Ready to jump in and drown in my swamp

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I have been a member for a few days and have been trying to follow your guidelines but have had no luck so far. I really am at the end of my rope. I have a 30,000 gal swamp in the back yard that my wife wants to drain. I have been working 12 hr days so I have not been able to get to the store for some real readings and I don't have the proper test kit yet, I should on Thursday.

Here's my set up:

30,000 gal. vinyl pool
Cristal Flo filter
New Zeosand in the filter

I have been attacking my pool all this week and have gotten nowhere. Without my CYA reading I feel like I am lost. I have been adding 3 -4 gal of 10% chlorine per day, sometimes more trying to get my chlorine levels to stay high as prescribed.

Could I be having some of this problem from my new Zeosand in the filterl I swapped out the sane myself because the water was cloudy (on advice of my 'pool expert salesman') .

I am heading to the store for the distilled water to see what readings I can get for chlorine. Maybe I just haven't gotten it to shock level.

This a rambling email because I am so lost on this. The summer will be over before I get this handled..

Please help, my wife (and I) can't take this swamp anymore!!!

Edge
 
All I can say is to keep adding the chlorine until you get some numbers to see where you are.

How long has it been green?

If you just filled it, with public water or well water?

What have you added besides chlorine and how much?

Have you had any numbers from a pool store since you won't get the new test kit for awhile?

If you haven't added any CYA to the water, I think it would be safe to add about 4 lbs until it can tested. If it is new water, I think it is safe to add 6 to 8 lbs.

Also.... I would think twice or even three times before I started to drain any water: and never more that a foot below the skimmers. Not knowing where or how your water table is, that would be your last resort. Without any numbers, it is hard to know where you are. For now, keep up with the chlorine.
 
For a 30K gallon pool, each gallon of 10% will add about 3.3ppm to your chlorine, so it would take about 5 gallons to get to minimum shock level. The part most people don't realize is that almost all of that chlorine will be gone in 3 or 4 hours, so you have to hit it again. Enough will be gone at the end of an hour to make it worthwhile checking and adding more. The further along in the process you get, the longer the chlorine will hold, but the first day it is really key to hit it hard and stay after it.
 
Edge,

Welcome to the forum. I agree with your assesment....you are pretty much floundering until you can get meaningful test results.

I would suggest you put everything on hold until you can properly test your water.

I'm about 90% sure your water has been problematic for a pretty good while so a few more days won't hurt.

Meanwhile, you are gonna' need a lot of chlorine so stock up (maybe 20 gallons or so). Then, post your test results and we'll help you get your pool clear.

Anything without test results is a complete guess and will usually waste time and money.

Do not expect your pool to clear overnight even with good testing. It is a process....not an event. Plan on a week or so from the day you begin your serious effort.
 
I'm new to this forum, but I have learned so much from it. If I can offer any advice, let me assure you one month ago I was where you are now. Every day was a battle with a swamp green, nasty pool that defied anything we did to it. Between wanting to "jump in and drown in my swamp", my family was at risk of us throwing each other in to drown! I was a pool store addict, buying "whatever" they shoved my way with a "try this and if it doesn't work...". I somehow luckily found this site and began following advice given to others. I read, read, and reread. At first, there seemed to be no progress and I was a daily fixture on Wal-Mart's bleach aisle. But I stayed with it, ordered a good test kit, and finally, have a pool that makes it all worthwhile. There were some technical issues that had to be addressed, but I never would have been able to make the kind of progress I did without this forum. Everything's not perfect yet, but I'm making up for lost pool time and swimming every day!
Stay with it, don't give up and remember...it takes time!!!

jeannebbooks
18,000 (really 24,000) gallons inground irregular shape,flagstone coping, Sundeck, AquaLogic SWG, Polaris 380, Jandy CL 340 filter, Jandy pump, Rico Rock and flagstone waterfall with new Hayward Power Flo LX pump replacing a Pentair Dynamo.

new and learning!
South Louisiana
 
Thak you for all of your encouraging words. I will try to bump up my test kit to tomorrow. I'll have to ask the wife about the $$.

To give a little bit more info, I have already added 12 lbs of CYA per the 'pool experts' I was afraid that I now have too much in the pool. We'll see once we get some test numbers!

Other answers to your questions -

It has been green for 3 weeks now, swampy green for a week and a half.

It was not filled recently.

I haven't wanted to drain anything but it is a tempting 'solution' to all the frustration.

I will continue on, bouyed by your words (and the scum on the pool! just kidding!!!)



Edge

ps - I am already recommending people to this site, I am that confident that things will work out great!!!
 
Edge said:
I haven't wanted to drain anything but it is a tempting 'solution' to all the frustration.
Click to expand...


Do NOT drain the pool! You will have more problems than green swampy water... like NO water cuz your liner will shrink! :shock: And so will your wallet... cuz you'll be buying a new liner! :hammer:

Get the TF 100. You won't be sorry! I'm not! :mrgreen:
 
I used to be in your flip flops. I'm telling you....hundreds of dollars down the drain, literally, thanks to the pool stealers. The best money I EVER spent was on my TF-100 test kit. It is the most essential item, next to the pool (and chlorine) that a pool owner can have. It allows you to have complete control over your pool, defeat the swamp ONCE AND FOR ALL, and the knowledge and ability to deal with anything that comes your way. YOU WON'T regret a good test kit. You will regret not doing it sooner, IMHO.

Welcome to TFP, by the way :wave:
 
heikejohn said:
Would it not make more sense to kill the algea before adding all the CYA to the pool? What is the shock level with 12 pounds of stabilizer? And what was the CYA level before?
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with you! All that algae will require backwashing the filter, possibly frequently, which only results in a lower CYA anyway. So I would postpone the CYA for a few days, at least till the green is gone and it starts to clear up somewhat.

Good point!
 

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Can you take a water sample to the pool store and have them test it. At least you would have some numbers to work with and we could get you started at getting the pool cleared up until your test kit arrives and and you can run your own numbers. Just tell the PS people you have chemicals at home you just to need to know what to add....
 
Hang there!. Don't give up. I had a perfectly clear pool last year because of the great advice on this site. Be very diligent to read and follow these guys' directions. I am struggling right now with some algea but I following the advice on this forum and know I will get through better than if I went to the pool store.

So read up and take the advice people offer. Go step and step and you (and myself) will be back to swimming.
:goodjob:
 
Just got back from getting the water tested. They wouldn't test it since the chlorine level is so high (wondered how that happened???). Anywho, I got them to give me a CYA reading and then came back and did some testing on my own to give you all the results. Here, to the best of my abilities, is what I came up with:

FC - 10
PH - 7.2
TA -80
CH - 250
CYA - 50 (although I had to pry it out of the 'expert')

Feeling a little better about things. I plug the numbers into the calculator fro a 30,000 gal. and come up with 2 gal. of 10% to get me to shock level. Does that sound right? I think that I am starting to see a change already but had been guessing on shock level.

I am going back outside to vacuum and backwash. Hopefully I will have received some more great advice and instructions, along with the encouraging words.


Edge


In case you didn't get my drift, all of you are the best!! :goodjob:
 
Edge said:
Just got back from getting the water tested. They wouldn't test it since the chlorine level is so high (wondered how that happened???). Anywho, I got them to give me a CYA reading and then came back and did some testing on my own to give you all the results. Here, to the best of my abilities, is what I came up with:

FC - 10
PH - 7.2
TA -80
CH - 250
CYA - 50 (although I had to pry it out of the 'expert')

Feeling a little better about things. I plug the numbers into the calculator fro a 30,000 gal. and come up with 2 gal. of 10% to get me to shock level. Does that sound right? I think that I am starting to see a change already but had been guessing on shock level.

I am going back outside to vacuum and backwash. Hopefully I will have received some more great advice and instructions, along with the encouraging words.


Edge

In case you didn't get my drift, all of you are the best!! :goodjob:
Click to expand...

Well, if your CYA is 50, and you are using 10% bleach, I calculated it would take almost 3 gallons of 10% to get you to 20ppm, which is shock level for a CYA of 50.

Glad you're feeling better about this....it's gonna be fine!
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
Edge

Well, if your CYA is 50, and you are using 10% bleach, I calculated it would take almost 3 gallons of 10% to get you to 20ppm, which is shock level for a CYA of 50.
Click to expand...

I was using the pool calculator which gives me a recommendation of 16 for shock level. I forgot to check the other chart since I have the pool calculator bookmarked on my browser.

I am proceding with going to 20 for shock level.

Thanks Mom!
 
What kinda pool store wont test for chlorine no matter how high it is ? That makes no sense !!
Did they try to sell you any useless chemicals even though they wouldnt test your chlorine ?

Well at least now you have some numbers to work with to get you going. Keep brushing the pool and back washing the filter and it will be clear in no time ...
 
TizMe said:
What kinda pool store wont test for chlorine no matter how high it is ? That makes no sense !!
Did they try to sell you any useless chemicals even though they wouldnt test your chlorine ?
Click to expand...

Some of the water test systems won't give meaningful results at high FC levels. This is a common problem with some kinds of test strips. The high FC level bleaches out the colored pads and you can't read the results.
 

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