Convince me not to fill it in!

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sterk32

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Jun 4, 2015
17
Davison, MI
Hello all, I am a new pool owner and this is my very first post. We moved into our house in the fall and inherited a pool that was not opened at all last summer. When we opened it it had some lovely black water and a nice swamp smell. We have graduated to a lovely greenish bluish hue but it seems to have plateaued and I am having trouble making the next big jump to clear. The pool store keeps telling me to put Algecide 60 in but I am hesitant due to what I have read on this site. I am willing to do anything in there to clean it up though. I tried starting the SLAM method yesterday but am discouraged as I have seen no change yet after dumping in a total of 768oz of 12% chlorine over the last 24 hours.

Here are my most recent readings

FC - 2.0
CC- 0
pH - 7.5
TA - 140
CH - 250
CYA - 50


How long is this supposed to take before I see some sort of change? Obviously, I must be doing something wrong because my FC level is only at 2. It seems like it would be cheaper to drain the pool and start all over than keep dumping chlorine in at a rate that is going to keep my level over 20 like the chart says I should.

Pics of what Im dealing with to follow.
 
Sorry to say, a SLAM takes as long as it takes. Sometime fast, many times slow - but never in one day.

What test kit are you using and do you still have tabs in the chlorine feeder?
 
If there's a mountain of compost lurking on the bottom of the pool, it may well be cheaper and faster to empty the thing. You just want to be sure the underground water table is well below the bottom of your pool lest it float out of the ground and bust pipes. And you'll still need to SLAM after it's refilled, to kill any lingering algae spores, but that should only take a day or two and not a lot of bleach.

Maybe you should check some of the threads with swamps and black water in this thread to get an idea about how long it takes.

Edit: forgot to say :welcome! :wave:
 
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Wow, you guys are quick to reply. Haven't even gotten my pics up yet. I wish I knew what was on the bottom but I have never seen it before :) When I brush I don't seem to feel a bunch of debris down there but who knows. I do have a crock with a sump so if I were to drain that should alleviate any concerns about the water table, right?
 

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Well, just remember you are at the top end of recommended CYA, so if you continue to use it you will just need more chlorine.

Test and adjust back to shock level as often as possible.
 
Actually, that color's not bad. Should be no problem to get that sparkling before next weekend. You should see some serious improvement if you're diligent this weekend. It didn't go green in two days, it won't get clear in two, either. And cleaning up always takes longer than making a mess.

Lose the chlorine pucks. They'll just keep raising the CYA which means you'll need ever higher FC levels.
 
Richard320 said:
Actually, that color's not bad. Should be no problem to get that sparkling before next weekend. You should see some serious improvement if you're diligent this weekend. It didn't go green in two days, it won't get clear in two, either. And cleaning up always takes longer than making a mess.

Lose the chlorine pucks. They'll just keep raising the CYA which means you'll need ever higher FC levels.
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Like he said ^^^^^ that's what ours looks like halfway through our SLam. Plain old wally bleach does wonders. As you no doubt have already read, KEEP the FC at shock levels. Eventually you'll see all the toys the kids left in the bottom of the pool from last year :snorkle:
 
Thanks for the encouragement everyone. The pool store has the 10% stuff for 2.75 gallon which is cheaper than the regular bleach I've found so far so I'm going to stick with that. I'll keep posting picks as it clears. Maybe there will be a treasure chest down there!
 

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You're almost there already! Seriously your color isn't bad at all. Does your filter work? Can you put your system on recirc? Here's a pic of my SLAM process. Took almost a month and used 60 gallons of bleach, 7 boxes of DE and tons of elbow grease. You're in front of the curve already. Like Richard320 said you will have that thing clean in no time.
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Thanks for the awesome pics! The filter does work but I dont have a recirc option. I have a cartridge so I suppose if I took the filter out it would basically being the same as recirculating. Is it better to not have it going thru the filter?
 
No it needs to go through the filter. It is the only way to get the yuckies out. The bleach kills everything and will turn it into fine particles, almost like sand. When you brush your pool it all gets stirred up and the only way to get it out is through the filter. I wouldn't worry about a recirc option.
Have you taken your filter apart and looked at the status of the cartridge? How does it look?
 
Yes, this is where a cartridge filter is not very easy to deal with as you may be cleaning it often. I would open the filter up and check the status and think about buying replacements, then you easily swap the clean for dirty.
 

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