My pool has been green and cloudy for the past couple months and nothing I do seems to matter. There is a little algae on the steps but really it's not that bad compared to previous issues. We spot brush every day. The water looks like it is cloudy with green algae and it's not possible to see the bottom of the deepest half of the pool.
I put the pool in 3 years ago (see stats in my sig). I had the SWG set at 40% when it started. We've had to drain a good deal of water 4 times over the past month due to excessive rain. This of course messes with chemical levels and has made a difficult year even more difficult. I've kept the salt level at 3100-3200 the entire time.
First step: Shock using cal-hypo 65%, increase SWG to 100% and monitor. Got called away for work and wasn't able to test for a few days. A few days later FC was >5.
Second step: Go to Leslie's for help. I've had a pool for 10 years and never needed major help before. CYA was 20. Bought powder CYA and water clarifier. CYA goes up to 70.
Third step: Was lazy and only tested pH and FC. pH was back at 8, FC was at 0. Went back to Leslie's. They told me my CH was low, CYA was low, pH was high, FC was low, and phosphates was high (250). I verified CH, CYA, pH and FC using my TFT kit. I have to add 1-2 gallons of muriatic acid a week to keep pH down (due to EXTREMELY high CaCO3 in city water). I cleaned the filter and then increased CYA to 80 and CH to 220, pH dropped to 7.4, and turned off SWG. I also added Phosfree to reduce phosphatesx.
Third step: Wait 48 hours, test again, pH: 8, FC:0. Go back to Leslie's. They tell me CYA is at 30 (TFT says 80) and phosphates are now 300.
Next steps??
I read a bunch of TFP threads and am planning to shock the pool using bleach. I have 8x 120oz bottles of 8.25% bleach based on the CYA chart and poolcalculator.com calculator to hit FC level of 31. Is this a good/bad idea? Filter pressure is up 8psi due to phosfree. It's raining today so I'm hoping to clean it tomorrow.
My SWG was running at 100% for 72 hours and FC is still at 0. I've read that high phosphate levels can cause chlorine consumption. I've also read that all the algae in the water could be consuming all the chlorine. Could my cell be bad? Is it worth having Leslie's test it? It was working great a few weeks ago. Do salt cells go from working great to producing 0 chlorine in a matter of 2 weeks?
Any recommended steps to test the SWG or to help clean up the water?
I put the pool in 3 years ago (see stats in my sig). I had the SWG set at 40% when it started. We've had to drain a good deal of water 4 times over the past month due to excessive rain. This of course messes with chemical levels and has made a difficult year even more difficult. I've kept the salt level at 3100-3200 the entire time.
First step: Shock using cal-hypo 65%, increase SWG to 100% and monitor. Got called away for work and wasn't able to test for a few days. A few days later FC was >5.
Second step: Go to Leslie's for help. I've had a pool for 10 years and never needed major help before. CYA was 20. Bought powder CYA and water clarifier. CYA goes up to 70.
Third step: Was lazy and only tested pH and FC. pH was back at 8, FC was at 0. Went back to Leslie's. They told me my CH was low, CYA was low, pH was high, FC was low, and phosphates was high (250). I verified CH, CYA, pH and FC using my TFT kit. I have to add 1-2 gallons of muriatic acid a week to keep pH down (due to EXTREMELY high CaCO3 in city water). I cleaned the filter and then increased CYA to 80 and CH to 220, pH dropped to 7.4, and turned off SWG. I also added Phosfree to reduce phosphatesx.
Third step: Wait 48 hours, test again, pH: 8, FC:0. Go back to Leslie's. They tell me CYA is at 30 (TFT says 80) and phosphates are now 300.
Next steps??
I read a bunch of TFP threads and am planning to shock the pool using bleach. I have 8x 120oz bottles of 8.25% bleach based on the CYA chart and poolcalculator.com calculator to hit FC level of 31. Is this a good/bad idea? Filter pressure is up 8psi due to phosfree. It's raining today so I'm hoping to clean it tomorrow.
My SWG was running at 100% for 72 hours and FC is still at 0. I've read that high phosphate levels can cause chlorine consumption. I've also read that all the algae in the water could be consuming all the chlorine. Could my cell be bad? Is it worth having Leslie's test it? It was working great a few weeks ago. Do salt cells go from working great to producing 0 chlorine in a matter of 2 weeks?
Any recommended steps to test the SWG or to help clean up the water?