Starting from Swamp

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VinnyC

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Jun 15, 2015
20
Forest Hill
Hello everyone. So, typical story... I bought a house, it came with a pool, I thought. Take off the tarp and find a swamp. The previous owner had closed the pool down 2+ seasons ago, so not really sure.

To date, I got the pump running (has been running virtually non stop for 4 or 5 days now), added a pH reducer, shock, tri-chlor tablets (that I have since removed), algaecide, and two doses of clarifier. I removed the tri-chlor because they have the stabalizer in them, and our CYA was already pretty high.

Here are my numbers as of a couple hours ago.
FC - 7.5
pH - 7.8
CYA -Roughly 60
TA - 110ppm
CH - 160

After all this, my pool is way less a swamp, but still not swimmable. There is a lot of foam on the surface, and the water is really cloudy. I was reading up on the SLAM method and was wondering if I should do that, since I have, comparatively, clean water. Any and all advice/tips/recommendations, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

I also have to say thank you to JVTrain for being the first, and only so far, person to reply on my introduction post on this.
 
Well.. it's me again!

You definitely need to SLAM the pool. Be sure to read through some of the articles in Pool School such as ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and the links in my signature for the SLAM procedure, CYA/Chlorine chart and familiarize yourself with the Pool Math page and figure out how to use it to calculate your chemical additions. The answer for cloudy, green pools is always more bleach in the proper quantities for your CYA and sticking with it. I'm not sure on your region based on your Forest Hill location, as state added to that would help. If you're in the northern part of the states, you should consider a partial drain to lower CYA to close to 40, then do the SLAM as it will take less bleach/liquid shock. If you're southern states located, maybe take it down to 50 ppm. Wouldn't hurt either way to bring it down to 40 and ease it back up to 50 if you're down south, after the SLAM criteria have been passed. You'd need about a 33% drain, refill to get to 40 ppm CYA.

If you have questions about Pool Math or anything else, just ask!
 
Hi folks. Thanks for the replies. To clarify, Forest Hill is in Maryland, just south of the Pennsylvania border.
After a quick visual inspection this morning, I still have the surface foam. However, I have less cloudiness and the water doesn't seem very green. Then again, the before and after for the chemicals that I have added is significant.
I just bought 9 gallons of 8.25% sodium hypochlorite bleach to get started. Looking forward to a bright, clean, sparkling pool.
WP_20150616_08_57_06_Pro.jpgWP_20150616_08_57_26_Pro.jpg
 
Hi Vinny and welcome from a fellow Marylander.

As pooldv said, if you haven't already raised your FC you should lower your pH to 7.2 before slamming. Once the FC is 10 or more you won't be able to accurately measure pH until you're done with SLAM.

Your signature says you have a K-2005 test kit. Do you have the FAS-DPD test since it doesn't come with the K-2005? Your FC measurement seems like you do but want to be sure since you'll need it at SLAM levels of FC.

Keep in mind that the shock you added may have also added more CYA that may not show up on a test for a week. You didn't mention what shock you used so just guessing.

Also, you used algecide and have well water so you may have metals adding to the green.

Thanks for the pics and keep posting your progress.
 
Thanks guys. We did have metals in our water. My wife went to the pool store, before we started reading on here, and they gave her metal free to use before anything else. We used as instructed, but didnt have the water tested (or test ourselves) for metals again. I dont remember what our well water test showed, but it was good enough to run with a dialysis machine, without any other filtering.

I am working on refilling the pool after draining some to lower CYA. After I get it back up to the correct level, I will try the CYA, PH and FC testing again.
Swoopman, our test kit does include the reagents to perform the FAS-DPD test. Here is the Taylor site for the kit. Welcome to Taylor Technologies

Everything we used, except the Metal Free, was HTH. Shock - Calcium Hypochlorite 56.44%; PH Up - Sodium Carbonate 98%; the Algaecide does not list copper, but being WalMart, I dont expect best quality. We had our chlorinator filled with pucks containing Trichloro-s Triazinertrione - 93.6%, Zinc sulfate monohydrate - 2.9% (available chlorine 84%) I removed these right after doing the CYA test as the tablets contained stabilizers.

Swoopman, as a fellow Marylander, what would you recommend for a proper CYA? I have been told 40 by JVTrain as a general, as he recommended that prior to knowing I am in MD. Also, what would be the best method to remove the metals, and should I take care of that before or after SLAMing?
 

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I don't use clarifier or metal reducing stuff... Did anything you added say to set the filter to recirculate for a while, then turn off pump to allow to settle and then to vacuum to waste? If so, you need to allow things to settle and vacuum to waste. If you ran the pump on "filter" or "backwash" mode with any product that has those instructions before vacuuming to waste, you might need to deep clean your sand filter.
 
VinnyC said:
Swoopman, as a fellow Marylander, what would you recommend for a proper CYA? I have been told 40 by JVTrain as a general, as he recommended that prior to knowing I am in MD.
Click to expand...

This is my first full season with TFP. Right now my CYA measures between 30 and 40 so I've been using 40 to figure FC amounts. The pool does not get full sun all day but does get a fair amount. I loose about 2ppm to 2.5 ppm FC a day when no one's swimming but I do have a lot of organic debris too - leaves, flower petals, slugs and such. I'm happy with where the CYA is now.

Hope that helps.
 
Awesome! Thanks everyone.

DanielP, nothing that I used required recirc then settle. It was all run pump at least one hour after adding.

After draining (great time to backwash) and refilling to reset CYA, new results are below.

CYA - 44-45
PH - 7.1
FC - 1
TC - 10

Since the numbers are all in range to start SLAMing, I will start tonight. I was worried about needing the FAS-DPD test to start, but with the info from Swoopman, I feel that the low number should be alright with my current test. I will use my FAS-DPD when it arrives in a day or two.

In the mean time, I will keep everyone posted and have pictures when there are noticeable differences.
 
Alright. So I got the new vacuum and brush the in. Still waiting on the FAS-DPD kit. Either way, went to vacuum and find my skimmer needs to be replaced. Oh, how I am loving this pool.
Anyone have experience with this? I am thinking I would like to convert to a wide mouth skimmer.
 
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