Hello from Lexington, KY - (and pointers, please?)

[Murky]

Hey all - I've been binge reading the Pool School articles, playing with PoolMath, and already have the app on my phone. This is REALLY great stuff for a first time pool owner like me - thank you! I recently bought a house that has a large plaster pool (20x40 rectangle - est. 36-37k gal) of an unknown age - more detail in my sig. I'm not sure what the previous homeowners did to this poor hole in the ground, but it was an absolute mess when I peeled the cover off it. Dark green, full of algae, no filter, but it had been winterized at some point in the past, as the drain plugs had been pulled, there was antifreeze in the pipes, and a plug in the return.

Long story short, after LOTS of brushing, vacuuming, pool roboting, filter washing, and a round of shock, the pool itself is "clean" of debris and has turned to a cloudy light green color - I can now see about 3 steps instead of none - but it's VERY cloudy, and greenish-blue tinted. I'm awaiting my TF-100 kit (on order!), but got water tested at the store and used the test strips that were left here by the previous owner to try to dial in some idea of where the pool currently is, and here's what I've got:

ph: store=7.2, strip=6.8
TA: store=12, strip=0
CC: store=0.1, strip=(N/A)
FC: store=0.1, strip=0
CH: store=87, strip=80
CYA: store=5.0, strip=0.0

Now, I understand that these values might be seriously out of whack with reality, but while I'm waiting on my TF-100, I wanted to start formulating a loose plan. Obviously things are out of whack, and I've got bulk CYA, baking soda and borax on order, and got some chlorine 8.25%. The big question I have is... what comes first? I know that some of the readings can throw off some of the others, I know that CYA is needed to stabilize the FC, I know that the CH needs to be higher for a plaster pool... so which things should I focus on getting close to acceptable ranges first? Can I adjust CYA and CH at the same time? CYA, CH, and pH? Just trying not to waste anything unnecessarily...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! With a pool like this and questionable chemistry when you moved in, I would do the following with your TF-100 to validate:
1. No CYA yet. Increase FC to 10 and test in 10 minutes. If it fell below 5 ppm, bump it back to 10 right away and test in another 10 minutes. Continue that 10-min drill until the FC holds between 6-10 ppm.
2. Once the FC holds add the CYA for a goal of 30. Use the sock method
3. Now you can officially begin the SLAM Process by increasing the FC to 12 and doing your best to maintain it there until you pass all 3 SLAM criteria.
4. If the pH is still around 7.2, leave it alone. That's fine.

Don't worry about any other testing until after the SLAM is complete. Focus on maintaining that FC level and all the details on the SLAM page and you should do fine. Good luck!

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[Murky]

Welcome to TFP! With a pool like this and questionable chemistry when you moved in, I would do the following with your TF-100 to validate:
1. No CYA yet. Increase FC to 10 and test in 10 minutes. If it fell below 5 ppm, bump it back to 10 right away and test in another 10 minutes. Continue that 10-min drill until the FC holds between 6-10 ppm.
2. Once the FC holds add the CYA for a goal of 30. Use the sock method
3. Now you can officially begin the SLAM Process by increasing the FC to 12 and doing your best to maintain it there until you pass all 3 SLAM criteria.
4. If the pH is still around 7.2, leave it alone. That's fine.

Don't worry about any other testing until after the SLAM is complete. Focus on maintaining that FC level and all the details on the SLAM page and you should do fine. Good luck!

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

Excellent... thank you so much for the quick response and advice. Good to understand that FC is the priority. I have 12 gallons of 8.25 bleach on hand, but I'm thinking it might make sense to have more, in case FC levels don't get to where they need to be... any advice on how much to have on hand before I start the process (so there aren't any gaps in ordering/finding more)?

 

[Texas Splash]

any advice on how much to have on hand before I start the process (so there aren't any gaps in ordering/finding more)?

Very hard to tell, but the fact you have 12 gallons to start with helps at the start. The first few gallons I would expect to go quite quick, especially since you look to have a good sized pool. I would be prepared to make another chlorine run at some point.

 

[DeanP66]

If your pool is green, you will definitely need more than that. I'd say at least double. That is a good starting point.

What you're doing initially is seeing if you might have ammonia in the pool. That's the reason Texas Splash said to hold off on the CYA. There is certain bacteria that can get in the water, especially in the offseason when a pool is closed, that converts any CYA in the water into ammonia, so you don't want to add any more CYA until you know that the ammonia has been neutralized. Ammonia will also wipe out your FC in a hurry. You just have to keep feeding the pool more and more FC until it starts holding. That is the sign that you've finally gotten rid of all the ammonia and can start your regular treatments from there.

 

[Murky]

So far, so good - I used up 8-9 gallons of liquid chlorine before it would even register after 10 minutes, but it's now sticking around 7 PPM for up to 30 minutes, and 6+ for at least an hour. The green tint is pretty much gone, to my eyes, and now we're just left with a cloudy blue color. CYA going in via sock method now (probably multiple doses due to amount called for in PoolMath (9lbs)), but the pool is already looking like an actual pool and not a swamp... moving in the right direction!

Attaching the horror show progression...
Pic 1 - 5/25 after we pulled the cover off
Pic 2 - 5/31 after just about all the debris was pulled/vacuumed out and the first couple rounds of pool store shock
Pic 3 - 6/6 after the pre-SLAM TFP advice from this thread

 

[DeanP66]

Yup, you definitely had quite a bit of ammonia. Good job following the steps!! You made a lot of progress. Can't quite tell from the pic because of the shadows, but it appears that you are not quite done. You're definitely on the home stretch though.

What a difference!!!

 

[Texas Splash]

Great! Now it's all about the SLAM Process. Maintain that FC of 12 and continue all the cleaning details on the SLAM page. Leave no stone unturned in that pool. Inspect everywhere. If you have a pool light, consider removing that as well by setting it on the decking - power OFF. Now you're rolling!

 

[Murky]

Quick update -

After the initial big dump of chlorine to clear out the ammonia, I only had about 6 gallons of chlorine 8.25 left, so I used it to maintain a lower FC than SLAM recommended, just until I could source more - tried to keep it up around 9-10PPM. FINALLY found a decent deal on bulk chlorine (only 6%, but converted cost/oz for concentration was lower than anything I could find locally for 8.25% or 10%). And I got the TF-100, so I started the SLAM last night...

TF-100 numbers:
FC: monitoring and keeping up around 22 (CYA was WAY off from store/strips - testament to everything that I've read here!)
CC: 0.5
PH: 7.2
TA: 40
CH: 200
CYA: 55 (!!!)


So I looked up the CYA on the SLAM table and determined that I needed a BUNCH more chlorine, so... here we are. The good news is that LOTS of white/milky Crud is rinsing out of my cartridge filter - assuming that's dead algae and other fun stuff.

Impatiently waiting to see the bottom for the first time EVER. I can actually see that I have 5+ stairs now...

 

[mknauss]

Great stuff. Remember, you can not interpolate the readings on the CYA test. So between 50 and 60 is read as 60. SLAM level FC is 24 ppm.

 

[Murky]

Another update -

72 gallons of bleach later, I can actually see the bottom of the shallow end of my pool! There remains a haze in the water, and the skimmer disappears about 5-6' down into the deep end (which is about 8'), but it's eating less chlorine during the day, and almost none at night - I'm going to do an OCLT tonight to see how things are going. SLAM levels are still currently requiring around 6 gallons of bleach a day, CC is consistent at 0.

Updated pics:
- general color of pool
- leaf bag at bottom of shallow end (4')
- stairs to show gradation of cloudiness
- leaf bag at bottom of deep end (8'+, not visible, even when the water is calm...)

Continuing to SLAM and not-so-patiently waiting for clear water...

 

[mknauss]

Looks like you are doing well on day 5 of the SLAM. Stay at it.

 

[Texas Splash]

 

[Murky]

Update... I'm starting to wonder if I have something else going on with the haze... continuing the SLAM, but it's taking MUCH less chlorine to keep the numbers up - maybe 4 gallons a day to keep it at SLAM levels. I'm still SLAMming at the 60 CYA level for now, even though my test this morning showed CYA of 50... gonna re-test later this evening.

Readings from this morning:
FC: 22
CC: 0
pH: 7.5
TA: 70
CH: 150 (Should I adjust this now or later?)
CYA: 50 (down from 60 at the beginning of the month - going to re-test again later today to make sure my eyes aren't playing tricks)

Brushing daily, vacuuming manually about every other day, with the pool robot running daily. It seems that the robot kicks up a good amount of very fine sediment, contributing to the haze, and there are a few spots on the wall where I can run my fingers and come away with a chalky white residue... Maybe the current source of the haze?

Doing an OCLT tonight, but CC has been at 0 for over a week now - and I can see the bottom drain in the deep end of the pool, but it's still not that crystal clear that I'd expect it to be. Ideas welcome... and thanks for the ongoing support!

 

[Texas Splash]

I would go ahead and start increasing the CH slowly, perhaps 50 ppm at a time once or twice a day until you get to at least 300. Curious how your OLCT goes tomorrow.

 

[Murky]

OCLT result was a loss of 0.5ppm. I did my last SLAM addition of the day (to 20 ppm) at 4:30pm and let it sit until sunset, which is around 9:15 here right now. Tested at 16ppm. No changes to anything after that. Tested this morning about an hour after sunrise, at 7:30am: 15.5 ppm.

So OCLT and CC seem good if I am interpreting the process correctly. Just got that haze... I'm continuing to rinse the cartridge filter daily, and there is consistently a good amount of very fine yellowish-white stuff that rinses out.

Calcium chloride is on order, should be here in a couple days and I'll start ramping that up.

In the meantime... Continue to SLAM, or let the chlorine begin to fall to normal levels?

 

[Texas Splash]

Continue to SLAM, or let the chlorine begin to fall to normal levels?

I think you are safe to let the FC fall a bit. You appear to have a filtration issue and that will simply take some time. Happened to me as well. You have a good understanding of things now, so just keep an eye on it all. Hopefully the filter captures those particles in due time. If the haziness gets worse for some reason, you can always do another OCLT later. Good work!

 

[Murky]

Awesome. Really appreciate the guidance and help - feels like I'm actually getting a handle on things! Big thank you to everyone who contributed to getting me here... hoping I can pay that forward at some point!