Drowning in a green pool and in over our heads!

[splashpad]

Hello!

Thank you guys so much for all of your responses....
I'm going to admit, I'm feeling a little confused and overwhelmed. I have read both pool school and the the SLAM procedure, and looked at pool math, and basically tried to do everything I can to help myself figure some of this out on my own but I feel like there are some things i'm not quite "getting."

If I can ask (probably) stupid questions:
1. Why do I need to SLAM again? Isn't that what I did when I was getting rid of the green/cloudy water? The pool now looks ideal.... should I be trying to back off of the SLAM? Or is it only so I can conduct the overnight chlorine test?
2. Once the SLAM is done... then what? Do i want the chlorine level to drop or does it have to stay high because of the CYA?
3. Since my CYA is high now.. is that something I have to worry about all summer long? Making sure it doesn't go up any higher?

I promise I am trying to educate myself as much as possible but there are some things I can't seem to get a grip on. In my head our pool was finally good and beautiful and it was time to start lowering the chlorine....

Thanks!
Alexa

I'll fill in details as soon as I'm home, but you have clear water now?

 

[mknauss]

You last reported a CC of 11. That is VERY high. Implies a huge amount of organics are being consumed by the chlorine.

The three criteria to pass a SLAM -- Clear water, really clear. See if a quarter is heads or tails in the deep end. CC of 0.5 or less at the first test in the AM; and passing a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test.

Hope that helps

 

[linuxninja00]

Hello!

Thank you guys so much for all of your responses....
I'm going to admit, I'm feeling a little confused and overwhelmed. I have read both pool school and the the SLAM procedure, and looked at pool math, and basically tried to do everything I can to help myself figure some of this out on my own but I feel like there are some things i'm not quite "getting."

If I can ask (probably) stupid questions:
1. Why do I need to SLAM again? Isn't that what I did when I was getting rid of the green/cloudy water? The pool now looks ideal.... should I be trying to back off of the SLAM? Or is it only so I can conduct the overnight chlorine test?
2. Once the SLAM is done... then what? Do i want the chlorine level to drop or does it have to stay high because of the CYA?
3. Since my CYA is high now.. is that something I have to worry about all summer long? Making sure it doesn't go up any higher?

I promise I am trying to educate myself as much as possible but there are some things I can't seem to get a grip on. In my head our pool was finally good and beautiful and it was time to start lowering the chlorine....

Thanks!
Alexa

There are no stupid questions, just learning. If I followed the thread completely, I don't think you got your test kit until just recently, so we don't definitively know if we were at SLAM levels before and if we were accurately holding it there. It's likely you were at some point if we killed some algae, but we can't know for sure.
Clear looking pools can still be "dirty" with more organics for FC to work on. Reference the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] chart. You'll see that for non-SWG pools with 80 CYA we need to be at the "Shock FC" level of 31 to kill algae, bacteria and other contaminants. If we drift below 31 due to sanitizing/UV depletion, etc, we need to get back up to 31 until we pass the following criteria from the SLAM Process page:

You are done when:
CC is 0.5 or lower;
You pass an OCLT (ie overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less);
And the water is clear.

When all three are true, you are done SLAMing and can allow the FC to drift down to normal levels.

According to the exit criteria, your pool may be clean looking but your CC is at 11 from your test. You could do the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test test tonight to see where you stand, but I suspect if we have CC of 11 we're still sanitizing "things".

Regarding CYA, it doesn't increase on it's own. It increases only if you add stabilizer or use products that contain stabilizer such as chlorine pucks. When you exit SLAM, yes you can let the FC drop naturally. Again refrerence the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] chart to see that the minimum FC in your pool should not go below 6 and you should target 9-11 at all times. This will require regular bleach dosing. How much and how often varies pool by pool. Test it regularly in the beginning and you'll get an understanding of your daily FC loss. Most say that 2-4ppm isn't unusual in full sun.

 

[mknauss]

Once you pass the three criteria, you will follow the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. So with a high CYA, you will need a higher target FC.

Your CYA will drop over the summer, as long as you do not add any (including any solid chlorine products). CYA will oxidize a little bit with high UV impacts on the pool surface.

 

[amfrench]

Holy moly, thank you guys, that already helps quite a bit.

Yes, the water is... I would say.... 95% clear. I can see the bottom very well but based on the example above, I probably couldn't see a heads/tails quarter so there obviously is a little clearing up to do yet.

Yes, my test kit came this morning... so I see why I need to get to those levels first since I couldn't check before. I guess I'll start this all tonight.

One more quick question... after I add the chlorine, how long do I have to wait to test FC to see if I'm up to the level I need to be at?

 

[Rocco]

You will want to make sure the pump is running when you add your chemicals, it is recommended to add the bleach slowly where the water returns to the pool and wait around 30 minutes before testing after adding to give it time to mix well.
If you have any doubts about what to do next, just provide your latest numbers and we should be able to help.

Also never add muratic acid and bleach together as they will cause a violent reaction if mixed. No much of a risk if they mix inside the pool but better to be safe.

 

[amfrench]

Another question regarding doing the testing for the chlorine...

I know you are supposed to add drops until the pink solution turns clear.... I'm wondering how "clear" it's supposed to be... perfectly colorless? i feel like it has the lightest pink tint for the longest time and it's really making me question if i'm being too picky about it or not. This most recent time I just did it (after adding liquid chlorine) I got a FC of 27 and then when I tested for CC it didn't turn pink at all meaning zero... that can't be right.

I need to redo it, I just wanted to know if I'm supposed to make sure there is absolutely positively no pink tint at all....

 

[kellyfair]

Here is where I peddle the speedstir. I don’t use the light for my other tests, but I use it to test FC and CC. Very easy to tell when you shift from pink tinge to perfectly clear with that light!

 

[amfrench]

Here is where I peddle the speedstir. I don’t use the light for my other tests, but I use it to test FC and CC. Very easy to tell when you shift from pink tinge to perfectly clear with that light!

I had absolutely no idea what that was but I youtubed it and that makes everything look so much easier!

Also I just did it again and relaxed a little bit this time... FC 22 CC .5

I'm going to retry in the morning though now that I feel like I have a little bit of a better grip on what I'm supposed to do.... I'm all over the place today.

Thanks for all the help today guys!
Alexa

 

[kellyfair]

You bet!