Can't balance free chlorine - nothing is working

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Good luck!!

In a perfect world this is what will happen with each 25% drain/refill assuming a start of 100 CYA (for easy math)-

Refill #1 100 will drop to 75
Refill #2 75 will drop to 56.25
Refill #3 will drop 56.25 to 42.25

So, three 1/4 drain & refill will drop your beginning number about 60%. It will also drop things like CH and remaining baqua by a similar amount.
 
tim5055 said:
Good luck!!

In a perfect world this is what will happen with each 25% drain/refill assuming a start of 100 CYA (for easy math)-

Refill #1 100 will drop to 75
Refill #2 75 will drop to 56.25
Refill #3 will drop 56.25 to 42.25

So, three 1/4 drain & refill will drop your beginning number about 60%. It will also drop things like CH and remaining baqua by a similar amount.
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That's what I'm thinking as well. I might even do a 4th but after 3 I'm going to see where my levels are at.
 
scoobasteve1982 - How did the first drain/refill go? Should have been this morning right?

You said you were going to leave about 15" in the shallow end during each drain/refill process. Based on your calculations is that indeed a 25% water change? Or was Tim just using that %'age for example purposes? Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

I like the idea also that you are draining at night and topping off quickly with the delivery truck first thing in the morning. This should help the liner as it won't be baking in a hot sun while dry. Full sun today and even hotter tomorrow here in the Northeast. This is a good route you are taking. Sure it will all work out.
 
mikemass said:
scoobasteve1982 - How did the first drain/refill go? Should have been this morning right?

You said you were going to leave about 15" in the shallow end during each drain/refill process. Based on your calculations is that indeed a 25% water change? Or was Tim just using that %'age for example purposes? Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

I like the idea also that you are draining at night and topping off quickly with the delivery truck first thing in the morning. This should help the liner as it won't be baking in a hot sun while dry. Full sun today and even hotter tomorrow here in the Northeast. This is a good route you are taking. Sure it will all work out.
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Yes, first delivery came. I actually left a bit more water unfortunately because the parts of pool edges that are rounded started showing signs of air pockets. The water company came as promised this morning however and things seemed to have smoothed back out :) I drained about 1 or 2 inches below the skimmers...I'm having another delivery tomorrow but this time unfortunately in the afternoon. I have to give myself time to drain the pool and might not have as much time (golf league tonight - gotta try to win some money ;) It took about 3 hours to drain yesterday. Right now I'm just circulating the water - no chemical. After first load it's def. lighter in color, but still has color. Although I'm planning on 3 loads I'm going to test my CYA after the second and see where I'm at. If it's still very high I'm going to plan on 4. We'll see :) More to come...
 
scoobasteve1982 said:
I actually left a bit more water unfortunately because the parts of pool edges that are rounded started showing signs of air pockets.
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I think because of this comment above ^^ that is the prudent thing to do. I know it feels like you are wasting water (and $$) by dumping what was just filled in less than 24 hours ago, but it beats the alternative by getting greedy, dumping too much and then having a liner separation problem.
 
Okay, second load of water has been delivered. Going to let it circulate for a couple of hours and test as well. I'm lucky because my CYA replacement reagent came in today as well. Just to be sure however I'm going to do my own test and also get a test from the pool store as well..what the heck.
 
Tested tonight, my CYA is now around 60 after 2 partial drain and refills. Pool store had me at 50 - for what that's worth ;) Another refill scheduled for tomorrow AMish. Pool is now a light greenish color but CRYSTAL clear. I'll post photos after my 3rd refill. I'm likely going to do a 4th but it depends on my test results and how gutsy I am ;)

I haven't bothered to do any other tests as my goal right now is to get my CYA low enough to kill the Baqua and I've been draining / refilling. I have to admit I'm nervous / concerned about after my final water delivery that adding liquid chlorine will turn my pool yellow again. The pool is very clear but still green now. I clearly don't understand the chemistry but I'm hoping that after my CYA levels are lower my clear green water will go away with shocking and following the Baqua / Chlorine convert process...assuming I'll start there by first raising my pH which is now about 7.1 and then maintaining 15ppm FC.

I just don't understand how the water could be so darn clear but be green at the same time - I've love to learn why. No visible algae. I've heard about metals turning your water colors but with the whole Baqua fiasco the good lord only knows. My Taylor test kit (as far as I know) won't test for metals so I've been watching pool store results which are at zero.

Finally, I'm trying to prepare for my "conversion" after I get my final water delivery and CYA down. I have a bunch of chemical from the beginning of this process and I've love to use what I have. I'm looking to use something (as far as I've read) that does NOT have stabilizer as I think that will raise my CYA. I'm done with high levels of CYA after what I've spent on fresh water. So, what do you think I should use:

1. Walmart Liquid Chlorine - Sodium Hypochlorite - 10%

OR

2. Pool store powdered - Pool Life Turbo Shock - Calcium Hypochlorite - 78%

Thanks again everyone for all that you do. This has been quite the process thus far if you've been following along but I'm so thankful for all the advice and care from everyone in this community!
 

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Had my 3rd delivery of water this morning. Water is clearing up quite a bit and now looks somewhat inviting haha. The pool has been circulating for about 3 or 4 hours since the delivery. I tested my CYA and it is at/around 30ppm! I shouted with joy when I read that - I'm not gonna lie. With the interest of being successful I've decided to do one more, final load bringing the total to 4 loads. I figure this will help complete the conversion process when I start adding chemical. The water company can't come until Saturday morning so after that refill I will circulate again and do all my tests to see where I'm at and post here for next steps.

I did add one gallon of liquid chlorine about an hour after delivery just to see how it would react with the water. The results - nothing :) Which is good...last time I did this I saw brown and yellow so I'm taking that as a glimmer of hope :)

Thanks again everyone...excited over here!
 
mikemass said:
This is tremendous news. How has the liner been holding up when exposed to the air? Does the water guy think your nuts yet?
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The liner has been holding up well. I try to minimize the time when the water level is low by coordinating with the water company, doing it at night, etc. The water company is AMAZING. Their name is Charlie's Water Wagon - if anyone reading is in eastern part of Connecticut. The water they deliver is drinkable and they are on time every time. They don't think I'm nuts as I've explained my situation. It was great actually because the owner of the company gave me great insight into some of the local pool vendors, water delivery services around the area, who to watch out for, etc. and even gave me 25 dollar discount on each load because I was getting so many.

Final delivery for tomorrow morning at 11am. I'm going to test today just for comparison sake...pictures coming tomorrow before chemical additions :)
 
scoobasteve1982 said:
Had my 3rd delivery of water this morning. Water is clearing up quite a bit and now looks somewhat inviting haha. The pool has been circulating for about 3 or 4 hours since the delivery. I tested my CYA and it is at/around 30ppm! I shouted with joy when I read that - I'm not gonna lie. With the interest of being successful I've decided to do one more, final load bringing the total to 4 loads. I figure this will help complete the conversion process when I start adding chemical. The water company can't come until Saturday morning so after that refill I will circulate again and do all my tests to see where I'm at and post here for next steps.

I did add one gallon of liquid chlorine about an hour after delivery just to see how it would react with the water. The results - nothing :) Which is good...last time I did this I saw brown and yellow so I'm taking that as a glimmer of hope :)

Thanks again everyone...excited over here!
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:goodpost: Great Job!! Keep it up.
 
Alright. 4th water load came today. Water was circulating only an hour and half and I tested, below are the results. I'm surprised by my CYA level still - I did two tests in case and they came back around the same. I thought it would be a bit lower because my 3rd water load test it was...maybe I messed up that test somehow. Anyway, here's my results:

CYA - approx. 35 - the Taylor Test Kit doesn't show the values between 30 and 40 but it's around 35.
FC - 0.5ppm
Combine Chlorine - 1.5
Total Chlorine - 2
Alkalinity - 110ppm
pH - 7.2/7.4
Calcium Hardness -170ppm

So, now what to do :) I could either follow the SLAM method or the Baqua Conversion Method. Given my CYA and using this chart - Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart - my shock FC would be 16ppm - that's actually in line with the Baqua conversion method as well (which is 15ppm maintained)...so I'm guessing I should try to raise my FC to that level...

Lastly, as promised, here's a picture of my pool :)

http://staging.weedlecomm.com/pool/pool_4th_water_load.jpg
 
Wow. Like two different worlds from shallow to deep huh? When judging between the SLAM of 15 or 16, I would definitely say 16. I'd like to give Lee a chance to review because I have a sneaky suspicion he might even say slightly higher since there appears to be residual baqua coupled with CYA protecting that FC. But we'll see. If you decide to go with 16 for now, that's fine. If the consensus is to increase later, that's easy to do.
 
Texas Splash said:
Wow. Like two different worlds from shallow to deep huh? When judging between the SLAM of 15 or 16, I would definitely say 16. I'd like to give Lee a chance to review because I have a sneaky suspicion he might even say slightly higher since there appears to be residual baqua coupled with CYA protecting that FC. But we'll see. If you decide to go with 16 for now, that's fine. If the consensus is to increase later, that's easy to do.
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I went ahead and followed the pool math calculator and it said to add 5 jugs of 128 oz. liquid chlorine so that's what I did. Letting is circulate. Unfortunately I don't be able to test as I"m going out for the evening but will do so when I get home. I'm assuming my goal here is to maintain 16 ppm of FC to get it clear and my CC is less than or 0.5ppm? I do have to say that when I added the 5 jugs I was weary as last time it turned the pool that yellow...but this time, nothing :) After adding the five jugs I scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed....
 
We're working/thinking behind the scenes for you Steve as we try to calculate with any degree of certainty the expected results of a SLAM level of 16 based on the assumed CYA of 40. We would like to be optimistic, given all the water exchanges and previous attempts to maintain a SLAM level of 15, that this 4th water exchange might be just enough to help you deliver the final knockout blow to the baqua nightmare. Yes, I would say maintain the FC of 16 for now and see how the water responds. If after further research we believe an FC adjustment is required we'll certainly let you know. Keep us posted and have a nice day.
 
Came home tonight around 10:15pm - been about 9.5 hours since I added the first dose of Chlorine (5 jugs). It's dark but with the lights on I'm seeing blue (my liner) - I think ;) So that makes me happy.

FC tested and is at 16ppm.
CC tested and is at 2ppm.

I added one more jug of liquid chlorine to go through the night. Will test in the AM.

Goodnight everyone :)
 
scoobasteve1982 said:
Came home tonight around 10:15pm - been about 9.5 hours since I added the first dose of Chlorine (5 jugs). It's dark but with the lights on I'm seeing blue (my liner) - I think ;) So that makes me happy.

FC tested and is at 16ppm.
CC tested and is at 2ppm.

I added one more jug of liquid chlorine to go through the night. Will test in the AM.

Goodnight everyone :)
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Good morning :) Tested around 8am.

FC = 14ppm
CC = 1.5ppm

I added 2 more jugs of liquid chlorine. Going to be sunny and HOT today in the North East.

Water is about the same as the last photo (http://staging.weedlecomm.com/pool/pool_4th_water_load.jpg) but to me seems a tad clearer - could be wishful delirious thinking haha.

Off to visit with my father today and will test when I get back. I'm going to have to stock up on bleach again at Walmart as I only have 2 or 3 jugs left.

I do have 2 pounds of powder shock that I had from the pool store that is Calcium Hypochlorite (78%)...is this okay to use at night until I get to Walmart? It's only 2 pounds and I recall the guy saying at the store it doesn't have any stabilizer.

Happy Fathers Day everyone.
 

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