Chlorine/CYA Issues

[Katodude]

Everything that can be brushed should be brushed. This is one of the biggest reasons SLAM’s can drag on.

Is the pool bar hollow, is there water inside it? Are there drain holes in it? If so I would shoot fresh water through it to flush out anything in there. Then take a turkey baster and put some concentrated bleach in there. Swish it around. Then drain the whole thing, let it dry and do it again.

BTW. Brush your pool again, and check your FC level.

This is the part where you can make the most impact the fastest. By testing and bringing your level back up to SLAM every 4 hours you will speed this process up.

 

[Emvandy]

Okay, I'm trying to brush everything, but I'll find a smaller brush to get in the skimmer baskets. I was at 31 at 10:30 and just tested again and I'm down to 24.5.

The pool bar is hollow pvc pipe, but every end is capped and glued, so I can't get the caps off to get in there. But it doesn't sound or feel like there is any water in there. It is supposed to be water tight.

 

[Katodude]

Ok, water tight is good. Clean up the outside and let it dry in the sun (which I think you are already doing).

The FC dropping means you still have stuff to kill and the SLAM is working. Since it was just hazy before you should notice the pool getting cleaner.

You have a good sized filter which will help filter out all the dead stuff.

 

[Emvandy]

Okay, that is good to know! I found some little bottle brushes and I've been cleaning out all around the edges of the jets and inside the umbrella hole, and in all parts of the skimmers. I do have 3 holes in the sides of the pool (under both skimmers and under where the autofill adjuster is) that go too far back for me to get a brush into. Even the longest bottle brush I have doesn't reach all the way in. Some cloudy junk came out of all of those when I brushed them. The FC was right at 28 at 2:30 when I got in the pool. I just checked it at 5:50 and it is down to 18.5. About to go add more chlorine now.

 

[Emvandy]

Okay, FC was at 32.5 at 6:30pm and it is now down to 29 at 10:00. I'm going to bed and see where we are in the morning.

 

[Emvandy]

Alright, I'm feeling encouraged! Only lost 3.5 ppm overnight. Just finished brushing and adding more chlorine, so hopefully the SLAM is almost over!

Question - after I do pass the OCLT, when do I need to turn the SWG back on? Do I need to wait until the ppm goes down to the recommended range, or do I turn it back on as soon as the OCLT is passed?

 

[mknauss]

Once you pass all three criteria, let the FC drop down to about 10 ppm or so and start the SWCG. Have it generating at least 4 ppm FC per day. Test every day and see if the FC is going up or down.

 

[Emvandy]

Okay, thank you! So, this may be a dumb question, but how do you figure out how much your SWG is generating daily? I had been running it at 70% and was having to add chlorine at least weekly. My pool temp is 92 right now, and it gets a lot of direct afternoon sun. It is also normally on a schedule to run about 9-5.

 

[mknauss]

but how do you figure out how much your SWG is generating daily?

PoolMath
Effects of Adding Chemicals.
At 70% for 8 hours, that creates 2.2 ppm FC per day. Pretty low for this time of year.
I suggest 100% for at least 10 hours. That will create 4 ppm FC, at least.

 

[Emvandy]

Okay, thank you! This is a huge help!

 

[Emvandy]

Well, still having the chlorine drop more than 1 ppm overnight. The last two nights, it has dropped 4 ppm both times. Is this still normal? I started the SLAM on Wednesday morning. I'm really hoping this ends soon. My kids keep wanting to swim, but the water is really irritating their eyes so I'm trying to keep them out as much as possible.

 

[Emvandy]

Combined chlorine is 1.5, which is higher than it was before I started the SLAM

 

[mknauss]

My kids keep wanting to swim, but the water is really irritating their eyes so I'm trying to keep them out as much as possible.

Eye irritation is due to CC (that occurs from the chlorine killing organics) or high pH. As long as you lowered your pH to 7.2 prior to starting the SLAM process, that should not be an issue.

 

[Katodude]

How many times a day are you testing and adjusting your FC levels? You are now entering the hard part patience. Keep following the process and you will win. The longer you can keep the pool at SLAM levels the faster this will go.

How does the water look?

 

[Yev]

Okay, I'm trying to brush everything, but I'll find a smaller brush to get in the skimmer baskets.

Might sound weird, but I purchased a toilet brush brand new (didnt use a used one) and have added that to my pool tools. This is handy for skimmer baskets, returns, etc.

 

[Emvandy]

Eye irritation is due to CC (that occurs from the chlorine killing organics) or high pH. As long as you lowered your pH to 7.2 prior to starting the SLAM process, that should not be an issue.

Okay, I didn't drop the pH down to 7.2 beforehand, so that is probably why. It was at 7.5. I'll just make them wear their goggles until this is over.

 

[Emvandy]

How many times a day are you testing and adjusting your FC levels? You are now entering the hard part patience. Keep following the process and you will win. The longer you can keep the pool at SLAM levels the faster this will go.

How does the water look?

I had been testing 5-6 times a day until yesterday. We some friends and their kids over to swim yesterday, so I didn't do any adjusting in the middle of the day. Just morning and evening.

The pool looks crystal clear. I haven't seen any of the haziness that I was seeing at the beginning of the week.

 

[Emvandy]

Might sound weird, but I purchased a toilet brush brand new (didnt use a used one) and have added that to my pool tools. This is handy for skimmer baskets, returns, etc.

That is a good idea! I ended up using a brush that I had kept in the kitchen for cleaning out vases and water bottles. Lol! It has worked pretty good, but I may end up getting a toilet brush now that you said that because I bet those have a longer handle.

 

[Katodude]

Ok good, keep at it you are close. There is some algae hidden somewhere that you have not found to brush. Post pictures of your pool so we can give you some ideas for hiding spots.

 

[Emvandy]

Ok good, keep at it you are close. There is some algae hidden somewhere that you have not found to brush. Post pictures of your pool so we can give you some ideas for hiding spots.

here are some pics of the pool. I’ve tried to brush everything I can. The only things that I haven’t been able to brush really well are the parts for the in floor cleaner. I can’t get the tops off the vacuums to really get in there to clean.