First time pool owner

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Howdy,

Sounds like your heading in the right direction. Keep it up.

Just a friendly tip, I would do some shopping around for liquid chlorine. While Walmart typically has some low prices you might have a better source in the area and not even know it. I was pointed to this calculator at one point and it will help you quickly identify if your getting a good deal. Also know some pool stores sell liquid chlorine by the 3 or 5 gallon tote, which can be cost effective.

Enjoy

Brandon
 
Good news to report, I raised the FC per the pool calc which actually got me to 25 FC instead of 24 and nearly 2 hours later when I retested FC was still at 25!

The water is looking much, much better than at this time yesterday. The green tint is gone and the water is blue but still a little cloudy, but there's been a noticeable improvement to the cloudiness just in the last few hours. The strong chlorine smell is also gone. I think we're on the right track. I'll continue to test the FC in 2 to 3 hour intervals. The way this is looking I hope to be ready for a OCLT test by tomorrow evening.

Thanks so much for everyone's help. I literally bought the local WalMart completely out of Liquid Chlorine today so I should have plenty of extra leftover after this process is completed. So far I'm 21 gallons in since I started this process on Wednesday and we're finally making great progress. I have 21 more gallons ready if needed.

Thanks again to all of you for your help!
 
I retested FC was still at 25!
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Super! It sounds as if you're on the road to recovery for sure. Continue what you're doing and don't forget to watch filter pressure and inspect all the little places in a pool where algae can hide (in/under steps, behind lights, etc). Great job.
 
Newest update, I tested again and FC had dropped drastically to around 11. I quickly added bleach and retested and right back up to 24. I guess I'm going to have to keep a very close eye on this. I'll continue to test fequently.

Is it safe to assume that once the sun goes down the dissipation of FC will slow considerably without the sun to burn off the chlorine?
 
Good job! :goodjob: FC consumption should slow down a bit since the bleach isn't fighting the sun, however it's best to check and adjust just before bed anyways, then first-thing in the morning..... after you've had your java and can see straight of course. :crazy:
 
Went out for a few hours last night and got home around 11:30. Tested FC again and it had fallen down to around 17 and the chlorine smell was very strong. Added bleach back up to 25 FC and went to bed. I ran my first test this morning around 9 AM and my FC was holding at 25. I just went back and tested FC at noon at it's still holding at 25. The water is blue but still a little cloudy, I'm able to see further down in the deep end and see the robot when it's down there but it's still not completely clear. Chlorine smell has dissipated greatly.

I also tested pH again and it appeared to be pretty high, 8.0 or above. I needed 4 drops in the kit to lower it to 7.2. Should I add anything at this point to attempt a pH balance or is the number unreliable because FC is so high?

Current test results....
FC = 25
CC = 0 or less than .5
pH = 8 or higher

- - - Updated - - -

BattleOfYakima said:
Awesome work! You can use the 10ml water sample and instructions for the FC test instead of the 25ml test. Saves on drops and accurate enough for our purposes unless someone explicitly asks you to do a 25ml sample.
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Thanks, I was using 25ml at first and then dropped to 10ml to save drops.
 
BattleOfYakima said:
If FC is 10 or more, don't even bother testing PH because it will not be valid.
Great work topping off FC. Keep at it, keep pump running as much as possible.
Does your PSI pressure gauge work on your filter?
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Filter has been running nonstop all week. I only turn it off to clean out my cartridge, which I've been doing twice per day. The pressure gauge does work and seems to hold fairly steady around 16 or 17 PSI. It goes up to around 20 after it's been a while since I've cleaned the cartridge but I've noticed the spikes in pressure have also been dropping and the cartridge is much less dirty each time I pull it out to clean. I could see the chunks of green algae falling off earlier in the week but that has become less and less as time has gone on.
 
Pool school on filter cleaning.
There is some personal preference on when to clean filters. As you'll read on that page, PoolSchool is 25% higher than perfectly clean PSI, which, let's say if your clean PSI is 16, means 20 is cleaning time. But it is imperative that you clean your filter correctly and thoroughly in order to find your clean PSI. Your manual says 7-10 PSI above clean PSI so you know that's an absolute max. It is interesting because a slightly dirty/clogged filter will actually do a better job grabbing finer particles when you're in the final stages of the SLAM, so you definitely don't want to clean before the TFP suggestion or that will slow the process because your totally clean filter will let the smallest clouding particles through. On the other side, if your pool is still a swamp, you want max circulation and you're thrilled grabbing tons of big stuff, so cleaning as soon as you hit the TFP suggestion is fantastic. Did that make sense? Nasty pool, clean at 20% or 25% but not before. Clear but cloudy pool - not before 25% but maybe up to manufacture max.
 

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I tested my FC last night and it was at 24, when I tested again this morning it was at 23.5 and CC is 0. So I passed the OCLT but my water is still not crystal clear. It's definitely blue and I can see nearly to the bottom of the deep end but it is still a little cloudy.

Could this be caused by something like unbalanced pH? Should I start to allow the FC levels to get below SLAM range and balance out everything from there?

Thanks!
 
Could this be caused by something like unbalanced pH?
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No. More than anything it just means your pool is still working to filter or process items that may not yet be impacting your tests. That's why the 3 criteria because each one tells its own story about the condition of your water. Best to maintain the SLAM FC for now and watch your filter to ensure it's rinsed-off enough to catch all the dead algae. With our cartridge systems that's about all we can do is rinse them off as needed, but it will work.

Remember .. progress is good. :goodjob:
 
This morning the water is now crystal clear and I once again passed the OCLT. It appears the worst is now behind me.

How long can I expect it to take before the FC levels come down? I'm currently down to around 20.5 from 24 and my CC is 0. Now that my SLAM is over what should I maintain FC at seeing that my CYA is at 55? Should I have any concerns about the long term affects of higher FC levels on the vinyl liner? Most pool products I see say never enter the water until the FC is between 1 and 4 PPM. Is this correct or should I maintain my FC at a higher level to offset the CYA?

Thanks again for everyone's help, especially you Texas Splash. This process truly works and I'm sure I'd have spent much more money with much less positive results going the traditional pool chemical route.
 
Great news on the OCLT. :goodjob: As for the FC, it will slowly fall on its own. The rate of drop will depend on the amount of sunlight, but it will fall. You have plenty of CYA, so that protects your liner well. From now on simply refer to the Chlorine/CYA Chart (link below) and compare your CYA to the recommended corresponding FC. Always ensure they are matched and don't let your FC drop below the minimum. You can disregard miscellaneous pool industry recommended FC levels as most often they use outdated guides and simply do not take into account the relationship of FC & CYA. Congrats, and enjoy your clear water. :swim:
 
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