Filled pool in the rain, turned it Green. Now what?

[Tim_B]

First post! I need some help opening my pool. This is my second year with a pool. We took the pool down and stored it over the winter. I kept waiting for the rain to stop to set it up. Monday I had a window so I went for it. I started filling the pool Monday night and finished by Tuesday night. It poured rain the entire time. The pool sits under a tree so it dumped trash in the pool and turned the water a greenish color before the pool was even filled. I started the filter this morning and its been running around 5 hours so far. Nothing else has been done. Just checked the chemicals with my new k-2006 test kit. Not sure if I did it right but this is what I got:

FC 0
CC 0
PH 7.0
TA 20 ppm (took 2 drops to turn)
CH 20 ppm (took 2 drops to turn)
CYA 0? it never got cloudy

Water is clear but has a green tint.
Water temp is around 74F
Filled with county water.

Id like to try the TFP method but not sure what to do first. Thanks!

-Tim

 

[Texas Splash]

Hi Tim! Welcome to the forum. Let's get you going with some very basic starting points:
- New water has no CYA (stabilizer), so you need to add some for a minimum CYA goal of "30".

Adding CYA:
To increase CYA via granular stabilizer, place the required amount as calculated by the Poolmath calculator into a white sock and place in the poolside skimmer basket. For those concerned about suction flow to the pump, suspending the sock near a return jet or from a floating device will also suffice. Best never to allow undissolved granules to rest directly against the pool surface. Squeeze the sock periodically to help it dissipate. Once dissolved, consider your CYA adjusted to that programmed (target) level. CYA test readings should show a rise in 24-48 hours, however some pools may experience a longer delay to fully register. Best to confirm final CYA in about 5-7 days before adding any more stabilizer/conditioner.

- New water has very little FC, and with no CYA to protect it, it's gone very fast. Get some regular bleach and using the PoolMath again, add enough for a goal of about 3 ppm. Once you have the stabilizer in the water as noted above, increase the FC to 5-6 and never let it go below 2.
- Your pH and TA are a little low, so use enough baking soda to increase the TA from 20 to about 50 for now. Give that a day or two and see how the pH and TA change. The pH is our biggest concern and should usually be in the mid 7s.
- A low CH is not applicable to your vinyl pool. You're good there.

Last question, are you on a well? If not, the green might simply be from the tree fallout, but we'll see how things go. Keep us posted on those initial instructions and if you have any questions later. Thanks for using the forum.

- - - Updated - - -

Make sure to read our ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and the Vital Links below in my signature.

 

[Tim_B]

Sorry for the delay. Thank you for helping. I put a little algaecide in that day and the green cleared up with in a few hours. This pool was filled with county water. Water temp is around 76 degrees.

5/30 - put 3.4 oz of Borax to raise the PH and started adding the bleach.

6/1 - put 18 oz of dry stabilizer in a sock in front of the return. FC was 10 and PH was less than 7.

6/2 - Current readings as of 10am:

FC 7 (10 mL tube took 14 drops to go clear x .05)
CC .5 (1 drop to make clear again x .05)
PH <7.0 (to low to read, took 8 drops of base demand to get up to 7.4. Not sure what that means)
TA 10 (1 drop to turn green x10, still way low)
CYA 70 (high but I just finished squeezing the rest out of the sock in if that matters)

The water looks great but the test results say other wise. May retest this evening to confirm levels. Thanks again for helping me out.

 

[jblizzle]

How much cya did you add? I would be surprised if you over shot that much unless it was not thoroughly mixed yet.

At this point it appears the only thing you need to do is add baking soda to get that TA up to around 50 PPM

 

[Tim_B]

The poolmath app said to add 18 oz to go from 0 to 30 so that's what I did. There is a good chance it hadn't mixed good. I'll recheck in a little bit and post the results.

As for the PH, I'm not sure how to read the chart for needing 8 drops of base demand to get up to 7.4. Do I use the Poolmath App for that?

Also I just reread what Texas Splash wrote and I never did the baking soda for the TA. Should I still do that?

 

[jblizzle]

Yes. Add baking soda to adjust the TA before you worry about the pH since your TA is so low

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

The poolmath app said to add 18 oz to go from 0 to 30 so that's what I did. There is a good chance it hadn't mixed good. I'll recheck in a little bit and post the results.

As for the PH, I'm not sure how to read the chart for needing 8 drops of base demand to get up to 7.4. Do I use the Poolmath App for that?

Also I just reread what Texas Splash wrote and I never did the baking soda for the TA. Should I still do that?

Yes, if you do the baking soda, that will also affect the pH slightly. Ignore the base demand stuff for now. Use pool math to calculate pH. I would suggest that Washing Soda is a better choice since both pH and Alk are low. Use the effects of adding chemicals at the bottom of the calculator to see what each of the products will do to your levels. Play with it, it might be better to do washing soda, or it might be better to to baking soda and borax instead. You have to check that section out, it will give you a better understanding of how they work together.


CYA can take up to a week to fully show up on tests, so have some POP and save your reagent. EDIT: On your CYA test, are you sure you followed the instructions correctly?

 

[Tim_B]

Ok I did the baking soda yesterday around 6pm to get the TA up. Here are this mornings test results:

FC 3.5
CC 0.5
PH 7.0
TA 50
CYA 60
Water temp 78F

I saw that the FC was low and the TA was still a little low so I treated these first by adding 33 oz of bleach to target FC 7 and 11 oz baking soda to target TA 60. If the TA is 60 tomorrow, I'll start trying to get the PH up to 7.4 with borax. I'd like to get the cya down to 30-40 I think, or is 60 ok? How much water would I need to dump to do that? Is this something I can do by back washing to waste and then adding fresh water? Am I heading in the right direction? I think the biggest obstacle for new pool owners is not knowing what to attack first after getting those test results. Treating everything at the same time just seems like a bad idea.


frustratedpoolmom, I think I'm checking it right, lol. 7 mL of pool water, 7 mL of R-0013. Shake for 30 secs, pour into small tube until black dot disappears looking down into it from the top?

Thank you to everyone helping me out. I feel like I'm slowly getting it.