New to forum, Drained pool, now what?

pwlldvd · Jul 2, 2014

First, great forum! Wish I had found it earlier!

After adding using too much stabilized chlorine for too many years, my CYA was over 250 and algae out of control. I drained the pool and cleaned the walls with 1/3 bleach - 2/3 water, took the DE filter apart and thoroughly cleaned. I think I'm ready to refill. My Taylor test kit should arrive in mail any day. I have a couple of questions:

Anything else I should do before refilling?

I understand the order of adjusting chemicals is:
Add CYA
Adjust PH
Add chlorine

How do I add the chlorine? Do I use the calculator and add however much bleach it says?

Probably there is already a thread on this, but I haven't found it.

Thanks so much!

David
Austin, Texas

scott.MI · Jul 2, 2014

While your pool is empty, now would be a good time to get a look at your light and ladder. (if you have them) Many people have found algae on the bottom of their steps and behind their light. (like this person) http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...-much-chlorine?p=682983&viewfull=1#post682983

Use Pool math to calculate how much stabilizer to add to reach 30ppm. If using granular stabilizer, putting it in a sock and hanging it in front of a return is the recommended method, also giving it a squeeze often will speed it up.
Adjust PH
Use pool math to calculate how much bleach to add to reach the appropriate FC level. (Pour it in front of a return) (for 30 CYA your target is 4. Aim for a FC reading that by the time you go to add your next dose of bleach, your still above the minimum. I personally try to not let it get below the target reading in the CYA chart.

I'm not sure what others would recommend, but I think taking your pool to slam level at night and doing the OCLT just to make sure you don't have anything left over from previous water would be a good idea.

wellsnlisa · Jul 2, 2014

scott.MI said:
Use Pool math to calculate how much stabilizer to add to reach 30ppm.

I see that pwlldvd is located in Austin, Texas. They can start with a CYA of 30, but may want to thhen shoot for 50-60.

pwlldvd · Jul 4, 2014

One of the pool store guys mentioned higher CYA for Austin. Is that because of the weather, being so hot?

Divin Dave · Jul 4, 2014

its not necessarily the temp, but the level of the UV rays. UV destroys chlorine. THe further south you are the closer you are to the sun so the higher levels of UV blasts the chlorine out of the pool.
Defintely shoot for 50 CYA. Test for a week or two and if you are loosing too much FC and find it difficult to maintain minimum FC, then bump it up to 60.

EDIT: I noticed in your sig that you have an inline chlorine tab feeder. Definitely recommend to get rid of the tabs and use liquid bleach for daily additions of chlorine. The tabs add CYA as they dissolve and also cause your Ph to drop. There is such a thing as too much CYA. As your CYA rises, so does the amount of chlorine needed to maintain FC minimum and above. At some point, around the 80 range, it becomes difficult and more expensive to keep your pool clear and your FC where it needs to be. the TFPC way recommends to use a source of chlorine which does not add additional stabilizer to the pool. Either liquid chlorine *liquid shock or bleach* or a Saltwater Chlorine Generator.

Tabs and other stabilized forms of chlorine can be useful at times, but for everyday dosing of chlorine is not it.

pwlldvd said:
One of the pool store guys mentioned higher CYA for Austin. Is that because of the weather, being so hot?

pwlldvd · Jul 4, 2014

Thanks for the info. I get plenty of UV here. Pool is on the southwest side of the house. There are some trees on the east side of the pool, but it gets direct sun from before noon until sunset every day.

I plan to use liquid bleach for daily chlorinating. The chlorinator is there, but I don't yet see any reason to use it. That's what got me in CYA trouble in the first place. Then I used "shock" from the local warehouse store (powdered tri-chlor i think) which put me over 250 CYA, thus the drain/refill.

Divin Dave · Jul 4, 2014

Dont feel bad man. There are 100's of people who found this forum for the very same reasons as you did.

pwlldvd said:
Thanks for the info. I get plenty of UV here. Pool is on the southwest side of the house. There are some trees on the east side of the pool, but it gets direct sun from before noon until sunset every day.

I plan to use liquid bleach for daily chlorinating. The chlorinator is there, but I don't yet see any reason to use it. That's what got me in CYA trouble in the first place. Then I used "shock" from the local warehouse store (powdered tri-chlor i think) which put me over 250 CYA, thus the drain/refill.

pwlldvd · Jul 24, 2014

Progress update:

With CYA at 70 8-16 oz of cal-hypo daily keeps the FC in the 5-10 range with CC 0 to 0.5. CH is still a bit low, but i'm using cal-hypo until it get to 250, then I will switch over to bleach.

Looks like this really works!

Thanks for the help!