Pool caught me napping - UPDATE, now in SLAM mode

[yardoasis]

So a month ago, I posted a thread sharing how much CL I put in my pool daily and asked how much others are doing so. Was cruising on 2-3 ppm or so, and I thought for my pool it was exactly a quart a day.

But what I didn't notice was that my CL demand was slightly more than a quart, maybe a quart and a half on a heavy use/sunny day... so my chlorine kept creeping down. Was at 6-8 ppm, then 5-7 a few days later, then 4-6 another few days later. But the change was so gradual that I didn't even notice... until today, when I tested 2.5 FC (CYA at 50). Whoops! Dumped a gallon in there to bring it back up to around 8.

Time for an OCLT to check to see if any algae found a new home, but I'm hoping bringing FC to 8 nipped it in the bud! This TFP method is really easy, but you have to be on top of it every day! I can understand why people go the SWG route.

 

[Richard320]

Re: Pool caught me napping

If a person is in good health, a slight vitamin deficiency won't hurt him for a day or two. But if the person is in fragile health, then a little malnutrition can trigger illnesses. Your pool is like a living thing. I doubt you did any damage.

 

[yardoasis]

Re: Pool caught me napping

OCLT, 1.0 ppm loss overnight. CC is 0. Still OK for now.

I'm starting to think I should throw out those Taylor K1000 CL reagents (but keep the pH and TA reagents)... last night I tested only 1.5 using those reagents (pink color matching test showed a shade between 1 and 2), but the TF100 kit got me a 3.5 (7 drops).

It does show that with test kits, you get what you pay for and you can't always trust the color matching tests.

 

[weatherillgrp]

Re: Pool caught me napping

Best advice I ever got was from Richard. Feed it every day!..My pool has been balanced and crystal clear since I have joined TFP and followed their advice. Now I am trying to tell my neighbors the good news, however they are still pumping 3" tabs into their pool. About every 5th or 6th day they are cloudy.

 

[Butterfly]

Re: Pool caught me napping

Cute title

Ignore a flower and it will die

Ignore a pool and it will come alive

 

[yardoasis]

Re: Pool caught me napping

I find myself having to put in 2 quarts a day of 8.25% bleach. Initially I thought 1 quart a day was enough, but no. Maybe it's because of hot weather and no shade? I did have a lot of people in the pool over the past several days, so high bather load, too?

At this rate, I'm going to be spending $50 per month on bleach alone! Oh well, better than spending $200 a month at the pool store...

 

[yardoasis]

Re: Pool caught me napping

Yep, tested a whooping 2.5 CC, with FC at only 1.

Have to SLAM. Dumped 2.5 gal in to bring FC to SLAM level (18).

I'm amazed how quickly CC jumps in such a short time after letting FC go below minimum.

I underestimated my pool...

At least the water is clear, and I wouldn't have guessed that an algae bloom is just beginning.

 

[yardoasis]

OCLT 1.5 ppm overnight. From 20 to 18.5. Ahh so close. CC is 0, water is clear.

Should take 1 more day of SLAM.

 

[yardoasis]

Failed the OCLT again. 4 ppm loss from 22 to 18 (with 50% diluted pool water to save reagents...)

The SLAM continues. Stubborn algae.

 

[Butterfly]

You might as well post a pic for us

::

 

[yardoasis]

Here ya go. It ain't no swamp... I've already met 2 of the 3 SLAM criteria... CC is 0 and water never got green or cloudy to begin with. All I have to do is quell its unnecessary chlorine appetite.

 

[Abigail K]

Have you brushed behind the light/s?

 

[Butterfly]

Have you brushed behind the light/s?

.....pulled light from niche and cleaned, and exposed it to SLAM level? Scrubbed everything, nooks, crannies, skimmer throat, etc?

Beautiful pool

 

[yardoasis]

Thanks Butterfly

Yeah I brushed behind the lights, but it was somewhat below SLAM level at the time. Some cloudy white stuff came off, hard to tell if it's algae or plaster dust.

I'll try the lights again later today. Will get at the skimmer throat, too.

 

[Richard320]

You know, whatever organic debris is stuck in the pump strainer or the filter is sharing the same water and could be consuming your FC.

 

[yardoasis]

Does that mean I should wash the cartridge filters to get that organic debris?

 

[yardoasis]

Ok I scrubbed and did everything suggested but wash the filters. I measured my CYA level and was surprised to find it as low as 30. Normally it was at 45-50. Never drained, but had lots of splash out and some rain and evaporation/replacement with fill water, overflow, etc. Maybe this drop in CYA is to be expected with heavy usage? Or do I have a case of ammonia?

On the plus side, it's much easier (and cheaper) to hit a SLAM target of 12 with a CYA of 30. I'll retest CYA in an hour to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

 

[yardoasis]

Retested CYA (yeah I couldn't wait another 45 minutes ha), and got between 20 and 30. It's definitely much lower than it is before. I'm going to use trichlor tablets to raise CYA over time, to about 40, then stop the chlorinator. I'll test CYA every 3 days or so, to make sure I don't overshoot my target.

 

[yardoasis]

Passed the OCLT! SLAM is over.

 

[PAGirl]

You didn't have the chlorinator on, did you?