A little all over the place. FC is zero and alkalinity is 230ppm

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Underwhere

Underwhere

0
Jun 5, 2017
68
Manchester NH
Things are a bit messy now. If you can make it through my story I could use the help. I'm a newbie at balancing.

15000 gallon pool.
1HP pump with 175lbs of fresh ZeoSand

1. I had someone open my pool this year (she has done it every yea for 4 years so far but she no longer does this)
2. 3 days after opening my pool just as it was really starting to clear, the filter sprung a leak
3. I replaced it with a larger filter and with ZeoSand (it took 2 weeks to replace and re-plumb everything). Because it sat for 2 weeks it started to cloud up pretty bad.
4. I poured 1/2 gallon of liquid chlorine (from Walmart) on day 1 and the water was cloudy
5. I poured 1/2 gallon of liquid chlorine (again from the same container) on day 2 and the water was still cloudy
6. My wife came out and scrubbed the side of the pool where there was yellow pollen and it went into the pool
7. I come out to see my pool the next day and it's totally green. (FC = 0, pH = 8.2, Alkalinity = 230ppm)
8. I shock the pool with 2 pounds of HTH shock, 6 ounces of algecide (for the green), 4 ounces of clarifier (for the cloudiness), and 6 ounces of dry acid (for the pH)... and run the filter overnight.
9. The next day it is still green so I add another 1 pound of shock.
10. I wait 1 day and now the pool water is crystal clear however her are the readings I'm getting (FC = 0, pH = 7.6, Alkalinity = 230ppm)
11. Tonight I added 32 ounces of dry acid in an attempt to lower the Alkalinity.

I was doing some reading and found that perhaps the liquid chlorine I'm using is actually bad. I can't smell any chlorine when I open a fresh container. This could be why I have no FC in my pool.
I plan on buying some from a different place tomorrow.

What should be done about the Alkalinity and pH? How do I lower my Alkalinity without dropping my pH to unsafe levels?
 
Alkalinity is no crisis. TA is the last thing you work on when everything else is fixed and you're bored. Just add acid to lower pH to 7.2 and the TA will come down a little. Then pH will rise again over time and you do it again. The TA won't rise unless you add more via chemicals or high TA tap water.

What are you using to test? And what is your CYA value? 1/2 gallon of chlorine -even fresh 12.5% stuff -- is not going to bring your FC up to anywhere approaching shock level in a pool your size. Not even with zero CYA.

Stop adding powdered shocks unless you know what your CH and CYA levels are. They'll add one or the other along with chlorine, and if you don;t need them, you're making a bad situation worse.

What you need is what we call a SLAM Process If you readABCs of Pool Water Chemistry first, it will make more sense.

Check out some of these threads and look at the pictures and just do what they did. The most recent ones are last. Recovering my old inspirational links
 
Richard320 said:
Alkalinity is no crisis. TA is the last thing you work on when everything else is fixed and you're bored. Just add acid to lower pH to 7.2 and the TA will come down a little. Then pH will rise again over time and you do it again. The TA won't rise unless you add more via chemicals or high TA tap water.

What are you using to test? And what is your CYA value? 1/2 gallon of chlorine -even fresh 12.5% stuff -- is not going to bring your FC up to anywhere approaching shock level in a pool your size. Not even with zero CYA.

Stop adding powdered shocks unless you know what your CH and CYA levels are. They'll add one or the other along with chlorine, and if you don;t need them, you're making a bad situation worse.

What you need is what we call a SLAM Process If you readABCs of Pool Water Chemistry first, it will make more sense.

Check out some of these threads and look at the pictures and just do what they did. The most recent ones are last. Recovering my old inspirational links
Click to expand...


Thanks I'll check those threads out. My 5 way test kit doesn't do CH nor CYA apparently...so I really don't know.
 
Richard320 said:
Alkalinity is no crisis. TA is the last thing you work on when everything else is fixed and you're bored. Just add acid to lower pH to 7.2 and the TA will come down a little. Then pH will rise again over time and you do it again. The TA won't rise unless you add more via chemicals or high TA tap water.

What are you using to test? And what is your CYA value? 1/2 gallon of chlorine -even fresh 12.5% stuff -- is not going to bring your FC up to anywhere approaching shock level in a pool your size. Not even with zero CYA.

Stop adding powdered shocks unless you know what your CH and CYA levels are. They'll add one or the other along with chlorine, and if you don;t need them, you're making a bad situation worse.

What you need is what we call a SLAM Process If you readABCs of Pool Water Chemistry first, it will make more sense.

Check out some of these threads and look at the pictures and just do what they did. The most recent ones are last. Recovering my old inspirational links
Click to expand...

If I have a vinyl liner (from reading the pool water chemistry page) then I don't need to worry about CH right? Just CYA.
 
Ok so here it is.

I read the pool chemistry stuff and will be ordering my test kit today or tomorrow. In the meantime I wanted to get a head start so I took a water sample to be tested at a pool store.

Here's my best guess at what I should do. (Hopefully I learned something). Anyone want to opine on what my thoughts are?
FC = 1.76ppm
CC = 0.53ppm
pH = 7.7
Alkalinity = 228ppm
CYA = 2ppm

I'm not sure why they didn't include Calcium on here

My thoughts on process:
1. Get my alkalinity down by putting dry acid in the pool. 7 pounds a day (while watching my pH to make sure it doesn't get too low) for 5 days
2. At the same time that I do step 1 I need to get my CYA up. I have 4 pounds of HTH Stabilizer and I'll add it all to the skimmer basket
3. Once I get #1 and #2 set then I'll add 1/2 gallon of 12% liquid chlorine to get up close to 7ppm of FC

orqzox.jpg
 
The last thing to worry about right now is TA, I was told you do that when you are board or have a CSI issue. Once your done with everything else read this: Lower Total Alkalinity.

First would be to add enough chlorine, per pool math, to get to 10 ppm and keep doing that as it falls. Once your kit is there verify what your CYA level, adjust it as necessary and start a SLAM. You'll want your pH level to be at 7.2, pH tests are unreliable when FC is over 10.
 
Ok so I'm having some difficulty trying to figure out what's first and the order of operations.
My CYA is pretty much non-existant...and FC is based on the amount of CYA I have in the pool.

Ignoring TA for now I have 3 options the way I see it.

1. (CYA first, then Shock after CYA is appropriate) I put in CYA to get it to my target (say 40ppm) and subsequently put in Chlorine to raise the chlorine to 16ppm (shock)...then maintain the 16ppm following SLAM procedures
2. (CYA AND Shock at the same time) Do I put in CYA AND chlorine at the same time using the Pool Math calculator to figure out the right amounts to hit targets
3. (Shock first then CYA) I get my chlorine levels to 16ppm first, then add enough CYA to get it to 40...and try and maintain the 16ppm following SLAM procedures
 
You need results from a reliable test kit. Pool store testing is not trusted around here, especially the CYA reading. I highly doubt it's only 2 PPM if you were adding powdered shock to the pool already. That would raise it by itself. Get yourself a reliable test kit, either the TF-100 or the Taylor K2006C. Both those kits have ALL the tests, including CYA and Calcium hardness. Once you get a full set of tests, adjust CYA to 30-40 PPM, lower pH to 7.2 with muriatic acid, and SLAM the pool according to your CYA level. Don't stop the SLAM until you pass all three criteria. If your kit won't arrive for a few days, add a gallon of bleach a day, which will keep you in a holding pattern so things don't get any worse.

Option #4 would be: CYA first, lower your ph to 7.2, and SLAM away. By taking care of ph before the SLAM, you don't have to worry about getting an invalid reading for ph, which happens when the FC is over 10 PPM.
 

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DeanP66 said:
You need results from a reliable test kit. Pool store testing is not trusted around here, especially the CYA reading. I highly doubt it's only 2 PPM if you were adding powdered shock to the pool already. That would raise it by itself. Get yourself a reliable test kit, either the TF-100 or the Taylor K2006C. Both those kits have ALL the tests, including CYA and Calcium hardness. Once you get a full set of tests, adjust CYA to 30-40 PPM, lower pH to 7.2 with muriatic acid, and SLAM the pool according to your CYA level. Don't stop the SLAM until you pass all three criteria. If your kit won't arrive for a few days, add a gallon of bleach a day, which will keep you in a holding pattern so things don't get any worse.

Option #4 would be: CYA first, lower your ph to 7.2, and SLAM away. By taking care of ph before the SLAM, you don't have to worry about getting an invalid reading for ph, which happens when the FC is over 10 PPM.
Click to expand...
OK thanks. That is very clear.
 
Ok so I'm just experimenting until my TF100 kit comes in 2 days.

This morning at 7:30 I put 1 gallon of liquid chlorine 10% in the pool. It was measuring at 2.0ppm of FC before I added it.
The pump ran for about 5 hours today. It was bright and sunny about 75 degrees.
Tonight at 9PM i checked the FC and it was zero. Didn't even read.

I'm wondering if my Pool Store test is accurate and I literally only have 2ppm of CYA.

So should I just get the CYA up a little bit so my FC stays in the pool? I just put in 2 gallons of liquid chlorine 12.5% tonight. I'll test in the morning.
 
Underwhere said:
Ok thanks. I know it must be frustrating to read this thread :)
I'll keep tossing more chlorine in it and monitoring til I get my test kit.
Click to expand...



It's good, though, that you are asking questions to better understand things. I read a lot when I first got here. I liked reading the "Help my pool is green" threads. Thankfully, I came here just as I got my first pool, so I've only had minor issues here and there, such as this spring, when my pump was broken. I also printed out some of pool school, like the CYA chart and the chemical list, etc.
 

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