opening pool

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jodyliebing

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Jun 14, 2012
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Auburn Indiana
Hi Everyone and Happy Spring:). Well, I am getting ready to open my pool next Mon and I peeked under the cover yesterday... Well, I have a green slimy swamp. Not really sure what happened over the winter but there you have it. Only my second time opening my pool and last time was easy, no algea. My question is what do I do first???? Not sure how to deal with this one?? ( I will be using BBB).
 
What Jason said, but with a small caveat...

Those guidelines in Pool Math are for clear water, not swamps. Don't just plug in numbers and start pouring stuff in the pool. If CYA is lower than you want, don't be in a hurry to raise it. The SLAM works better at lower CYA levels. Likewise, low Calcium is no concern with a vinyl pool. TA is unimportant as long as you aren't reading zero. It gets fixed last.

Take pictures! We like to watch the transformation.
 
OK!! CYA was a bit high last year, hoping with all the fill from snow it may have lowered a bit more!! So basically first order of business is SLAM? I will DEF take pics, last year you all were SOOO helpful. Not sure if I will be able to see the bottom, I know there is alot of debris in there. Should I not worry about vacuuming right away, or try to start cleaning the bottom??
 
It is certainly possible for the CYA to be converted to ammonia.

Now follow the SLAM Process. You are going to have to get rid of the ammonia with a lot of chlorine (it will be consumed VERY fast) once the CC seems to be mostly gone then get 20-30ppm of CYA in the pool and finish the SLAM.
 
Use your leaf rake and rake out all the debris that you can from the bottom before starting.

jodyliebing said:
OK!! CYA was a bit high last year, hoping with all the fill from snow it may have lowered a bit more!! So basically first order of business is SLAM? I will DEF take pics, last year you all were SOOO helpful. Not sure if I will be able to see the bottom, I know there is alot of debris in there. Should I not worry about vacuuming right away, or try to start cleaning the bottom??
Click to expand...
 
Ok. Well my reagent is about 9 months old and it did get cold over the winter, is there a chance it may be bad?? But then why such a high ammonia reading? If I truly dont have any stablizer in the pool when I open it could I just use the dichlor to SLAM instead of bleach to bring cya levels up at the same time?? If so what would be the best to use, I also have the pucks that I use to use.
 
It isn't cold during storage over the winter that matters, it is a cold water sample when doing the CYA test that can throw things off.

There is a fairly common kind of soil bacteria that coverts CYA into ammonia. It can sometimes grow in the water when the pool is winterized, lowering your CYA level and raising your ammonia level. When that happens, it takes massive amounts of chlorine to get rid of the ammonia. That should be done before you do anything else other than adjust PH (if needed).

You can use granular dichlor or trichlor tablets to raise the CYA level, but don't do that until you can hold an FC level for at least an hour. For the initial rounds of getting rid of the ammonia you want to use something that does not contain CYA. Household bleach (or liquid chlorine) is the best choice. If you use too much chlorine that contains CYA, your CYA level will go up too high. And right at the start there is still bacteria in the water that could convert the CYA into even more ammonia.
 

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that makes sense!! I tested my cya 4 times and last time the water was def warm. OK so the way I understand it is to lower my ph which I will do with muratic acid... Bring the pool up to SLAM which if I am calculating correct with no CYA would be 12? Make sure I am holding FC at least an hour.. then continue to SLAM using dichlor untill clear and losing no chlorine overnight???
 
would it be reasonable to assume that I will add enough bleach to SLAM, test in 1 hour and have 0? If so would it also be reasonable to assume that I may be adding 4 bottles every hour untill I start to see a reading?? Also wondering if I use the bag shock that does not contain CYA (the kind that just raises the hardness level) would that work considering my hardness level is not on the high side at all(110)? Just loooking at any options I may have short of buying a truckload of bleach. I plan on using bleach to maintain thru the year though.
 
jodyliebing said:
Once I am holding chlorine what is the best method to raise CYA?
Click to expand...

um...short answer is: Add CYA :D

You can buy it in 4 pound bottles called Stabilizer at most big box hardware stores or a pool store. Just double check and read the ingredients and make sure it says Cyanuric Acid.

Use PoolMath to help you know how much to add based on your desired goal. Then only put in 1/2 to 2/3rds that amount and wait a week or so and then retest. CYA is easy to add but difficult to remove so you don't want to overdose it at all. The best method is to pour the granules into a sport sock, tie it off and hang it from a piece of pool noodle (or an X made of pool noodles so it can't float over and sit against the wall) and let it float around until dissolved. Smoosh on the sock once in a while and you'll help speed the dissolve up. Even though it won't show up on your test for a week or so, assume it is in there and use that amount when considering how much bleach you need.
 
Well every day I peek under the cover and today I really can only see a few inches in, ITS ICKY. Unfortunately I cant open the pool untill Monday. Ok so here is the plan (and the dilema) With CYA of 0 I calculate that SLAM level for me is 12 which is about 2 128 ox bottles of 10% bleach. I will be able to closely moniter the levels on Monday thru the day and evening adding as needed, NOW the dilema, tuesday I will need to return to work.I am afraid of not maintaining the shock level during the day!! Could I just (overdose) in the morning say maybe double? Pretty nervous only second spring with new pool. I also cant see the bottom to really start cleaning the leaves out!!! This will be my last year for a mesh cover!!! I am going with the cheap solid cover with water bags. What a waste of money.
 
If CYA is truly 0, then you should not raise the FC above 5ppm. But, if CYA is just < 20ppm and not 0, then SLAM level is 10ppm.

BUT, since you believe there is ammonia in the water, the FC is going to be consumed very quickly. I would just shoot for 10ppm until the CC are gone and you start to maintain FC, then would get about 30ppm of CYA in the water and finish the SLAM.
 
Thank you.I do believe my CYA is 0 . Could you tell me why I should not raise my FC above 5? Any advise on keeping levels up (If I cant accomplish the first day) during the day when I cant be there? I have just heard that with ammonia it will take ALOT of bleach. Seems if I am only adding a gallon at a time it could take days. ( BTW I did do an ammonia test also and it was GREEN!! the harmful level) YIKES
 
With 0 (truely 0) CYA, over 5ppm FC is going to get harsh and possibly cause damage to your liner if maintained higher.

But, with ammonia in the water the FC will not last long enough to cause any problems. So, I would calculate dosages for a FC of 10ppm, and then retest in 30 minutes and add more bleach as needed to get back to 10ppm. If you do this, you should be able to get the ammonia taken care of in less than a day.

See an example here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/73038-Trouble-clearing-pool?p=626380&viewfull=1#post626380
 

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