Newbie with high CYA - getting ready to pump water out

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skaggsjw

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Jun 13, 2015
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Katy
Hi folks. Great resource. Wanted to get your thoughts before i pull the trigger.

Testing from the LaMotte 2056 ColorQ Pro 7 Digital
Free Chlorine - .36 ppm
Total Alkalinity - 122 ppm
Calcium Hardness - 90
pH - 7.6
Stabilizer - 84 ppm


Testing from the Taylor FAS-DPD (just purchased):
Total Chlorine and Free Chlorine both less than 0.5
CYA - Between 80 and 90


The suggestion from pool math was to drain about 50% of the water. We also have some algae spots and cloudy water. From what I’ve read, we should drain the pool first, test CYA again and then add water back. At that point, we SLAM. On the right track?
 
Welcome Skaggs! You do indeed have a good road map ahead:
1 - Drain to adjust CYA
2 - Adjust PH to 7.2
3 - Implement SLAM

After the SLAM, keep the TFP Chlorine/CYA Chart (link below) handy to ensure your FC NEVR drops below the minimum level. Keep in touch and let us know if you need any more help. Have a great day.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and maybe you already read or heard, but don't use any pool store tables, pucks, or "bags of shock" in your pool. That's what drives-up that CYA. :)
 
So, I'm thinking of two options to drain. 1. Sump pump...can purchase at home depot or 2. use the waste mechanism from the filter. Before I do the latter, I'd like to get some advice on how to do this without breaking something. I'm posting some pics of the deep end of the pool and the relevant equipment. I think there is a main drain, but I don't know much. The waste option would require shutting off the skimmers, I understand. But, before I do anything, I'd appreciate any advice.

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On the pool pucks and shock..yes I've read that. I'm going for the TFP method going forward. thanks for the feedback so far.
 

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FYI- the "vac-lock" valve is the black lever toward the bottom center of the picture near the hose on the ground. It's currently opened up the skimmers and filter is running normally. I turn it 180 degrees counterclockwise once I plug in the vacuum and start up that process. ......from his wife. ;)
 
you can vacuum to waste and attach a hose to drain the pool. like you said, make sure the skimmer is closed so you are only pulling from the main drain.

are you planning on doing a full 50% drain? are you in Katy, texas? I would definetly check your water table before doing a large drain and refill. you don't want to float your pool. if you are planning on draining the pool say 3 feet, dig a test hole as close next to the pool as you can at least that deep. if you dig it down, and water doesn't start to collect then you are good. if it has standing water after a few hours, then don't go too much lower than the water level. this could require 2 smaller drains and refills.

by the way, your pool doesn't look too bad. once you get your CYA under control I bet your SLAM wont take more than 3-4 days if you say on top of your testing and adding bleach.

I would also be adding bleach right now to keep your FC at least at the target amount for your CYA. this will keep the algae from getting much worse and will shorten your SLAM.
 
So, I drained about 40% to 50% of the pool last night with a sump pump. The pic below was taken last night before I started to re-fill. I think it's upside down.

attachment.php


So, I've refilled all day today and almost all the way back to the top.
Question: Should I let the pump circulate the water for a while before taking my test? I've got my chlorine ready to kill some of the algae that's present with SLAM.
Update: We just started the pump and are circulating the water throughout. Will take a test after about an hour. Hoping for CYA of 40 or 50. Fingers crossed.
 
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Ok. Here are the test results post refill:

Using ColorQ
FCL = 0
TCL = 0.1
PH = 7.4
TA = 103
CA = 29
CYA = 53 This is down from between 80 and 90 before 40% drain and refill

Tested just CYA with Taylor and got something between 50 and 60.

My plan to get rid of the algae spots is to SLAM using the Chlorine/CYA chart which tells me that shock level is 20 for CYA of 50. Plan to follow SLAM and will post progress. Using all liquid bleach from the store and following Pool Math guidelines with shock level as the target for FCL.

skaggsjw said:
So, I drained about 40% to 50% of the pool last night with a sump pump. The pic below was taken last night before I started to re-fill. I think it's upside down.

attachment.php


So, I've refilled all day today and almost all the way back to the top.
Question: Should I let the pump circulate the water for a while before taking my test? I've got my chlorine ready to kill some of the algae that's present with SLAM.
Update: We just started the pump and are circulating the water throughout. Will take a test after about an hour. Hoping for CYA of 40 or 50. Fingers crossed.
Click to expand...
 
First test after adding the liquid chlorine.

FAS-DPD
FCL = 32.5 --> was shooting for something in the 20s
CC = .5 --> it didn't feel like I needed to add anything but I'll go with 1 drop

It looks like I may have overshot the Chorine add. But, we'll see what it looks like in the morning. I'll be keeping at shock levels all day and brushing and vacuuming.
 
Test from this morning:
FAS-DPD
FCL = 20 --> A drop of 12.5 from last night. That may be a bigger drop than the reality. I realize I may have put more drops of the reagent in than needed to get water back to clear on the TC test last night because I wasn't swirling the whole time, so 32.5 may have been an overstatement.
CC = .5

The water was pretty clear already and is more clear this morning. My DE filter's pressure is at 30 PSI. Should I backwash now? I read that I should add earth after each backwash, but I'm just getting familiar with this DE filter as it's new. Any suggestions? I haven't purchased any earth.

skaggsjw said:
First test after adding the liquid chlorine.

FAS-DPD
FCL = 32.5 --> was shooting for something in the 20s
CC = .5 --> it didn't feel like I needed to add anything but I'll go with 1 drop

It looks like I may have overshot the Chorine add. But, we'll see what it looks like in the morning. I'll be keeping at shock levels all day and brushing and vacuuming.
Click to expand...
 
you are doing great...

DE filter: It will filter the best out of all filters, but you will need to clean it/backwash it the most out of all filters during a slam...
you need to backwash/clean the filter when it raises 20 to 25% above normal, so after a thorough cleaning, write down your clean pressure and then you will know when 25% you backwash again...
how you do a backwash or cleaning on a DE filter I have no idea, hopefully someone will let you know..

scratch that, found this video :)

 
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You have a VERY good handle on what you are doing already! Nice job!

You need to get some DE. I am a sand filter person so cannot really tell you how much or when to do what you need to do but I do know you need to get some DE.

Kim
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm getting some earth today. We've backwashed a few times already without replacing earth. So, I know it needs some.

cowboycasey said:
you are doing great...

DE filter: It will filter the best out of all filters, but you will need to clean it/backwash it the most out of all filters during a slam...
you need to backwash/clean the filter when it raises 20 to 25% above normal, so after a thorough cleaning, write down your clean pressure and then you will know when 25% you backwash again...
how you do a backwash or cleaning on a DE filter I have no idea, hopefully someone will let you know..

scratch that, found this video :)

Click to expand...

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Thanks. I'll get some DE and add.
 
Measured again:

FC = 17 down from 20 earlier today; Used Taylor
CC = 0 which is similar to earlier today; Used Taylor
CYA = 48 down slightly from yesterday (test with Taylor showed similar result as ColorQ...it might have been a bit lower even)
PH = 7.6 up from 7.4 on a re-filled pool with no chlorine
CA = 75 which is up from 29 on a re-filled pool
TA = 106 which is about the same as 103 reading yesterday

I'll get it back to Slam level which right around 20 for this CYA, and I'm sort of expecting to have little loss of Chlorine overnight the way it seems to be going. The pool was pretty clear before I started.

I read that as long as Chlorine is no higher than shock level and we can see the bottom of the pool clearly, swimming was a ok. The kids are asking. That sounds like a fine idea. I also purchased some D.E. to add through the skimmer. We have backwashed multiple times without adding D.E. back.

skaggsjw said:
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm getting some earth today. We've backwashed a few times already without replacing earth. So, I know it needs some.



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Thanks. I'll get some DE and add.
Click to expand...
 
The pool is clear as a bell this morning. I passed all three tests for completion of SLAM. FCL dropped less than 1 ppm overnight, CC is >0.5 and the water is clear.

Thanks for all the advice and support. Looking forward to keeping a TFP.



kimkats said:
Above all else SAFETY when swimming please. Can you see a child on the bottom of the pool?

So long as the FC is just below SLAM level AND you can see the bottom it is safe to swim!

Kim
Click to expand...
 

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