Another first time SLAM

[codertimt]

Hey guys, just wanted to check in with an actual post since my first little intro post late last swim season after getting my used pool up and functioning. Drained below skimmer/return line for winter and waited too long before covering and it picked up tons of fall leaves. Raked in 55 degree water(no deck and can't accomplish much without getting in) and got out most solid material before covering, but I'm sure it didn't help anything in the contaminate department. Anyway about to start my slam to de-blacken this thing. Getting a bit of a late start because I was mandated to build some sort of deck for this season and have been putting it off. Mini-deck plans are in flight so I uncovered and started filling. Figured I would share because it seems like everyone loves a swampy pool post and I just might need some informed advice before this is finished. Jumped the gun a little bit as I found I was out of CYA testing reagent and my Taylor K-2006 kit hasn't arrived yet. Got ph in line using existing cheapo kit and guesstimated CYA from last years level plus new water. Testing supplies scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so should be able to get an official baseline then. For now, once the sun was out of the picture I thought I get a jump start on things and started adding bleach...seems to be getting used up pretty quickly...but that's probably to be expected with this swamp water. Obviously can't get a good reading with my OTO test, but I'm just trying to maintain as dark as yellow as possible on a diluted sample until my real test supplies arrive.

Anyway, wish me luck...

 

[kellyfair]

Yep! That’s a swamp! Just add bleach daily until test kit arrives. Don’t go too nuts... your CYA could be zero by now, or could be higher.

I know you can’t see bottom, but I would continue to rake muck out as best you can. Having a bunch of debris in there (who knows... one guy had a dead DEER in his!) will certainly eat up your chlorine.

Post regular updates... we love a good SLAM!

 

[codertimt]

Well, good news is that is has cleared enough to see that there is more vegetal matter in the bottom than I had though. The bad news is that there is more vegetal matter in the bottom that I had previously thought. Other bad news is that my delivery date on my test kit was push back a day. Other good new is my CYA reagent arrived. So, after attempted to rake/scoop from outside the pool a bit, I decided to suit up and hop in(Disclaimer, entering a pool in this state is my stupid decision and I'm sure not recommended by the fine folks here at TFP). Anyway, removed the majority of the leaves, did a quick vacuum to waste and exited. Time for more chemicals.

CYA was indeed 0 as shown by testing and the fact the midday sun made quick work of my FC... Again, I know not recommended but I decided for my current situation to open up my chlorinator with a few leftover Trichlor tablets I have. To help keep the FC levels up until the CYA can become effective. At most it will add 5-6ppm CYA which should land me right around 30... Test equipment should be here tomorrow and I can turn it off and make this a more controlled endeavor. Diluted OTO test says I should be >10ppm FC. Strong chlorine smell tells me things are happening. So at this point I am feeling good and just waiting for my test kit to really hit it hard...

 

[rammy]

you got this!!

 

[codertimt]

And a pic and update for today. Apparently on my first CYA test I had completely forgotten how it works...so there was probably a little residual CYA in play that I hadn't counted on and so I overshot a bit. Ended on 40 instead of 30. Probably just as well with as hot and sunny as it is. So target FC is 16. Made my last guesstimate addition this morning...thinking FC was around 7ish, so I added a gallon of 10%. 4 or so hours later, my Taylor kit arrived and I tested out at 11.5. Tried using the pool math app and screwed up my entries so added too much bleach and overshot my target... An hour after addition tested out at 21. And after another hour tested at 20. Had to do a quick filter backwash and now just letting it do it's thing...

 

[codertimt]

Today's update. 4ppm FC drop overnight. Added some water to replace vacuum to waste loss, so morning bleach addition wasn't particularly tracked. 18.5ppm to 16ppm loss from 1-6 on a very hot sunny afternoon. Will bump to 20 after sunset which should leave me once again right around 16 tomorrow morning. Afternoon picture...definitely blue-ing more and more... Spent time removing solids again yesterday and there are still some that settle back down whirlpooled to the center. So need to get in there again and make another few passes at it...

 

[Richard320]

Go, go, go, go!

I need some newer green-to-clean threads for my Inspirational Threads list. This is a real contender!

 

[codertimt]

Go, go, go, go!

I need some newer green-to-clean threads for my Inspirational Threads list. This is a real contender!

I'll do my best. Fingers crossed I don't end up with some off the wall unknown strangeness that jumps up and causes problems...

 

[kellyfair]

You are doing great, and if you do accidentally overshoot FC, just let it fall back to your target.

Stick your brush pole in the water daily and do a pic. You will see just how much progress you are making!

 

[codertimt]

Daily pic update. Nothing too exciting happening. Pic taken mid morning so the light probably making it look like a greater day to day change, but I feel it's more representative of the actual look anyway... Raked and brushed again yesterday evening. Again raised FC close to 20 so that it would be ~16 this morning and it was, even with the late start to the day. Only added 1/2-2/3 of a gallon of 10% and evening numbers showed it, having dropped to 13.5. Retested CYA and still showed ~40ppm, so added a gallon of 10% and called it a day. Will re-enter pool tomorrow for additional raking/brushing... I'm thinking another week and I can hopefully start thinking about OCLT and testing CC...

 

[kellyfair]

You are doing great!

 

[codertimt]

Almost didn't post today...as I didn't see that much of a change. Until I actually looked down at poolside. Hey look, it's the bottom of the pool...Yay!!! So, first I'll address a numbers anomaly. PoolMath said 1 gallon of 10% should bring my 27' round pool from 13.5 to 19...since I tested out at 21.5 this morning from that addition last night, it did a bit more than that. I guess my numbers could be off a bit taking in consideration the sand base, etc. Or the Chlorine could be a bit more potent...not particularly fussed either way as I'm not really tracking things in a very precise manner anyway...just an observation. That and my larger than expected CYA increase makes me think my numbers are probably indeed off, but they are off to the safe side for the most part so again...not really concerned. I will learn more as I get things under control and test more. Anyway, couple of pics. Scooped and brushed this evening before Chlorine addition, so feeling good about everything...except my desire to actually put a small deck together. 3 of 9 post holes dug...slow and steady wins the race, right?

 

[codertimt]

And I failed at keeping this thread up to date for the entirety of the process. But I did succeed with the SLAM and that's the important part right? I now realize that I probably ended the SLAM a bit too soon as I didn't realize how NOT crystal clear the water was until it cleared up...passed the chemical tests and then kept it on the high side of FC level for a few more days. It took another week and a few times with the vacuum for everything to floc out, but all seems to be well now. The dead algae was heavy and get's trapped in the many divots on the floor of my poorly installed liner, so pretty easy to ascertain what is algae and what is other tree contaminants. Water is looking good now and even managed to throw together a small start to the deck for our opening party on the 4th...