I hate my pool...

[Butterfly]

Raise pH first to 7.4ish. Test and confirm pH target. Raise FC to 10.

As long as you can SLAM pool at least twice daily, you will have a successful SLAM. But, the more often you can raise FC to SLAM level, the faster it will go.

 

[joby]

Thank you butterfly. Hard to shock and work. Slows the process down.
Update: This morning my FC 1 and CYA <20. My husband put in 2 gallons of 10% bleach this am and had to close the cover for a day of rain. This evening we pumped the rain off the cover and opened to clear water! I could see to the bottom easy in the deep end! Backwashed filter and turned fountain on for pH.
Tested 8:30 pm:
FC 1
CC 2
pH 6.8
CYA 25
TA 180
Started shocking with 2 gallons 10% every 1/2 hr x 3.
Tested 10:30pm
FC 6
I added 1 gallon 10% beach per pool math and will continue hourly for 2 x then off to bed.

Of note...my pool cover was dirty appearing despite cleaning off prior to opening with mild dish soap. I thought it was just stained. I mixed the rain water on top of the cover with a little bleach in case anything would get into the pool and WHOA! the bleach really cleaned up the cover. Also found a hole. ??Algae from top of my pool cover?

 

[joby]

Update 6:30 am
FC 1
CC 2
pH 7.2
Added 2 gallons 10% bleach
Will have my daughter add 2 gallons t/o day every 60-90 min.
I can't even get to shock level. This is going to take a lot of bleach.

 

[Richard320]

Update 6:30 am
FC 1
CC 2
pH 7.2
Added 2 gallons 10% bleach
Will have my daughter add 2 gallons t/o day every 60-90 min.
I can't even get to shock level. This is going to take a lot of bleach.

Hopefully, not as much as this:

 

[rick6668]

Keep at it. Are you testing in between adding 2 more gallons every 60-90 minutes?

Sounds like you were going to have your daughter add 2 gallons every 60-90 minutes without testing in between.

You are consuming a lot of chlorine right now, but that could change quickly. I wouldn't add 2 gallons blindly every hour for a whole day.

Could your chlorine be old and less strength than you think?

 

[joby]

I think I definitely opened to a CYA to Ammonia problem. Can't get my CC down but too far in to stop or drain.
Yesterday used 18 gallons bleach. When I got home from work FC was 6.5 after 2 gallons every 1-2 hours, kept plugging away with testing until
Tested at 11:30 pm
FC 15
CC 2.5 (had been 2)
dumped another gallon in and went to bed.
0600 today
FC 6.5
cc 2
Noticing less white foam this am, water is clear,
Again will have kids add bleach while I'm at work. I will prob end up using 100 gallons or more of bleach. est. that I'm at ~70 so far.
I am using the auto chlorinator with trichlor tabs (left over) thinking that will get CYA up eventually, was 25 when tested yesterday and I'm afraid to let it get high. My FC dropped 7ppm at night! Thought I was liking my pool but now I'm exhausted an and still....

 

[rick6668]

I think I definitely opened to a CYA to Ammonia problem. Can't get my CC down but too far in to stop or drain.
Yesterday used 18 gallons bleach. When I got home from work FC was 6.5 after 2 gallons every 1-2 hours, kept plugging away with testing until
Tested at 11:30 pm
FC 15
CC 2.5 (had been 2)
dumped another gallon in and went to bed.
0600 today
FC 6.5
cc 2
Noticing less white foam this am, water is clear,
Again will have kids add bleach while I'm at work. I will prob end up using 100 gallons or more of bleach. est. that I'm at ~70 so far.
I am using the auto chlorinator with trichlor tabs (left over) thinking that will get CYA up eventually, was 25 when tested yesterday and I'm afraid to let it get high. My FC dropped 7ppm at night! Thought I was liking my pool but now I'm exhausted an and still....

Wow.
I wouldn't raise your CYA while shocking. It will raise your shock level. You definitely will not want to use your trichlor tabs when you do the OCLT.
I think you are almost there. Don't give up.

Could your chlorine be old and less strength than you think?

 

[PAGirl]

You could get an aquarium ammonia test to see if it is indeed the problem.....

 

[joby]

I don't get it. "Losing the faith, green pool" guy has an AWFUL looking pool water and a CC of .5! I now have crystal clear blue water, keeping FC above 16 and can not get my CC less than 1.5 - 2. I'm in over 70 gallons of 10% not including the dichlor I used at the beginning to get my cya up. I'm keeping the pool open (cover off) and fountain on, filter on 24/7. Vacuuming daily, brushing daily. I just need to keep on track right? Should I keep my FC at a higher level? My CYA is ~ 33 today. Had to add some water today because of vacuuming to waste the other day. CYA done after filling with a little bit of water. I can't wait to see losing the faith's final pics! I read a post where the city water being pumped in the pool had a CC of 2. If that's the case. Why not let it go at a CC of 2? I think I'm just tired. I dreamt about my pool the other night. I'm sure it has something to do with adding bleach...cause that is all I do

 

[jblizzle]

Have you tried the OCLT yet? Could try that just to see what happens.

 

[rick6668]

I know it's tough right now, it seems like it will never end.

I would be tempted to bring it up to Mustard Shock Level of 22 and let it drift back down to shock level from there. It won't hurt and maybe the extra dose will speed things up.

 

[bridgman]

I don't get it. "Losing the faith, green pool" guy has an AWFUL looking pool water and a CC of .5! I now have crystal clear blue water, keeping FC above 16 and can not get my CC less than 1.5 - 2.

IIRC you are fighting ammonia, they are fighting algae... and ammonia raises CC more than anything else. That's probably all there is to it. On the other hand you have crystal clear blue water and they have a swamp. Har har !!

The CC level isn't the problem itself as much as what it indicates -- that the FC is being used up killing something. If the problem was just CC in the fill water then the FC would get rid of it fairly quickly anyways.

 

[joby]

Thank you. 7:15 pm
FC 17
CC 1.5
I removed the vented covers over the returns x 2 at the bottom of the deep-end of pool. Leaves and brushed. Do these algae traps need to be over the returns? or are they an add on?
No chems added since 7:15 pm
10:20 pm
FC 12.5
CC 1.5 - turned pink after 20-30 sec
5 ppm drop in ~ 3 hours with uplifting return covers, and brushing.
Will shock with 2 gallons and keep high shock lever.

 

[jblizzle]

Your SLAM level not that high. Why are you raising it so much?

 

[Zadd]

If you do have the ammonia issue then it can burn off very quickly then your left with your daughter dumping in a lot of bleach every 90 min. Could end up with a very high level of chlorine in your pool when you return.

 

[joby]

Wasn't able to keep shock level consistent over the weekend do to weather and grad parties. Lowest FC 9 but my goal was 16. Last CYA 30 and have turned chlorine feeder off. The mustard yellow level shock level is 18 and that should probably be my goal as recommended as above (I think I had a chlorine demand from opening to a 0 FC and 0 CYA turned to ammonia) My CC is 1-1.5, and I have left the pool open and fountain on as much as possible, closing only for rain.
Tonight's reading 8p
FC 18
CC 1 (?1.5 not sure if I just want it to be one and not seeing pink
Water is very clear
Will measure in early am. Wish me luck. I think I will fail but am interested in the FC drop. I'm close to 100 gallons of bleach although I always round up a bottle instead of partial bottles. Another thing I noticed tonight getting my sample, insidious black along the top fold of vinyl at the auto track of pool cover. I'm sure it's algae. It's not in the water but would obviously get wet from time to time and I will have to deal with this. The white return covers I was talking about earlier are polaris drain covers. One of them was rotten, the rubber was sticky and falling apart, and the other one was fine. Have a hot tub and will be researching about the TFT method for that to. Will be supporting this site.

 

[joby]

last pm
FC 18
CC 1

6:00 am
FC 7.5
CC 1

What do I do? I'm at a loss. What should my shock level be and how long should I keep it there. I will have my kids scrub the edge of auto cover. What is best for this? Bleach? I will try and attach pics. The place where I found dirt (algae does should not have touched the water) over night.

 

[joby]

Just surprised by a dead mouse in my skimmer basket. Yuck. Could this have been part of the problem?

 

[BoDarville]

Just surprised by a dead mouse in my skimmer basket. Yuck. Could this have been part of the problem?

Yes, it's a virtual certainty. I would keep SLAMming until...

• CC is 0.5 or lower;
• You pass an OCLT (ie overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less);
• And the water is clear.

 

[crek31]

Just to be sure, walk us through how you do the FC and CC drop test. Twice you mentioned waiting for it to turn pink, so I just want to be sure you are doing it correctly since you the CC results seem surprising for so long (although if the mouse was there the whole time then not surprising).