How long do I need to use POP ?

Jul 7, 2011
151
N. Ga Mountains
Its been a while since I have been on here and the last was all about all my frozen, broken plumbing. That is all fixed, and pool is open and running. Have a new pump, Hayward 1.5 hp and all new plumbing. Added brand new liner last year.

However opened to dark green pool last Friday. Using Taylor test Kit 100 my CYA is now at 45-50, PH is at 7.6, TA is 50, FC is at 24 as I have been doing the slamming process for the last 6 days. I have scooped about 20 leaf nets of leaves from the pool and am now just getting a few leaves in the net when I drag the net around the bottom.

I have been keeping thee FC at no less than 20. I am using the Pool Math calculator and am now on my 22nd 181 oz bottle of bleach. Pool is still a fairly dark green. Cannot see the bottom. However I can barely make out the 4th step on the stairs.. In the beginning I could only see the 2nd step (barely). I am adding 2 cups of DE to my sand filter and backwashing when the pressure hits around 19 or 20, Normal is 14 lbs.

So...what else can I do? I cant get a new sand filter and really am wondering if there is something wrong with the filter or do I just need more POP? Today is the 6th day.

Also, the bleach has turned my vacuum, net pole from a bright blue to a very light blue where it goes in the water...is it doing that to my new liner also? Getting concerned and running low on POP...help please!!
:(

- - - Updated - - -

oh...I am not running the SWG and need to add 312 lbs of salt before I do..Can I add that now or do I wait until the pool is clear? Thanks again for listening and helping us all!
 
So...what else can I do?
The candid answer is, "Nothing".

You have started the SLAM process very well and you simply have to stick with it until completion. You could open your sand filter and clean the surface of the sand bed and inspect and clean the sand but there is no need to buy new sand or certainly not a new filter.....yours is doing exactly what filters are supposed to do.

Bleaching the poles is the first report I've seen on TFP for the last seven years. I would suggest the pole is the issue.
 
The only thing I will add to Dave's advice to you is to BRUSH your pool daily until you're clear. It will help dislodge any gunk from the sides and get it into suspension so your filter can grab it and it will open any biofilms on the algae to help kill it!
 
As long as it takes. It didn't load up with crud and turn green and murky in a mere six days.

If it's any consolation, think of the CYA test tube. The graduations aren't equally spaced. from 50 to 100 is the same distance as 20 to 30. Both your murky pool and the CYA test deal with cloudiness, right? So you're making progress, it's just not especially visible yet.

I'd wait to add salt since you're still backwashing frequently. Why add salt just to pump it out the waste pipe?
 
good point about pumping out the salt thru waste...ok... i will try to keep up with patience. I am just very anxious. I am actually one of those people who use my pool every day and love it. Should I be vacuuming to waste every day at this point or do I wait until I can see the bottom?
 
I wouldn't vacuum to waste unless you're still getting huge amounts of stuff up. If the filter clogs up after ten minutes of vacuuming, that's a sign that you still have lots of stuff. But if it rises a little bit and you can keep filtering another few hours after vacuuming before you need to backwash, just let the filter do its job.

Hey, all that brushing tightens and tones your upper arms, huh? Other women pay big money to go to a gym to do it! :mrgreen:
 

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Ok. It is day 11 and I now have my chlorine at 30. Pool is still green. For the last 10 days it has never been below 20. I have been reading all of these posts and it seems like I should at least be getting to an aqua color. I have brushed and vacuumed every day. Actually only vacuumed daily for the lst 4 days. Backwash after every vacuum and I can see the 4 th step but the bottom is nowhere in sight. Only picking up an occasional leaf on the bottom. I am also adding de (2 cups) to the filter and in the evening backwashing again and adding de for the night. I am really feeling like my pool is just not responding at all. Then I read post with a bigger pool and they went from green to blue in 5 days even if it's cloudy. I am afraid to raise the chlorine any higher. I am only losing 2 to 3 on the chlorine overnight and usually pool math is telling me to add 96 oz of bleach in the AM to bring it back to 20. Yesterday I decided what the heck I'll add 2 of the 181 oz bottles. It bought the chlorine to 30. Pool still green and I am on my 2 nod bottle of 871 for testing. I double checked cya and it is at 40. Please tell me how to at least get to aqua and cloudy from ugly green. I am on my way to walmart to get 15 more bottles of bleach I have gone thru 40. Thanks in advance for your help
 
One thing I want to point out is your FC level of 30 is too high for a CYA level of 40. Your wasting bleach at that level. SLAM level for 40 is 16 and 20 is the highest I would go with FC.
Your are running pump 24/7 correct ?
 
Yes we cleaned the filter sand. I did not add any bleach today as the FC level is at 26 since last night. On the stairs, they are wedding cake with 2 sand bags that I am sure are green. Do I need to get in and try to lift them out? Also the stairs? Thanks again for all your quick responses. I'm getting very discouraged but hangin in there. It's way too expensive to drain and refill and we just put in a new liner and pump last season so the water is fairly new so to speak. Also right now I need 312 lbs of salt once it's up and running. If I drained I'd need a whole lot more of that too. So do I need to get in the green swamp and try to pull out sand bags and stairs? I guess at the end of this season I'll pull all of that out.
 
Yes we cleaned the filter sand. I did not add any bleach today as the FC level is at 26 since last night. On the stairs, they are wedding cake with 2 sand bags that I am sure are green. Do I need to get in and try to lift them out? Also the stairs? Thanks again for all your quick responses. I'm getting very discouraged but hangin in there. It's way too expensive to drain and refill and we just put in a new liner and pump last season so the water is fairly new so to speak. Also right now I need 312 lbs of salt once it's up and running. If I drained I'd need a whole lot more of that too. So do I need to get in the green swamp and try to pull out sand bags and stairs? I guess at the end of this season I'll pull all of that out.
Oh, yeah! Steps are a breeding ground for algae. You'll probably find a gooey chunky mess inside.
 
What is your fill source for water? Well? Municipal?
 
Municipal water. It is really holding the chlorine level pretty well and I'm only getting like .5 to 1 on cc,s. I'm getting the stairs and sandbags out today while I have my daughter in law here to help me. I think they might be kinda heavy for me by myself. Once I get them to the top of the water I still have to get them out of the pool. I am 5 ' 3" and not overly hefty. My daughter in law however is 5' 8" and a big girl. She works construction so well get it done. Hubby has a very bad heart so no help there. He did just go get us mcdonalds though so he's pretty awesome! I'll let you know how it goes once all that mess is out of the pool. ...if I don't freeze while I'm in there. Lol
 
Municipal water. It is really holding the chlorine level pretty well and I'm only getting like .5 to 1 on cc,s. I'm getting the stairs and sandbags out today while I have my daughter in law here to help me. I think they might be kinda heavy for me by myself. Once I get them to the top of the water I still have to get them out of the pool. I am 5 ' 3" and not overly hefty. My daughter in law however is 5' 8" and a big girl. She works construction so well get it done. Hubby has a very bad heart so no help there. He did just go get us mcdonalds though so he's pretty awesome! I'll let you know how it goes once all that mess is out of the pool. ...if I don't freeze while I'm in there. Lol
If it's a gross, slimy mess, post pictures! You can add to the body of knowledge here that way... a picture is worth a thousand words and all that.
 

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