Where did I go wrong

[wbowlin1]

total chlorine 5
ph 6.2
alk 40
cya 0

I have been opening my pool this year and had green algae to deal with along with having to change the sand in my filter. Now that I have new sand my pressure gauge that usually sets at 10 psi has jumped to 20 psi overnight. I back washed the pool and it came back down to 10 psi only to increase again. Also since back washing the pool I have a foamy layer on top of my pool. I have used a bottle 50% Algaecide and a bottle 60% Algaecide added gallon of 8.25% Bleach and 4 bags of shock. My water is slightly cloudy at this time but improving. I was told not to put in stabilizer until the water was clear.

 

[Azgirl71]

Welcome to TFP.

The first thing that pops out is your use of Algaecides and bags of shock. We do not recommend them. I see you use test strips. We highly encourage you to use a recommended test kit for testing. I can see you really want to get your pool clear again.

I can say off your test strips that your PH is to low and you need CYA, but as I stated strips are not reliable. With no CYA your will lose FC. Since your pool is cloudy you will need to SLAM. You can read about the ABC's of pool chemistry and the SLAM process in Pool School.

Again a recommended test kit such as the TF100 is what you need to help s help you bring your pool back.

 

[Isaac-1]

I suspect where you went wrong is where you found the advice to add all that stuff, and also the test strips. There are 3 different chlorine products that are commonly sold as dry shock, these are dichlor, trichlor ,and Cal-Hypo, both dichlor and trichlor will add FC as well as CYA, Cal-Hypo will add FC and CH. If those bags of shock were dichlor then there is something wrong with the test and it is not showing the CYA (very possible with test strips), if it was Cal-Hypo that may explain the cloudy water. One reason we are against the general use of Cal-Hypo is that it can cause cloudy water, something that just confuses the matter when you are fighting an algae outbreak. Next algaecides may have a place in preventing algae outbreaks, but often do more good for a pool store's bottom line than anything for a pool owner, as they do nearly nothing when it comes to killing visible algae, chlorine is far better for that. Now I am going to take a guess that the shock really was dichlor as it is also very acidic, and your water pH is WAY too low, in fact it may be off the bottom end range of the test, and lower than you think.

Now my advice,
1st get that pH in line, even test strips usually do an OK job of reading pH (this is about all they do OK at)

2nd, order the TF-100 test kit with the XL option, see my signature for the the link

3rd, read the above mentioned articles in pool school (link in the upper right of any page here)


p.s. why did you change the sand in your filter, it is almost always good for the life of the filter, usually the life of the pool

 

[tim5055]

Lisa is correct, you will need one of the recommended test kits. To effectively practice the TFPC methods, the FAS/DPD chlorine test is essential. All the kits on the list contain that test while very few other kits do. The kits sold at the pool store generally won't won't cut it, but be careful pool store employees are known to say “it's the same thing”. Generally it's not!

Do you know how your CYA was when you closed last fall?

We do not "shock" our pools, we follow the SLAM Process when there is a problem.

Obviously you have algae in the water, but it is entirely possible that your CYA was converted to ammonia during the winter. If that is the case you will either have to use a lot of chlorine to clear it or replace the water.

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi wbolin,

when I see thread titles like yours, I feel a tug inside me. Sadly, it sounds as if the advice you have gotten from somewhere (a pool store?) is woefully wrong. Don't feel bad, by far, you arent the first to have gotten poor advice and unfortunately, you won't be the last.

The others have given you the best advice available anywhere.
First, you need a good reliable and accurate test kit, so you can stop "trusting" others to tell you what your water parameters are.
Next, arm yourself with knowledge about just some basics in Pool School.

All of us are here to help you. No one here will try and sell you any magic postions or advise you to do anything, except what is best for you to get your pool cleared up and sparkly, and very easy and inexpensive to keep it sparkly.

 

[wbowlin1]

Thank you Issac for the 1,2,3 advice. I have printed ALL of pool school and will be studying. I have read it several times already but I am a visual learner so explanation is hard for me to comprehend sometimes. 1,2,3 works perfectly. I am looking in to the testing kit as we speak. When I turned in my filter this year, I had sand blowing into my pool. The great people on here told me to check my laterals. Sure enough only 3 of the 8 were attached. Only about 25# of sand was in the filter. Should I run my pool 24hours a day regardless of SLAMing?

 

[Isaac-1]

While SLAMing you should run the filter continuously, backwashing as needed, once your water is clear you can cut that back considerably.

 

[phibroptic]

I'll add my 2 cents.

Don't add any CYA or trust the strips until your pH is back in range, if at all. (I wouldn't trust anything but a drop-based kit.)

I opened my "new" pool this season to EXTREMELY low pH. As I was slowly bringing it back up, I was using the same test strips you are side-by-side with a reliable kit. The reliable kit registered my CYA as >200 ppm, while the test strips read 0. Once the pH was above 7.2, the test strips started showing the correct color for the CYA level I actually had. I have been slowly draining and filling my water to dilute the CYA I have. I can't imagine how bat it would have been if I had believed the test strips and added CYA while bringing the pH back up.

 

[wbowlin1]

How do I address the foamy pool issue? What is causing the steady increase in my gauge? Will Slamming fix all of these problem?

 

[zea3]

The foam is probably from the algaecide. A lot of them tend to foam. The pressure keeps rising in your filter because it is doing its job catching all the debris and fine algae in the water. As the slam progresses and the water clears you should see the pressure rise slow down significantly.

 

[Isaac-1]

Right now your pool is a giant algae growing culture, until you kill all of the algae and make conditions so that it can't grow your filter will continue to clog up, and the pressure will continue to rise and it will need to be cleaned. Even once it is all dead it will take some time for the filter to remove the left over solids from the water. The SLAM process does the first part of this, once you finish the SLAM you still will need to maintain your FC (chlorine) at the appropriate levels based on your CYA level to keep algae from getting started growing again. Foamy pool conditions are likely partly caused by that algaecide you have been using, and partly by the algae, either way it will break down in time with proper chlorination.