Your free chlorine is a .5 your total is a 2. Basically your total chlorine is overpowering the chlorine that is able to work. Your free chlorine is what clears up and kills bacteria. When my customers have this problem I recommend using Cal hypo. Typically 2-3 pounds per 16000 gallons (usually no more then 8 lbs for any size pool) will break up the lock and allow the chlorine to do its job.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I live in an area with very high CH levels. day in, and day out, local and big chain stores will sell you Cal-Hypo and have you add it to your pool until the water turns to rock. We see this over and over from people across the country and it's frustrating to say the least.

I'm not trying to just beat you up, here but your profile says you love pool chemistry, yet you suggested more Cal Hypo to the OP who clearly has enough CH already. Pool Stores do the same thing with Cya and we see more problems related to high Cya than just about anything else. If it weren't for these types of situations, we wouldn't be so critical of Pool Stores, and Pool Services, but it is never ending. Why does the industry not recognize this do you think?
 
Hello, thanks for asking Casey. We started the SLAM on the pool about a week and a half ago. The morning of day two, I could see the bottom in the shallow end of the pool. The overall appearance of the water was still a bit cloudy but definitely getting much much better. That same day we went over to the pool store to buy the vacuum and hose and actually ended up leaving with that and new sand for the filter. Replaced the sand turned on the filter and noticed we were no getting sand in the pool. Shut everything down and really hadn't had the chance to address the problem until today due to cold weather we've had here lately. Any advise on this sand issue would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Brushpup said:
I think he means now getting sand in the pool.
Click to expand...
If that is the case, did you run a long rinse cycle?...that should be done when replacing sand.

How did your laterals (tubes with slots/holes in them at the bottom of filter) look before you added the new sand?

When you added the sand, did you have some water in the filter before putting sand in there? That will protect the laterals from getting damaged due to sand being dropped from a height onto them.
 
image.jpg good evening everyone. We are finally on our way to a trouble free pool. We started the slam on our pool several weeks ago but had to stop and restart a couple of times due to the poor weather. Well, for about the past week we've been able to see just about everything in our pool, pretty darn clear. However, when you stand really close to the pool you can see thousands of little suspended particles in the water. I tried clarifier a few days ago and nothing chsnged. What is this and what should we do now? Thanks, thanks a bunch.
 
No need for clarifier's. I'm thinking you just need some more filter time. Sand filters take the longest to get things really clear after a SLAM. There is an article in pool school about adding some DE to a sand filter to help out clearing things up.

Have you passed all three criteria to stop SLAMMing ? Can you post up some test results ?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply