From installation to SLAM and beyond (previously Future Pool Location)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
What in the H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS!!!! I lost 4 ppm last night. CC is .5. I am never going to pass this stupid test. No one has been in the pool. There is nothing in the pool. My cover is off. I think I must have the zombie algae that another poster may have. I scrub the walls every day. Oh. My. Gosh! I am so done. Does this just simply not work for some pools/people? OK... I take it back. There was something in the pool yesterday...BRAND NEW wiffle balls. That cannot be it. WHAT IS GOING ON?????????? HHHHEEEELLLLPPPPPP MMMMMEEEEEE, IIII'MMMMM GGGOOOIIINNNGGG NNNNUUUTTTSSS!!!!!! I have now been at this for a full month. Except for the first 4-5 days, the water has been crystal clear. So mad/irritated right now. Passing seems impossible!
 
After I made my earlier post, I was laying in bed unable to go back to sleep. I mowed the yard yesterday. I cleaned grass clippings out of the skimmer basket. Are grass clippings the reason for my madness?

The steps are still in the pool. I don't have another way to get in or out. There seems to be good water flow through and behind them. Shouldn't they be in there to sanitize them? I guess that would be my last option to try if you all think that grass is not the issue. I've tried everything else.

On testing, here was my schedule last afternoon/night, and looking at things more and more as I am now awake, I'm feeling like it must have been the grass clippings.
1:30 Fc 14, added 44 oz.
7:00 fc 12, added 128 oz (pool math said 106, but I didn't want to have to add bleach before bed)
9:30, fc 21, CC .5
This morning, fc 17, CC .5

I haven't had to add that much bleach since I removed all the pool toys. As a note, I started mowing at 2pm and finished about 3:30.

If it was the grass clippings, how on earth am I going to own a pool and stay sane? After I pass the OCLT am I going to have this same problem and have massive chlorine loss from grass?
 
Grass clippings that you quickly clean out? nah. Any way fertilizer could have gotten into the pool?

If you have not pulled the steps......you need to!

Inspect every nook and cranny in the steps and squirt bleach inside every hole and run water in there.....

Sorry I cannot remember:
... did you do a 'deep cleaning' on the filter?

....do you have any pool lights in niches that have not been pulled and cleaned?
 
Steps are out. Ballast is disassembled and full of 10% bleach. Getting to the nooks and crannies will be tricky. Husband is not really interested in my project. Since the pools looks good, it's fine he says.

How long does it need to soak? Overnight...30 min?

Return is aqualuminator light...an led. Does it really need to come out?
 
I'd let it soak over night if it were me. Won't hurt a thing.
The light, it's your call, but again if it were me I would just check it out. Anything where algae can hide if you can rule that out I would. ?
 
S1ngram said:
Steps are out. Ballast is disassembled and full of 10% bleach. Getting to the nooks and crannies will be tricky. Husband is not really interested in my project. Since the pools looks good, it's fine he says.

How long does it need to soak? Overnight...30 min?

Return is aqualuminator light...an led. Does it really need to come out?
Click to expand...
Don't cook your steps with bleach! Rinse it off! Mix a 50/50 solution (still way strong) and spray/wipe/set for 30 minutes or so/rinse.

When you shoot water thru the holes in the steps, what does the water look like coming out?


Could you possibly have fertilizer getting into the pool somehow?

- - - Updated - - -

btw, some folks use a syringe or turkey baster to get the bleach in the iddy biddy places :wink:
 
Butterfly, my steps don't fill with water. They are a hollow shell. The ballast holds the steps down along with an arm that screws to the deck. The water coming out of the ballast was clear and the sand is just filter sand that looked completely clean.

As far as the return, I'm pretty sure I don't even have all the right parts to connect it to a plain jet. I will need to check with the pool store tomorrow.

Hopefully, what I've done to the steps will solve the problem.
 
On fertilizer getting into the pool, yes, it certainly is a possibility. I didn't test for it because chemgeek wrote that if the appropriate fc was maintained any nitrogen in the water would be consumed (or something like that).

The steps and ballast are back in the pool. The bleach the ballast was soaking in had a definite scuz layer floating on top. I shot about 8 turkey basters full of bleach into the circulation's holes and down into the railing after we got the steps back in the water. It was a completely random number, no rhyme or reason behind it. I also used the turkey baster to squirt bleach in to the vents on my return and where it attaches to the pool.

I used my hand and paper towels to clean on the inside of the pool but under the top rail. When I got back around to where I started, there was a 1/2 of a dime size blob of algae just floating in the pool. I have NO idea where it came from. That was the first I had seen...ever. I can't imagine that such a small bit would be causing such a big problem and where is the rest? I circled back around the pool looking for more and didn't find any. By the way, the steps were not in the pool when I made this discovery.

I'll go out soon and test the water and get ready for the OCLT....again. I promise not to yell-type again if I fail. I was pretty frustrated and not entirely awake and just a little sleep deprived.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
"consumed" would mean that chlorine oxidizes it creating a greater than expected chlorine demand which is what you are seeing. However, you are seeing huge drops in chlorine levels and I can't imagine that you dumped that much fertilizer into the pool. Unless there is some sort of test error (make sure drop sizes are consistent) or sunlight is getting to the pool and there is little CYA, then something is consuming chlorine quickly in your pool somewhere.

I presume that after getting your pool clear you did eventually backwash your filter. You might check your filter just in case some horrible gunk is stuck in there and didn't backwash out. Others have mentioned the other places that algae and biofilms can hang out including inside removable steps/ladders and behind light niches. Is your pump and filtration running overnight during the OCLT or is the water still? If you find that the high chlorine loss is only seen overnight when the pump is running and is not seen when the water is still, then I'd suspect something in the filter (or elsewhere in the circulation system).
 
I used my hand and paper towels to clean on the inside of the pool but under the top rail. When I got back around to where I started, there was a 1/2 of a dime size blob of algae just floating in the pool. I have NO idea where it came from. That was the first I had seen...ever. I can't imagine that such a small bit would be causing such a big problem and where is the rest? I circled back around the pool looking for more and didn't find any. By the way, the steps were not in the pool when I made this discovery.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Can you reach/clean that with a brush? That's why we mention to brush/scrub all the "nooks and crannies" because they are everywhere! :lol:

Got my fingers crossed for you tonight! Go girl :whoot:
 
Butterfly, I can and will scrub that spot, but it's above the waterline by 4", so I never even considered that area to be a problem.

Chemgeek, my CYA is 40. I run my filter on low 24/7 except when I vacuum and then it's on high. My filter has been backwashed several times in the past month and I even did a partial deep clean last Sunday. I say partial because I had to stop (water was eroding the soil around a couple of my upright supports) before the water was completely free of teeny tiny floating particles. The water was clear though.

This high chlorine loss (4ppm) this morning was an oddity. I have been normally seeing chlorine losses in the 1.5-2.0 ppm range. Pump does run all night during OCLT.

My steps were cleaned today and dropped back into the pool. I will need to call the pool place and find out where the original return jet for my pool is. They installed a combo light/return. I'm not sure how to disassemble it any way.

I guess what gets me is that I just don't "see" anything. It must all be microscopic except for the tiny blob I saw and removed today.
 
On top of difficulties in the pool, I guess I'm causing some problems too. Maybe I can't run the tests right. This is the first time I've ever tested this many times for a result but here's what I found.

Last night fc 19.5 CC .5

5:00 am
Fc 19.5 CC .5 or less (Yeah, I passed. Let's repeat the result!)
Fc 19 CC 1.5
Fc 16.5. CC no test done
Fc 16.5 CC 1.5 (this was done with a fresh water sample and a tap water rinsed and dried cylinder)
Fc 14.5 CC 1.5 (did test pool side for especially fresh water) My pool is only 40 feet from the door to my kitchen where I have always done my testing

The first three tests were done one right after the next and got progressively worse each time. My drops all look the same size to me. The curved part of the miniscus is on the line for the 10. I added a mounded scoop of the powder each time. The first test, I thought I tilted the bottle on the first few drops, so that is what prompted me to redo the test in the first place. The 2nd-5th tests I was especially careful to hold the bottles straight up and down.

Obviously, I did not pass. But what on earth is going on with my test results? I am wide awake now and sure I won't be going back to sleep this morning :(
 
S1ngram said:
On top of difficulties in the pool, I guess I'm causing some problems too. Maybe I can't run the tests right. This is the first time I've ever tested this many times for a result but here's what I found.

Last night fc 19.5 CC .5

5:00 am
Fc 19.5 CC .5 or less (Yeah, I passed. Let's repeat the result!)
Fc 19 CC 1.5
Fc 16.5. CC no test done
Fc 16.5 CC 1.5 (this was done with a fresh water sample and a tap water rinsed and dried cylinder)
Fc 14.5 CC 1.5 (did test pool side for especially fresh water) My pool is only 40 feet from the door to my kitchen where I have always done my testing

The first three tests were done one right after the next and got progressively worse each time. My drops all look the same size to me. The curved part of the miniscus is on the line for the 10. I added a mounded scoop of the powder each time. The first test, I thought I tilted the bottle on the first few drops, so that is what prompted me to redo the test in the first place. The 2nd-5th tests I was especially careful to hold the bottles straight up and down.

Obviously, I did not pass. But what on earth is going on with my test results? I am wide awake now and sure I won't be going back to sleep this morning :(
Click to expand...

Good grief! :crazy:

Let us know the next FC/CC test result.
 
I'm sure I've spent less money than some. I've never been pool stored. I have probably spent around $140 on chlorine in the past month. I've purchased stabilizer $15, and chlorine tabs and a floater for times when I'm gone for about $20 total. I don't think I'm doing too bad on expenses, it's the time that I've put into this that gets to me. I go to bed at 10:30, get woken up several times in the night by my 1 year old, and I'm up by 5:00-5:30 every morning. Then, can't sleep after I get the results. I'm just tired. I told someone that the pool is almost as much work as a newborn. LOL. Since we are still getting to use the pool, I would say we have enjoyed it a little. I'm just disappointed overall. If I had to do it over, I would have waited till kids were older or not done it at all.
 
I hope no one out there is thinking that I'm making all my problems up or trying to stir up trouble. If I was reading my own post, I'm not sure what I would think.

Another unbelievable thing just happened. After my 5:00 test results, I did not add bleach. Remember from my last post all the different test results I got? Well here's one for ya'. I just tested, miniscus at 10 mil line, bottles straight up and down and here are my results fc 18, CC 0.

I collect all of my samples each time from The. Same. Place. And, the same depth. Is there something wrong with my test kit? Me? Pool circulation?

Maybe I have been passing all along, but the results are so screwy that I would never know? I just don't see the kit being the problem. I have replaced r-0871 about 4 times and powder twice. I got the kit just a little over one month ago. I store it in my kitchen on top of the microwave.

Andno one seems to know how to remove the light from my pool (aqualuminator) so I can clean behind it.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply