AA treatment, FC, and SLAMing

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lazybonz

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LifeTime Supporter
May 1, 2014
19
Georgia, USA
Background: bought a home ~18 mos ago that has a pool. With no prior pool experience, I have slowly but surely been learning and resolving issues mostly from info garnered from TFP.com - many thanks!

Last summer, everything went well. Bought a TF Test kit, and we enjoyed a very fun backyard experience. The pool has a Poola-hoops basketball goal (previous owners left behind), and the rim was rusting enough for the paint to be peeling, but I thought nothing of it as the pool chemistry tested right. Over the winter, i slacked on testing and the pH drifted up to 8.0. And I began to get yellowing on the liner. Confirmed it as iron with the Vit C test. So I am preparing to do an AA treatment per the mbar recommendations. Still have some questions on FC management though.

Current test:
pH - 7.6
CYA - 75-80
CH - 100
TA - 80
FC - had been running @ 5.0, turned off SWG and it drifted down to 2.0 at which point I added 20 oz of polyquat 60.
CC - 0.0

Plan: add MA to drop pH to 7.0-7.2. Add AA and Purple stuff as directed by mbar. I found that afterwards, I should shoot for bringing up FC about 1 ppm/day until it holds at target for my CYA (5.0). When do I bring pH back up? Noted that I shouldn't SLAM for 2 weeks - but if my readings have been in range, do I need to SLAM afterwards or just rebalance?

Input and advice is appreciated.

(Oh, and yes, I already replaced the hoop with a stainless hoop from the Dunn-rite folks. Figure that was my source)
 
Make sure you add a startup dose of polyquat algaecide.

If everything goes well there is no reason to SLAM. However, about half the people who try this get algae, which means having to SLAM at some point. If you do have to SLAM you need to wait for a while and also use extra sequestrant during the SLAM or the stains with just come right back.

PH adjustment is like FC adjustment, be very gradual and only raise PH just a little at a time, adding more sequestrant at the first sign of any staining returning.
 
The label of the product suggested 8 oz/10,000 gal, which I added two days ago. FC is 0 now and pH is at 7.6. I fixing to dose with MA to drop pH before the AA delivery. Any recommendations on a follow up dose now with polyquat 60? All I had planned on doing was 4 more oz/week polyquat 60 until I had my FC back in range.
 
Stains have very well lifted. Pool looks better than it has the whole time we've been in our new home. This afternoon, I will begin rebalancing. Per your recommendation, I will add 4 oz of polyquat 60 before I begin. Coincidentally, the water is very clear right now; hopefully this won't change. I'll begin with Super Washing Soda, then Borax if needed to get pH to 7.2 and TA in range. Then I will turn the SWG back on and add enough bleach to get me back up to 1ppm FC. Mbar says to watch for staining, and that if it occurs to add more sequestrant. I added 42 oz of Purple Stuff (per label instructions) as the stains lifted post AA treatment. Any recommendations on how much more to add if staining re-occurs?
 
I've added additional Polyquat 60 (4 oz) and Purple Stuff (12 oz) prior to beginning rebalancing. I added Super washing Soda to bring pH up to 7.2. On the OT test it really looks like it is a little lower than 7.2. I used PoolMath to calculate the bleach addition to bring FC up 1 ppm. I added and measured twice with tests still showing no FC. Added that much more again and turned on the SWG. Any thoughts on how much Cl it's going to take to get a reading? As advised I'm trying to go slow, but I also want to accomplish an FC reading. I've only been adding part of a bottle of bleach each time. Any input?
 

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It takes a while to get rid of the AA. As you add chlorine it first goes towards eliminating AA, and only once the AA is all gone does it become available to show up on the test. It is very difficult to predict how much you will need, it depends both how much AA you added, and how much got used up during the treatment.
 
A few other issues have perked up. My pH is holding at 7.2. We've had some heavy rains (3-5 inches in last two days). That paired with a couple of backwashes, and now my salt is a little low (3100 now, I like to run at 3400) and my CYA is down to 50-45. Can I add these chemicals to get back in range without disturbing the AA process?

My FC is trying to come up (measured 2.5 last night). I have my SWG on and am adding some bleach as well, trying to keep the rise at ~1ppm/day. But I fear with my salt and CYA low, the SWG-generated CL isn't going very far to help get the daily increase. If I were on schedule @ 1 ppm/day FC increase since the AA treatment, I should be getting to 4.0 today. With more rain, my only way to get there is add more bleach, faster, and I fear that I'll raise the FC so quickly the iron stains come back.

I'm probably worrying too much about it all, and what will happen will happen, but I have been hoping that I could avoid a SLAM at the end of all of this, and still be done with the staining. Any thoughts?

Also, just recently replaced the in-pool Polaris with a new 280. I pulled it out of the pool prior to this process. Do you think it would be okay to be in there? Don't know how "off" chemistry might affect it.
 
Adding salt and CYA are both fine and will have little influence on things. Adding CYA will lower the PH a little, but that can be compensated for after the fact.

Since you have gotten this far without getting algae, it is very unlikely you will need to SLAM.

Using the Polaris should be fine at this point.
 
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