Cleaning up a 2 year old pool - holy moly!!!

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Kamil

Kamil

0
Nov 2, 2013
45
Lancaster, PA
Hello everyone... I'm new to the forum (well I joined a while back... but not much posts) I was waiting on the short sale on this house... this is my first pool so I'm pretty new to this... I did watch a lot of YouTube videos to learn about balancing water.

We finally bought this house that had a neglected pool... WOW what a swamp it was... the winter cover was sinking, shredded by the bricks and cement blocks the previous owner used for "trying" to hold it down... plus I pulled out 13 bricks (so far) out of the shallow end of this pool. Tons of leaves on the bottom... along with earth worms and other small creatures. I dumped a bunch of chlorine into it to get rig of the algae, added algaecide, replaced the multi-port DVK-7 valve on the sand filter, replaced 350 lbs. of sand, added 12 lbs. of baking soda to raise TA, added 6 lbs. of Cyanuric Acid, new skimmer baskets, new skimmer weirs, and bunch of other small items/materials. The pool is looking a lot better... I also used a leaf bagger to remove the leaves from the bottom. The water is blue and still cloudy but it's getting better... I've been running the pump almost 24/7 for the past 5 days. I'm going to buy one of those "in-line" filters for the pool vacuum lines so I can vacuum the bottom again... last time the skimmer basket kept getting clogged with leaves and junk (the vacuum has an adapter that connects to the skimmer). I also added some clarifier to help with the cloudiness. So now I guess I need to keep the FC high until all the algae is gone (sometimes I will see some green algae floating on the top... they are small chunks that break apart if I try to fish them out with the net). I will also monitor the other chemicals. Any tips or recommendations for clearing up the water would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

FC = 20 (slamming the pool)
pH = 7.5
TA = 89
CH = 230
CYA = 10 (I will add more Cyanuric Acid to get it to 30)

I will also take a new sample to the pool shop and get new test results. I have the Taylor K-2006 (FAS-DPD) kit and also the Poolmaster 5-way test kit. I mainly use the K-2006 kit for testing. (the 5-way kit was my first one) Should I also get the K-2006 (Complete) Kit? or is that not necessary since I have the FAS-DPD kit?

Thanks,
 
Sounds like you generally are on the right track (although there was no need for algaecide or clarifier).

I would only use the K-2006 and no point in having the pool store test the water ... that just generally results in confusion. I am not sure what the difference between the K-2006 FAS-DPD and the K-2006 Complete kits are :scratch:

At this point you just want to focus on following the SLAM Process and remember that you can not test the pH when the FC > 10ppm.

Right now your FC is WAY higher than it should be if your CYA is truly only 10ppm (how did you measure that?) See the FC/CYA Chart. Are you using PoolMath to calculate your dosages?
 
The pool shop tested the CYA... when I tested it, it looks like it's around 40.. it's hard to tell when that black dot disappears... is there another easier and more accurate way to test CYA? I don't think there was any CYA in there when I

I used the pool calculator to get the dosages. Thanks for the tips... I will keep the FC at the levels shown on the FC/CYA Chart

Thanks,
 
Kamil said:
The pool shop tested the CYA... when I tested it, it looks like it's around 40.. it's hard to tell when that black dot disappears... is there another easier and more accurate way to test CYA? I don't think there was any CYA in there when I

I used the pool calculator to get the dosages. Thanks for the tips... I will keep the FC at the levels shown on the FC/CYA Chart

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Trust yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxaqoW-_MCs
 
If you are at 40ppm, then you should not add any more. Trust your own tests, especially for the CYA. Many threads that talk about the pool stores inability to test the CYA consistently or accurately.
 
Welcome Kamil. Again, trust your test results and continue to read Pool School. No reason to look elsewhere for everything you need to know, which is in pool school.
 
Thank you all for great advice. I'm going to the new house today to test the CYA. (We have not moved, yet) I will also make sure the FC is at the proper level. Last night I checked the FC and it was at 16 ppm. Then I will buy one of those in-line filters for my pool vacuum and clean the bottom (the shallow end of the pool has lots of sediment and I think the deep end still might have some leaves down there... can't see the bottom, yet). Should I close the "main drain" and the "far skimmer" valve when I have the vacuum hose connected to the "near skimmer"? I'm thinking... this way I can minimize wasting water when I'm vacuuming to waste. Last time I vacuumed, I had all valves open and the water level was decreasing pretty fast. I added water after, right now the water level is about 0.5" above the marks on the skimmers. I guess I will add more water as I'm vacuuming. Is that what you normally do? Thank you again... I really like this forum and its members.
 
It's a personal preference, but when I vacuum to "waste", I lose about 90 gpm. My well has a hard time recovering from that so I simply leave the multi port on "filter". You accomplish almost the same thing with FAR, FAR less water loss.

Of course, you will have to backwash maybe more than once if you do that but, for my situation at least, the water conservation is far more important.
 
Here is what my pool looks like now... I still need to vacuum the bottom:

CYA=35
FC = 16
CC = .5


Still keeping it at shock level until it clears up. Running filter 24/7





That pipe you see on the right side is what the previous owner installed for the return line because the original return lines are leaking.

Skimmers and the main drain are going to the pump and then to the filter, and finally to the return PVC pipe on the surface there.

I'll post more pictures showing the progress. Thanks everyone for your help.
 

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Looks like you are coming right along Kamil! Keep SLAMing and filtering and you should clear up here very soon! :cool:
 
Ok cool. I'll keep SLAMing it. I also noticed that the pool edge was painted white and now the paint is chipping off. Do you guys recommend that I repaint the white edge? What type of paint should I use?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Here is a closer look.

qyqyzeqy.jpg



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I'm sorry I didn't get back to you... I have no idea so at least I'll :bump: your thread!
 
As someone in the same boat as you in regards to the pool itself (no paint issue for me), one piece of advice I can give is to deep clean by our filter. Our pool had been neglected by the previous owner for an unknown time and there was no cover in place. I was able to get to the cloudy water stage pretty quickly but couldn't get past it until I deep cleaned my filter. I removed a massive quantity of junk and after that the pool started clearing up again. I have to assume that during the stagnant time frame the junk in the filter grew massive amounts of bacteria walling part of the filter off, plus back washing it with very dirty water for the first bit of cleaning set the maximum clean water level for the filter. After a few days of further filtering it was sparkling clear.
 
The pool is looking better... I'll post some pics when I get a chance. I can see the pattern on the bottom of the shallow end... there is a concrete stone in the deep end (20" x 7" x 3") this stone was used by the previous owner to hold the winter cover down, but the cover dragged it into the pool. Not sure I can pull it out until I actually dive in the water and pull it out then. What do you guys think about using "Instant Liquid Chlorine" (73% cal-hypo) vs. liquid (12.5 % sodium hypo). The instant stuff is a bit more expensive but easier to use/handle. I buy the 12.5% liquid chlorine from the pool store for about $15 for a 5gal jug. The powder 73% stuff I can get for $20 for about 4 lbs. I calculated that 1 gal vs. 1 lb. 7 oz. is $3 vs. $5. So liquid is cheaper. I need a better way to handle the 5 gal liquid chlorine jugs... maybe I can pour them into some sort of container that has a valve, this way it will be easier to fill the bucket. Right now when I try to pour the chlorine, it drips all over the place, so it's kinda messy. Do you guys just use a funnel and pour the chlorine into a smaller bucket/jug? I'll probably need to get a measuring cup... so far I was using a 1 gal bleach bottle to measure out the chlorine.
 
I buy my bleach at WalMart and pour from the jug to the pool. We can't advise on using cal hypo unless you post your test results. Vinyl lined pools don't need calcium so you're capped at a limit of 200ppm. It can cloud the water and if your pH goes up and the calcium is high, it can scale your liner up.
 

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