I to did the big drain today

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J

jrsarge

0
Apr 16, 2014
14
Atlanta, GA
Pool Size
22000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Turbo Cell (T-CELL-5)
I have had the pool for 5 years and each year it look ok but not has good as the year before. This year I decided to open the pool myself and take things into my own hands. Of course I immediately added pucks to the control flow unit and shocked with granules...Yeah all the wrong things to do. I did get some green out but not much.

Then I found this website. Thanks for all the info that is listed here. It gave me the info and the confidence to move ahead..kind of...

I had super high CYA levels. I was overanxious. So I thought I could cheat. Drained a mere 4 inches of water out, refilled, and thought I could blast the green away so I added 12 121 oz jugs of 8.25% chlorine bleach. Over the next few days the pool got a little clearer.

I re-read the site and deep down knew that doing a proper SLAM at my CYA levels would take a lot of chlorine and a lot more to maintain over the course of the summer.

So this morning I did my strip test.

TH 250
PH 7.2
TA 100
CYA 100+


I only have test strips but a k-2006 is on order and should be here by April 23. My strips showed CYA levels still over 100. I did my own fuzzy chemistry test. I put 4 parts of pool water in a cup and added one part fresh water. I was able to see a move to a more normal CYA reading. Added one more part fresh water and the color match the 30-50ppm CYA color chart. That indicated than I needed to remove/replace 1/3 the water in the pool.

So I took the plunge. I set my control to waste and drained out 1/3 the water. Currently refilling but off of a well that only generates 3 gals per minute. So it will take some time but I can wait it out knowing that I had to take this first step to correcting the issue created by pucks and "weekly shock".

Once I get it filled I will SLAM, do the overnight FC test, etc. Have been buying Liquid Bleach to prepare for the big day.

Thanks for the site. Wonderful to finally know how to do it right.


30,000 gal, Vinyl, IG, Hayward 1.5HP Super Pump, Hayward PRO™SERIES SAND Filter S220T, VariFlowXL control valve, AquaBot T2 Turbo
 
Welcome to TFP!

If your CYA is over 100, then you need to replace at least half the water. Strips are horrible and I would not do anything based on them. I would replace water and wait your kit arrive. Unfortunately, you will likely run out of the FAS-DPD reagents due to the need to SLAM. So order some refills now. This is why recommend the TF-100.

Looks like you have read a lot and are now on a good path. Nice work!
 
Thanks for the advice. I will order the reagents. Once the pool gets refilled I will take measurements with the kit and post the real numbers.
 
Kit and refills on hand and ready to go.

Water truck came on Friday and topped off the pool. I figure I drained 10,000 and replaced 3000 from home well and the rest for the water guys. I could see the bottom of the shallow end and about 1/3 down the slope on the deep end.

Here are the beginning readings
CYA 120
PH 7.4

I could see the bottom of the shallow end and about 1/3 down to slope into the deep end. Water was a little cloudy

I really could not afford to drain and refill again. Taking the best info I could glean from the all the TRP posts I have moved ahead. This may not be perfect but it is what i am committed to doing. My objective was to hit 40 ppm FC on the initial chlorine load and then maintain between 25 and 30 until SLAM is completed.

At noon Saturday I added one box of Borax and got my pH up to 7.6. Ran the AquaBot for 6 hours to finish cleaning all the debris off the bottom. Lots of purple **** in the bag. Aquabot was still climbing the walls at the end so that indicates that all was good.

I waited till dusk and at 5:30 PM I added Bleach per the Pool Math calculator to initially raise water to 40 ppm FC.

At 9:30 PM it took my first reading FC was 23 and CC was 2.5
Added 2 121 oz 8.25 jugs of bleach.

At 1 AM Sunday I took a second reading and was at 25 FC and CC was 0
Added 2 jugs

Sunday morning, 8:00 am bright and sunny. Pool getting clearer and can see half way down the slope at the deep end
20 FC and 0 CC. Backwashed. Added 4 jugs of Bleach to get back up to 30 ppm

2:30 PM 92 degrees air temp. Full Sun 25 FC and 0 CC. Pool clearer and can see the bottom drains. Added 2 jugs of Bleach

8:30 PM 25 FC and 0 CC. Backwashed and added 2 jugs of bleach

I have backwashed to remove water and replace it with well water. I intend to keep that up in order to keep lowering CYA.
Using the SpeedStir and SampleSizer. They work great.

I plan to continue this routine until I can hold 30 ppm overnight.
 
On the right track!

Now you know why we at TFP try to help people understand the need for accurate testing, and why we dislike strips.

You will get your pool under control now, and will know what it needs and why.

Good work!
 
So things are moving along smoothly. Pool is really clearing up. I could easily see to scoop worms off the bottom in the deep end.

During each of the past 3 12 hour time frames my FC has drop from 30 to 27. Each time I have added one jug of bleach to bring it back up to 30. It has been raining for the past 3 days. Glad to get some free water to replace the bad. I am going to keep on the SLAM until I can achieve my objective to maintain an overnight hold of FC 30 for 2 straight nights.

Does that sound OK? Or does my 120 CYA negate the possibility that I will ever get to my objective. Let me know your thoughts.
 
So, if you CYA is 120ppm, why are you not maintaining your FC at the SLAM level which is around 45ppm? {Besides the fact that it is crazy high and will require a lot of drops to test}

30ppm might work, but it will certainly be much slower.
 
Thanks for the info. Appreciate the advice. Just what I was looking for. No problem taking it to 45. I have the chlorine and the requisite amount of reagent on hand to handle the testing.
 
used the k2006 CYA testing stuff put in 7ml pool water, then 7ml tap water. mixed, pour out half, added reagent up to 14ml shook for 30 seconds poured into the measure device took the reading showed 60 multiplied times 2 = 120
 

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Pool has turned out nice. Crystal clear water. The best it has ever look.

Have had lots of rain so that has helped to reduce CYA

Measurements this morning

CYA 100
FC 14
CC 0
PH 7.4
AK 110
CH 70

I am going to keep my FC at 11.5% of CYA

Thanks for the help.
 
jrsarge said:
Pool has turned out nice. Crystal clear water. The best it has ever look.

Have had lots of rain so that has helped to reduce CYA

Measurements this morning

CYA 100
FC 14
CC 0
PH 7.4
AK 110
CH 70

I am going to keep my FC at 11.5% of CYA

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
How'd you reduce the CYA from 120 to 100 That WAS a bunch of rain? In any case you still need to drain and replace at least 50% of your water to get it to a level that won't kill your bank account with bleach purchases.Trust me, been there done that! Only difference is my CYA was over 340 when I started draining and refilling. Took 5 times of 33% drains. Replaced 40,000 gals of a 24,000 gal pool.
 
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