Chloramine disaster

[Notacop]

I am trying to help my dad with a pool crisis.

Last fall his cover failed and let leaves into the pool it was a huge mess by the spring.

Pool is now free of leaves and pump has been running. It seems that no matter how much chlorine is added, it registers at zero. According to my Dad, he has put 40 cases of shock/bleach into it...yes 100+ bottles.

The chlorine smell is overpowering so I went and ran the test myself. 10 ml of water, heaping scoop of powder = not pink. I decided to check for combined chloramines, 5 drops of the 003 reagent resulted in the picture I have attached. I gave up on getting it back to clear after 10 drops didn't even make the slightest change where they hit the water.

Where do I even start to fix this? CYA was at zero and was brought up to 30 so far, plan on going to 50ish (saltwater pool).

Thanks!

 

[mknauss]

Drain / exchange and refill with fresh water.

I suspect it is ammonia, a lot of it. If you want to test for it, get an ammonia test at an aquarium supply store.

 

[mknauss]

And do NOT add CYA, it feeds the bacteria that is creating the ammonia.

 

[JamesW]

Try the test again but use three scoops of powder.

If you get a color, run the test to completion.

If not, add reagent 0003 and run the test to completion.

You could run a diluted sample test by making a sample with 1 part distilled water and 1 part pool water. Mix well and then test the diluted sample for fc and cc and multiply the results by 2.

Or, do a sample with 3 parts distilled water and 1 part pool water and multiply the results by 4.

If the CYA was high at closing, you might have gotten bacteria in the water that ate the CYA and converted it into ammonia.

 

[Notacop]

I have always been under the impression that draining a fiberglass in-ground pool was a bad idea, especially with as soggy as our ground is this spring. The pool does have a sump pit under it to try and prevent any issues. How far would you recommend draining it?

The specs on the shell say something like 19k gallons but I think that is spec'd to the rim not to the skimmer. So I'd guess something like 17k gallons total.

If we don't drain/refill how do you eliminate ammonia?

 

[Texas Splash]

You are correct, draining a FB pool too low is a bad idea, especially this time of year with all the rains. So you have a couple options:
1 - Get a sump pump and place it in the deep end and at the same time have fresh water pumped-in at the shallow end. You're essentially trying to perform a water turnover and swap it out.
2 - Drain a little at a time (maybe 1-2 ft), then refill. This is not as efficient as lowering more water, but it's safe to prevent pop-out.

The only way to eliminate ammonia without draining is chlorine (bleach) and LOTS of it. In your case, looking at those CC colors, I suspect that's why Marty went directly to draining. JamesW's suggestion about the diluted test might help to provide a little more details about how high those levels are. With that info we may learn of more options, or confirm which one is best.

Here's the key to all those bottle your dad added ..... you can't wait with ammonia. You have to raise the FC to "10" and re-test in only 10 minutes to see if it held. You cannot wait longer than 10 minutes to re-test. If the FC crashed to 4 or below, you crank it back up immediately until you see the FC holding between 5-10. Only then have you cracked through the ammonia wall and can resume adding other chemicals. Until that happens, it all about lots of bleach/chlorine and very quick testing. If the ammonia is really heavy in that water, exchanging water can help the battle, but you'll still need to do the 10-min drill.

 

[mknauss]

Pat covered it. You did not mention fiberglass to start. A signature really helps us help you. See mine below (if you are using a phone to view the forum, turn it sideways).

 

[JamesW]

You might be bleaching out the reagent in the first part of the test. So, your test might not be accurate.

I'm thinking that you might not have a chloramine problem.

Get 100 ml of pool water and mix it with 300 ml of distilled water. Then, test the mixture for fc and cc. Use 2 full scoops of powder.

Multiply the results of the fc and cc tests by 4 to get the actual numbers.

 

[Notacop]

Pat covered it. You did not mention fiberglass to start. A signature really helps us help you. See mine below (if you are using a phone to view the forum, turn it sideways).

Only reason I don't is because I post about a couple different pools. I have a 10k gallon above ground and my parents have a 18k gallon fiberglass. Mine is BBB, theirs is saltwater with no borax. I also help open/close a friend's 20k gallon above ground on trichlor (tried to convince them on BBB bit they are older and don't want to go down that road).

I appreciate all the help from everyone. We will run a diluted test, maybe pick up some ammonia test strips and see where we are.

Sounds like a water change is going to be nearly inevitable.

 

[JamesW]

The ammonia test might not work with the high chlorine levels.

This might be just really high chlorine bleaching out the reagent.

The reason that the CC part of the test works is that when you add 003, you're adding iodide. The chlorine gets reduced to chloride and the iodide gets oxidized into iodine.

So, the CC test is actually testing for iodine.

Chlorine is a much stronger oxidizer than iodine. That's why it can oxidize the reagent where the iodine can't.

To make a diluted sample, just get a clean plastic bottle and add 1/4 pool water and 3/4 distilled water and mix it up. Getting super accurate is not important.

Then, test the mixed sample for fc and cc.

It's important to use bottled water with no chlorine in the water. Don't use tap water for dilution because it contains CC.