Trying to figure this all out! OVERWHELMED!

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ssmith1627 said:
So happy for you. It takes a lot of work for a while. You've had it worse than I did in my ordeal, that's for sure.

Are you sleeping better at night ? No more tears ??

You can brag to anyone now because you did it. You hung in there through that whole roller coaster ride. And you can now enjoy the pool and you will know just what to do next summer.

Congrats !

Steve
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Thank you! I did it with everyone's help. I was lost without you! I am sleeping better at night but I still check it often....at night and in the morning and throughout the day. Like a newborn baby! I have to make sure it's still "breathing". Always looking for "bugs". LOL! Paranoid I guess but I am enjoying it! Felt like tub water today. I've been working on the landscaping now. I told hubby he couldn't mow today cause I didn't want grass in the pool! heeeheee
 
I don't know what I am doing wrong. Water is green AGAIN! It's been 100+ here and the water temp is 90+. I shut the pump off so everything would drop to the bottom so I could vac the next day. Got in to vac and all was well. I backwashed and started her up again and when I got home yesterday, the water was green with lots of stuff on the bottom. Now I'm shocking again. I was diligent about checking everyday to make sure my FC stayed above 3. Could the heat and still water have been a starter for more algae? Is my FC lower than I think it is? Pool has been beautiful for almost 2 weeks with no trouble till now. I thought I was over this mess.

I must be doing something wrong. :hammer:
 
When the temperature gets hotter, chlorine gets consumed more quickly. That makes it easier for there to be short periods of low FC levels, typically in the late afternoon. In some pools, algae only needs a short period of lowered FC levels to get going.

One option is to simply raise your target FC level a little, so that you have more margin before problems start.
 
Butterfly said:
Like Jason said, it could just be the sun/heat using more of your FC; but, just to be safe, could you post a full set of test results?


You know we want your pool sparkly! :lol:
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These are from yesterday
Before shock
FC-3
CC-0
TC-3
Ph-7.8
TA-90
CYA-40
Water temp was 91+

Shocked to 18.5 before bed and was 16 this am. Added more bleach up to FC-22 and this afternoon came home and it was down to 14 with CC-.5. Shocked back to 20 and will check again overnight. Pool was beautiful with no trouble for at least 2 weeks. Maybe I waited too long between shocks.
 
Based on your numbers, I'd say that Jason was right on the money :lol:

Your 3 FC is the MINIMUM FC for your CYA of 40 and you probably dropped below during the afternoons before dosing.

Once you're done shocking, try maintaing a slightly higher FC as Jason said.

Example: My pool: CYA 40 - Min FC 3, Target FC 5. (just like yours :wink: )

I add enough bleach in the evening so that when I test the next evening, my FC is at least 3.5 or 4, preferably 4. Several reasons:

1) This is the worst year we have had for wind blown stuff, and

2) I used to cut it down to the wire (min FC) and was several hours late getting to the pool one evening.......that, well, ended up being 'shocking' to me :oops:

So, to be on the safe side w/ the heat and stuff getting into the pool, just bump up the FC a little and you should be okay :lol:
 
JasonLion said:
When the temperature gets hotter, chlorine gets consumed more quickly. That makes it easier for there to be short periods of low FC levels, typically in the late afternoon. In some pools, algae only needs a short period of lowered FC levels to get going.

One option is to simply raise your target FC level a little, so that you have more margin before problems start.
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I had a problem like this in my second year, the pool turned green in a matter of 30 min.
All my numbers where perfect no cc, but the pool temp was 92+..And it took me a while to figure it out, since then I just ran higher FC levels ones the Pool hits about 90..Knock on wood, no problem's at all..

You know how to knock it out, go get the greenies :mrgreen:
 
Bleach jug(s)............Here I come! It's gonna get ugly! My face that is if I see greenies in my pool again! I HATE THEM! :twisted:

Ok, I'm hearing raise my target so I will stay on it even tougher. :whip: We had a bad storm blow in this afternoon and the leaves and pinestraw clogged my skimmer so bad! I will tell you one thing..........that intex skimmer WORKS so well! I highly recommend it! It has made pool cleaning so much easier.
 

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New2Me said:
Ph-7.8

Isn't that a little high? I thought that CL was more effective a lower Ph. Ph normally runs about 7.2 to 7.5. For some reason it was high that day, not sure why. It's back down to 7.5 today. Good Luck! you've earned a clean pool and a lot of respect. Thanks. It's been a tough season for me.
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austinsmom01 said:
New2Me said:
Ph-7.8

Isn't that a little high? I thought that CL was more effective a lower Ph. Ph normally runs about 7.2 to 7.5. For some reason it was high that day, not sure why. It's back down to 7.5 today. Good Luck! you've earned a clean pool and a lot of respect. Thanks. It's been a tough season for me.
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HI Cindy! Ya hanging in there?! :wave:

Your PH was up to 7.8 because of the high amount of FC. Any time you have FC over 10 due to shocking, your PH will read high, and then drop down. Bleach has a high PH, but once its used up the PH drops back down. So as your FC drops, your PH goes back to normal. One should ignore high PH readings when shocking, retest when the FC is lower than 10 for accuracy and then make adjustments if necessary. 7.8 is ok anyway, it's the top end of normal. :-D
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
HI Cindy! Ya hanging in there?! :wave:

Your PH was up to 7.8 because of the high amount of FC. Any time you have FC over 10 due to shocking, your PH will read high, and then drop down. Bleach has a high PH, but once its used up the PH drops back down. So as your FC drops, your PH goes back to normal. One should ignore high PH readings when shocking, retest when the FC is lower than 10 for accuracy and then make adjustments if necessary. 7.8 is ok anyway, it's the top end of normal. :-D
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Hi! I was wondering where you've been. Haven't seen you post to other topics in a while. Happy to see you and thanks!
 
austinsmom01 said:
cruzmisl said:
Have you added any Borax? It may give you an added buffer agianst the algae.
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No. My Ph has been 7.5 so I didn't think I needed any. Won't it raise Ph?
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Life.... :mrgreen:

I'm still around, just not as much....

Yes, adding borates requires using muratic acid in a process to build up the borate level. There's an article telling you how to do it, I think it's called "So you wanna add Borates to your pool" or something like that.
 
I think of adding borates as an "advanced hobbyist" kind of thing to do. Right now it is probably better to focus on keeping your FC levels in the right place and not get involved in distractions like borates right now.
 
Just to update. Things are going great. Water is crystal clear and has been since my last post. (insert knocking on wood here) I've taken your advice and raised my minimun FC to 5. I like to keep it a little higher (just in case). Seems to do the trick. Only having to add bleach every other day and vacuuming when needed (about once a week). Running pump 24/7 because things are working well and I don't want to mess it up. Finally feeling confident! :goodjob:
 

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