A little frustrated - help me trust the process

[Sbcmurphy]

First pool opening for a newbie owner. I've read pool school cover to cover twice coming into the season, picked up a Taylor test kit and have tried my best to be diligent with testing. Still, I can't seem to get my CC to budge down and feel a little flustered that it's so high ( >6 almost every test).

Test results so far: PoolMath Logs

Pictures:

https://imgur.com/a/eZLnUtu

Visually, the pool is looking like it's making clear progress - from disgusting green to nearly clear and blue (with a little dullness) over two days. I know it was really dirty because I had to backwash 3 times the day of opening (pressure jumped from 30 up to 50 every couple hours) but since this morning has remained at 32. I've vacuumed 4 times and brushed every few hours to keep dirt moving along. I've also kept the pump running for close to 36 hours now.

Am I doing this right? Is getting the CC down just something that takes time?

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Looks like a normal SLAM Process. Keep your FC at SLAM level based on the CYA you targeted.

Sand filters take the longest to clear. Be sure to let your filter pressure rise by 25% over clean pressure before you backwash.

7-14 days are a normal SLAM time.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Have you used any monosodium persulfite (non-chlorine shock) in the pool? Could you walk me through your testing procedure for FC and CC? Just to make sure we are on the same page.

 

[Richard320]

Did you ever add any "non-chlorine shock"? It will misread as CC unless you use a special reagent. Some of Jack's Magic stain removers will also show up as CC.

Eventually it dissipates, but I dont know how long that takes. Certainly longer than a SLAM takes.

 

[Sbcmurphy]

Welcome to the forum!
Looks like a normal SLAM Process. Keep your FC at SLAM level based on the CYA you targeted.

Sand filters take the longest to clear. Be sure to let your filter pressure rise by 25% over clean pressure before you backwash.

7-14 days are a normal SLAM time.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize it could take that long to SLAM. I'll be a bit more patient in that case

My filter pressure jumped from 30 to 50 twice yesterday when I opened, and again to 45 overnight, promoting the 3 backwashes. It has since stayed stable at 32 since this morning, so I'm hoping a lot of the junk is gone.

 

[Sbcmurphy]

Did you ever add any "non-chlorine shock"? It will misread as CC unless you use a special reagent. Some of Jack's Magic stain removers will also show up as CC.

Eventually it dissipates, but I dont know how long that takes. Certainly longer than a SLAM takes.

I'll look into what the pool company who helped me yesterday added. I asked what they were using and all they said was "5 gallons of liquid shock" - I assumed bleach but they weren't specific.

Thanks for the great follow up question to research.

 

[mknauss]

Your filter pressure is really high. Does the gauge go to zero when the pump is off?

Be sure to clean your test vial you are using for FC/CC. Sometimes a dirty vial can make CC test as if it is there.

 

[Sbcmurphy]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Have you used any monosodium persulfite (non-chlorine shock) in the pool? Could you walk me through your testing procedure for FC and CC? Just to make sure we are on the same page.

For testing, I bought a k2006 and have been following the FAS-DPD instructions.

I grab water from arm's length deep I'm the pool, add 10ml to the tube, then add two dippers of the dpd powder (always turns pink after the first dipper).

Then I add the first reagent drop by drop until it goes fully clear and stays clear for at least 10 seconds (though I found that if it sits for a while it starts going faint pink again...maybe undissolved dpd powder at the bottom?) I multiply the drops by .5 and record result as FC.

Then I add the 5 drops of the second reagent which tests for CC and it always goes pink after 1-2 drops. I then use the first reagent again and drop til it's clear. Multiply by .5 and record that as CC.

Same page or am I mixing something up? Would appreciate any tips.

 

[zea3]

You shouldn't need to use 2 scoops of powder unless you are testing very high levels of FC and 1 scoop doesn't change color. If one scoop turns the water pink that is all you need.
You don't need to wait 10 seconds, in fact the longer the test sits between testing FC and CC the more likely you are to get a false result. Once it clears, read your FC result and you can start the CC test immediately.

 

[Sbcmurphy]

Quick update:

First, thank you for all your help and preaching patience. I've updated my testing methodology / speed based on zea3's advice and confirmed it by watching some Taylor vids on YouTube. I feel much more confident in my test results now.

After CC peaking and staying between 6-7 for a while, it finally broke and is now .5 or less for every test since (0 this morning on a 10ml sample). FC has been present on every test and the visual test shows very clear water.

I failed the overnight test but will try again tonight.

I was able to add a small bag (1.75lbs) of CYA yesterday and I'm hoping that got me up to ~17 in my 12k gallon pool. Another delivery will get here today and I'll add another 1.5lbs before testing to see if it shows up this time (pool store test showed 0, my test showed no result at full tube). Hoping to preserve a little chlorine and not burn through so many gallons of 10% this weekend - I've already added 15 since tuesday.

My filter pressure has remained constant at 32psi since my last backwash so it seems a lot of the big stuff is gone, but I still have to check mknauss question about why it's so high. It was this same psi when we bought the house last August and got the pool inspected, but I'll call around and ask when the sand was last replaced/serviced.

Thanks again everyone and happy MDW. I'm starting to get the hang of this!

 

[zea3]

Glad things are looking up for you! If you can post a picture of the equipment pad showing all your pump, filter and associated plumbing we can advise you the best method to examine your sand and possibly give it a deep cleaning.

 

[Sbcmurphy]

Glad things are looking up for you! If you can post a picture of the equipment pad showing all your pump, filter and associated plumbing we can advise you the best method to examine your sand and possibly give it a deep cleaning.

Thank you I appreciate that offer! Here are some pics of the sand filter/pump setup. I'm pretty dumb when it comes to the mechanical side of the pool, I have a lot more research to do.

https://imgur.com/a/haBK8uT

Sidenote: any idea what the two return valves on the bottom do? I'm told they have been stuck like that for years, but I gave them a nice wd40 rinse this morning and they can now move again. Not sure what they should do if no one has touched them in a few years. Asking before I do something dumb

 

[zea3]

Good news! Your return line has a union just after the multiport valve! Not so good news, the input line for the filter does not. However, it would be easy to install a union on the long outlet line from pump to filter. You would get a union like the one on the return line and cut out about an inch of pvc pipe on the horizontal run off the pump. Just make sure you have enough clearance so the unions don't interfere with each other when everything is assembled. Use pvc glue to attach the union to the pipe. Then you can just unscrew the unions when you need to service the filter, and screw it back together when you are done. It makes swapping out a mulitport valve or deep cleaning the sand so much easier.

As for what the valves on the return line do, you can check them by keeping the pump running and noting where water is returning to the pool, then shut off the pump and shut off one valve. Turn the pump back on and look again. You will probably find that one valve supplies the returns and the other supplies the step jets.

 

[Sbcmurphy]

Update: Passed OCLT yesterday and finished all SLAM requirements! Thanks for all your help and guidance.

I did all the tests again today and I feel pretty good about all levels for safe swimming, though I can probably get TA down a bit and pH up a bit over the next few days. I'm attempting to aerate now that I discovered how to use the knobs for the step jets (good call from zea3, I didn't know I had those before )...hoping a few hours of this will help push pH from 7.3 to 7.5-7.6 next test.

Hopefully will figure out my pressure gauge situation that mknauss pointed out but that's a project for next weekend.

Looking forward to keeping a clear pool all season, happy MDW all!