Pool slam not seeing much results...

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C

Cpool

0
Oct 30, 2013
86
Baton Rouge, LA
Hi guys,

I have been slamming my pool now for about 10 or more days with very minimal changes to the water. I have over 30 gallons of bleach so far and I'm concerned about it clearing up.

The backstory is my pump needed repair which cause me to shut down the filtration and obviously caused the pool to go green. I left it untouched through the winter basically and it got really bad. I adjusted all levels properly before slamming and with a cya of 80 I've been maintaining a fc of 31ppm. Is it normal for it to go this long with such minimal results? I should also add that the first four days were some heavy rains. Don't know if this matters also. I also believe there is leaves in the bottom of the pool but with the water being so green is hard to see where the leaves may be at. Any advice would really help.

Thanks in advance,

Cody
 
You have to get the stuff out of the water, blind rake the bottom if you have to. The bleach you are pouring in will oxidize all organic matter, be it the algae or the leaves sitting on the bottom. It takes a lot of bleach to oxidize leaves.......

The rain would have cause the FC to drop.

How often are you testing and adjusting the FC level?

Are you brushing the pool?
 
Yes I'm brushing the pool every couple of days and testing the water twice a day. I will get a full test of water chemistry tomorrow but as far as appearance the water is green and the visibility is very minimal maybe 6'' below the surface if that. The filter pressure has risen since starting maybe about 5 psi.
 
Assuming you are using the standard Taylor/TF100 PH test, I am worried about that PH test result. The PH test is normally completely wrong (purple) when FC levels are that high. For PH to read that low when FC is that high usually means that the actual PH is down around 5 to 6, i.e. dangerously low.

With CYA down to 60, it might not be too bad to let the FC level come down to 10 or lower so you can get a reliable PH test result. If, as I suspect, the PH is way too low, it would interfere with the SLAM process. Letting FC come down would allow you to adjust the PH correctly and then go back to SLAMing and get much better results. This does have the disadvantage of allowing the algae to get ahead for a day or two. If I am correct it well worth it, but if I am wrong it could slow things down a fair bit.

It is important to remember that the standard PH test can not be relied upon when FC is that high. The PH test works at FC levels up to 10, reads a little higher than actual at FC from 10 to perhaps 18, and FC above about 18 is just wildly wrong.
 
Ok, that makes sense. I will go with what you think and try that. Being that the water is in such bad shape would it make sense to just drain the pool clean it out and refill it? I'm concerned im not getting all the leaves from the bottom bc I cannot see through the water.

Thanks
 

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Draining is not generally recommended. Unless the liner is fairly new it is unlikely to go back into place correctly and will tend to tear after a full drain.

In your situation you just need to do the best you can do with a leaf rake and get everything you can possibly get out out.
 
Ok, just a ran into another problem. This morning the motor on the pump is running but no flow of water. I removed the top filled it with water to prime it and nothing...could get it to suck anything through. Any ideas on what has gone wrong?

- - - Updated - - -

Ok Jason I'll do that. After work I'll take it the best I possibly can once I get this pump fixed now.
 
I assume the pump is running, just not pulling in any water.

First check the skimmer and pump strainer baskets and make sure they aren't clogged with leaves etc.

Then double check that the pump strainer basket lid is closing correctly and there is enough water in the skimmer so that a vortex doesn't form and pull air into the system.

If your system has valves, it is worth double checking that none of the valves have gotten turned to the wrong position, blocking water flow.
 
Ok, turned out the impeller spun off the shaft of the motor. I'll get that fixed today given the stores have it available. Jason, my liner actually is pretty new, I'm still considering draining the pool. I fell like I am just spending so much money on bleach with no results. How could that much bleach not help the pool at all? Would a low ph make that much of a difference?
 
You need to keep raking the bottom until you stop pulling up leaves, and you need to brush the pool daily during the slam. You have a larger than average pool and it takes a lot of bleach and a lot of time to kill and filter out all the algae. Take a picture of your pool in the shallowest point daily, around the same time of day if possible. Sometimes it looks like no progress is being made, but when you compare pictures you can see subtle improvement over time. It will reach a point when you "turn a corner" and the remainder of the slam will go much more quickly. How often you are able to bring the pool to slam level also makes a big difference. How many times per day do you raise the pool to slam level?

Yes, the heavy rains will make a difference. Your bleach will be diluted by the additional water. You can also have additional debris wash into the pool which increases FC consumption. The low pH will make the bleach less effective.

You stated the CYA was 80 at the start of the slam and dropped to 60 after beginning the slam. Did you drain some water to lower the CYA? If not then you either have a testing error or a whole lot of water displacement from the recent rains. Retest your CYA in full sun with your back to the sun, holding the viewing tube at waist level. You can pour the test solution back into the mixing vial and re-read the result in the view tube several times to get an average result per test. If you CYA is high, then you may want to consider a partial drain and refill to bring the CYA down to 30 and continue the slam from there.

I do not recommend a complete drain and refill. If you have a high water table it can cause the liner to float and be displaced. This will cause wrinkles in the liner, and if there is no water in the pool for an extended time the liner may shrink.
 
Ok thank you again for the response. I bring to the pool to shock level in the morning and evening. I didn't drain water it may be an error on my cya test or all the rain bc we had a lot! That's a great idea to reuse the solution a couple times for the test to get an average. I want my cya at 80 right? Should I still let the FC come down to 10 to get an accurate ph reading before continuing?
 

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