New home...1st time pool owner....a green pool....HELP!

Jump to latest Follow Reply
loridud

loridud

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jun 16, 2008
19
Texas
Well, We have taken the big dive of purchasing our 1st home, but only wish we could take a "real dive" into the beautiful pool! The pump broke when we were out of town, which was just before we were able to have pool school to get educated on the pool, pump/equip, etc. We came home to a swamp! Now the pump is fixed, we have pool school this Monday, but are trying to get ahead on the algae. I was recommended to this site from one of my co-workers (thanks Craig, from Parkland, in Dallas!!!) and have started reading....BUT....I need a little more help. I received my TF kit and here are my numbers:
FC=0.5
CC=1
TC=1.5
pH=7.6
TA=110
CH=130
CYA=55
Our pool is about 26K gal, irreg oval, with a half circle spa that runs over into the pool and has a sand filter. So far, we shocked (last night) with 4lbs of "Shock Plus" and repeated the same this morning. We have been running the pump since last night.
Can you help with our progress, goof-ups :shock: , and suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Hi and welcome!

You should add bleach to a shock level of 15-18 ppm and hold it there until there is no FC loss over night. If you lose more than 1 FC keep shocking with bleach. You'll wanna test a 1/2 hour or so after adding at night time and before the sun hits it in the a.m.. It wouldn't hurt to bring it back up to shock level in the morning and give it another jolt and then again at night right before bed.

Run filter 24/7 and brush your walls and floor twice daily til clear and you should be swimming soon.
 
I want to clarify....What do you mean by "shock level?" Do I add the (amts of) bleach as per the pool calculater? And, based on the pool calculator, is there any particular order that we should correct the chemical levels......ie, pH 1st, then CYA, FC, etc?
 
When shocking your pool the amount of chlorine need to kill algae gives you a false high PH reading. Yes add the amounts of bleach that is indicated by the pool calculator. If it states to add a partial jug I like to just pour the whole jug in. I hate having "part" jugs laying around the house. Get yourself a good test kit. They have an excellent one available at this web site http://www.tftestkits.com/.

There is some great reading in our "Pool School Forum" found at this web site category/pool-school/

You need to keep shocking your pool until your "free chlorine" level does not drop over night.

You need a lot of POP (Pool Owners Patience). This process is not an over night thing, it may take several days to kill and clear up the algae. Lots of brushing brushing brushing , keeping your water at "shock levels" and backwashing your filter will soon have your water crystal clear.

Good Luck!! We love to see pictures of the progress if you are able to so the "non believers" of the BBB method can see how it DOES work and saves you money !
 
Hi, Lori,

Welcome. Yeah, as Casey said, get your chlorine up to shock level (now here's where everybody screws up).....KEEP IT THERE until your pool is clear.

For your CYA level that's around 25ppm of chlorine. It will take much more chlorine than you expect but it will be the fastest way to get your pool water sparkling. You can download Jason's calculator in my signature to help you with the calculations for your pool.

Your other numbers are fine....you need chlorine....LOTS of it! :-D :-D

EDIT: Tizme, she has the same kit you do!! :lol: :lol: Lori, tell us how your water looks?
 
Can you please clarify exactly what "shock level" is? Is it the FC level? The CYA level?

The pool is a very bright green color. We have done alot of brushing so the bottom does not look as dark.

All your advice is very appreciated! :-D

(I am looking for my camera cord and then I will post the progress pics)
 
For lots of detailed advice on cleaning up a green pool see this article.

First you find out your CYA level, then you look that up to find out what an appropriate FC level is for shocking your pool. When we say "shock level", we mean raising your FC level up to the appropriate level for shocking based on your current CYA level. See this table.
 
Last question....maybe...for the night. We are having pool school on Monday to help us better learn about the pool equipment. They mentioned a possible "DE treatment." Can anybody explain what this is and if it is necessary.

Thanks
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
i can help too much seeing as i myself just started getting a hold of this whole pool thing. but i can tell you one thing you have to have is PATIENCE because thats one thing i realized when i opened my pool this year. i can tell you that you came to the right place my pool is on the BBB method and its fine now. but just thought i would assure you that the experts here will be able to help you.
 
Hey Lori, it's Craig. I found your post here. :-D How is it going? Are you keeping your FC at 18? How's the water looking? No worries. You'll get there. I promise. Glad you got that TF Test Kit too. You'll like that kit!

Like I was telling you at work the other day, this IS the think tank of pool issues. The answers will come from within the bounds of this forum.

Craig
 
Well Howdy.....I was looking for you , but there's no way I could figure out your user name. We are still working at it, and definitely making slow progress. We haven't reached the 18-20 FC level yet, but I think we will today. The water is still bright green, but it is SO much lighter than before...I have a 3rd step now....YEAH!!!

I go back to work tomorrow...it has been 2 weeks! I will kepp you updated...
Lori
 
Lori when you shock your pool to shock levels do you do it all at once or a little at a time. I have been reading your posts and I am getting a little confused when you say in your posts "almost to shock level". You should be bringing it to shock levels in one step and maintaining that level until there is no chlorine loss during the night time hours. You should be checking your chlorine levels after the sun goes down in the evening and then again first thing in the morning before the sun gets on your pool. As I said before you need to brush brush brush and keep the filter clean. Its a time factor thing and as you can see by what youve been doing so far its clearing up !!


Much POP is required ..... (Pool owner patience)

Keep up the good work. Post pics if youre able !

Good Luck !
 
Well, I am trying to post/attach a pic here, but am having trouble.

When I said, we are almost there....I think we maybe have not done things 100% correct. Last night (late!) we added 9 gallons of bleach. Per the calculator, to bring a FC of 0.5 to 18. I guess we should have retested before we went to bed. Ths morning, it was 4-5. So now we are going to add 5 more gallons....recheck in 30 minutes (is that long enough for the fluid to circulate?) and add more if needed. Then we brush throughout the day, keep the filters clean, backwash and recheck levels this evening....right?

(I promise I will get this!)
 
Yes, you need to bring shock levels up all at once in order to kill the algae. Doing it a little at a time allows the chlorine to be devoured by the algae therefore never giving the bleach a chance to kill it off. By bringing it to shock level at one time and maintaining it there for a period of time until there is no FC loss during the night time hours (this could take several days) allows the chlorine to fight the algae and not allowing the algae to establish itself again after being killed by the high chlorine level.

Try using photo bucket or webshots to post your pics with both are free and they give you the URL's to post for your pictures.

Good Luck !
 
OK...here is a few pics.....a before the swamp and 2 from this morning.

DSC02325.jpg

DSC02434.jpg

DSC02433.jpg
 
Nice pool ! (except for the algae) but that to will change! Post pics as it clears because people just never believe that the BBB method works . We love to have people share their hard work with us .....

Soon you'll be swimming again !
 
Love the first pic! The water looks good! And that hair! It's beautiful! :-D

Keep hitting it with bleach and it will clear up! :whip:

Keep posting pics too! Just because we like to watch! :mrgreen:
 

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