Help please!

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DEBRAPONS said:
We shocked the pool again last night, took my sample to the pool store this morning to be tested new readings are as follows:

free chlorine 7.7 ppm
total chlorine 7.7 ppm
combined chlorine 0.0 ppm
ph 7.5
hardness 140 ppm
alkalinity 100 ppm
cyanuric acid 50 ppm

Still alittle cloudy in the deep end, not crystal clear. (should we try some claifyer or just leave it alone?

Looks like we may finally have it right!!

Chlorine is still high though. OK to swim???

Should I quit adding bleach every night or not.? I have not added any for a few days. We do have some pucks in the basket right now.

We are having a pool party (laua)? next Saturday, around 30 total swimmers, any thoughts or suggestions that I should follow before or after the party?

I am so afraid of getting yellow/mustard alge, how can I prevent this? I know that you are not suposed to wear a bathing suit in the pool if you have worn it in a river/lake/ocean but most people dont know or dont care and it can cost a small fortune to clean it up:{

Thanks, Debra:}
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I'm out of town, but I'll answer you as best I can... :wink:

Has your FC held overnight? If your FC is holding, you can try the clarifier... I assume your FC is holding, and thats why you haven't added any chlorine?

To prevent any kind of algae, including mustard algae - keep your FC at the range recommended in the CYA chart - never below your "min". Now that your FC is in the "normal" range you will need to add bleach daily (again...this assumes your FC is holding overnight)

Your FC is NOT high.... you are 1ppm above your "target" refer to the CYA chart. It is safe to swim up to your "shock" level.

In fact this level is good for your party. You want to bump it up a few points above your target before your party - this should account for the extra swimmers. (Now, should there be a "baby ruth" incident during the party, you should clear the pool and shock it.) Test when the swimming is over and make sure you remain above your min, and raise it to target before dark. :wink:

Hope this helps...
 
DEBRAPONS said:
cyanuric acid 50 ppm

We do have some pucks in the basket right now.
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You will be adding CYA as long as you have pucks in the pool. At CYA 50 you probably want to go to bleach exclusively.

And is this in the skimmer basket? When the filter is not running, those pucks will create an extreme environment that can damage equipment over time.
 
DEBRAPONS said:
I am guessing everyone is out of town or something for the weekend. Would someone when they get time please answer my questions? I would greatly appreciate it. thanks
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I think the experts are all out enjoying their pools. The noobs are still trying to figure out what to do next and can't help. At least that's MY excuse.

Good luck with your pool!
 
Well, we had our pool party, only about 15 showed up, my combined chlorine has been alittle high so we have not shocked or added any bleach for several days. my readings are

Free Chlorine 6.3 ppm
Total Chlorine 7.1 ppm
Combined Chlorine 0.8 ppm
ph 7.8
hardness 70 ppm
alkalinity 100 ppm
cyanuric acid 30 ppm
water temp 60 degrees

according to the pool calculator (if I did it right) I dont need anything, right?

my pool is crystal clear, thanks to you all:}
 
Are you keeping the solar cover on, if you have one? Sunlight helps destroy CCs and your's are too high - you want that CC to be .5 or less. So if there is a solar cover on the pool - remove it and let the sun go to work, and also keep your FC a little higher for a few days (where it's at now is good)... If the CC is still like that by the end of the weekend you should probably shock the pool again.

Keep an eye on the PH if it goes above 7.8 you need to lower to 7.4.
 
Me again:{

I had my pool water checked because it is alittle cloudy and I had some alge forming and shocked and apparently over chlorinated. Good news I dont have anymore alge.

my readings are:

free chlorine- 9.4
total chlorine- 9.4
combine chlorine- 0.0 (this is good? yes)?
ph- 7.8
hardness- 140
alkalinity- 100
cyanuric acid 50

the pool store keeps insisting my hardness is too low, that I need to increase it, but the pool calculator says not to add anything!

Is it safe to swim? I cant keep my grandchildren out of the pool:}

Thank you for all your help and putting up with my stupid questions. This is the time last year that my pool went south and I had a swamp the rest of the summer. So it's doing awsome thanks to all of you. (I will be ordering my own test kit this week, I would like to buy the one you suggest but its $78.00 plus another $10.00 shipping, I really dont have that kind of money). will the Taylor kit be sufficient? k-2005?
 
Glad you got it under control. You can let your GK's swim. I know how they can be once they get the urge to jump in.

Don't get the K2005. Wait till you have enough $$ to get the TF-100. The K-2005 only has the DPD chlorine test not the FAS-DPD that you need. Also the TF-100 has reagents sized according to what you really need. While I wholeheartedly recommend the TF-100, the K-2006 kit from Taylor is a substitute but you most likely won't find it in any stores.
 

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We opened the pool a few weeks ago, the water off the cover got into the pool (brown water from decayed leaves), vac what little debris that was in the bottom. Bleach, Bleach, Bleach, now the pool is clear but....about alittle more than 1/2 way to the deep end, then it is cloudy, you can see dead alge in the bottom, have the auto cleaner trying to get it up until I am home long enough to manually vac. Here are my newest readings:

FC-4.7
PH-7.9
CH-80
TA-100
CYA-30

I did get me a good test kit, still trying to learn how to use it. (I was not good in chemistry):}
These are readings from the pool store. The pool store said i need to add Calcium Hardness Increaser 36#, pool school says 68oz Clacium Chloride or 90oz of Calcium Chloride (is this something that I have to get at the pool store)?

The pool store is telling me that I have got mustard alge, I have no alge sticking on the walls or floor dead piles in the bottom, alittle on the stairs but it does look brown colored but it is dead. The year before last they told me that & $500.00 later we still were not swimming.

My questions is what should I do, or any suggestions?

Last year using BBB I dont think I spent near $100.00 all summer and was able to take care of it by myself:}

Thanks Deb
 
DEBRAPONS said:
We opened the pool a few weeks ago, the water off the cover got into the pool (brown water from decayed leaves), vac what little debris that was in the bottom. Bleach, Bleach, Bleach, now the pool is clear but....about alittle more than 1/2 way to the deep end, then it is cloudy, you can see dead alge in the bottom, have the auto cleaner trying to get it up until I am home long enough to manually vac. Here are my newest readings:

FC-4.7
PH-7.9
CH-80
TA-100
CYA-30
Click to expand...
What is the combined chlorine level?

When you say "Bleach, Bleach, Bleach" do you mean that you added some bleach every day to keep your FC up or did you add enough to get to shock level? If you've only been maintaining the FC you still need to go through the shock process. The pool calculator says you should add 6 gallons (or 4 182oz jugs) of 6% bleach to get you to the mustard algae shock level of 19-20ppm. That should clear up your water.

If you did already shock the pool and your CC is 0 you may just need to do some careful vacuuming and let the sand filter do it's job over time. Adding some DE to your sand filter wouldn't hurt either.

I did get me a good test kit, still trying to learn how to use it. (I was not good in chemistry):}
These are readings from the pool store.
Click to expand...
If you still need to shock this is the perfect time to learn the FAS/DPD chlorine drop test first. That way you can measure your FC before shocking so you know the right amount to add. Then you can retest after you've reached shock level.

Choose a place that is well lit and you can sit down comfortably. Make sure you have plenty of space in front of you so you can lay out everything you need. Take your time and carefully follow the directions. For that particular test, a tip I can give you that confused me is that you must get the water to turn completely clear at the end of the test without any trace of pink.

The pool store said i need to add Calcium Hardness Increaser 36#, pool school says 68oz Clacium Chloride or 90oz of Calcium Chloride (is this something that I have to get at the pool store)?
Click to expand...
Did you tell them that you have a vinyl liner? If you did they are definitely trying to "pool store" you. You don't need to worry about CH unless it's too high which could cause scaling.

The pool store is telling me that I have got mustard alge, I have no alge sticking on the walls or floor dead piles in the bottom, alittle on the stairs but it does look brown colored but it is dead. The year before last they told me that & $500.00 later we still were not swimming.
Click to expand...
I would get a brush and scrub every nook and cranny you think it may be hiding. Then bring the water to the mustard algae shock level of 20ppm.

EDIT: Changed shock levels to reflect mustard algae.
 
You do NOT need to add calcium increaser. See Recommended Levels in Pool School.

If you have mustard algae, the shock level is going to be higher. You should also toss toys, tools, etc in the pool to kill any mustard algae on them.
 
Butterfly said:
You do NOT need to add calcium increaser. See Recommended Levels in Pool School.

If you have mustard algae, the shock level is going to be higher. You should also toss toys, tools, etc in the pool to kill any mustard algae on them.
Click to expand...

Updated above post to reflect required shock levels for mustard algae.
 
If it helps any at all, I was able to tell I had mustard algae by the fact when I brushed it I got huge plumes of yellow, like when I'm sweeping dust, but like I said it was yellow. Got it thanks to the previous homeowners not doing anything to the pool once I signed the dotted line to purchase.
 
That could well be pollen. Pollen tends to collect on large areas of the floor, while mustard algae will grow on the floor and walls of the pool on the shaded side and not so much where there is lots of direct sunlight.
 
In addition to the above advice, if you have a main drain in the deep end adjust your valves so most of the suction is coming from there and less from the skimmer. That will ensure that you are filtering the water in the deep end. If you do not have a main drain you can get the same effect by attaching a manual vacuum head to the skimmer with enough hose to reach the lowest part of the deep end. Leave the pole off the vacuum and prime the hose as if you were going to vacuum the pool before you attach it and keep the pump running 24/7.
 
I am having problems with my pool, been over 2 weeks swamp green.

I have a good test kit, my readings are :

FC 3.5
PH 7.6
TA 100
CH 80
CYA 30

I just put in 4 bags of shock, before that I put in 6 gallongs of bleach per day for 4 days, nothing? Please Help!!!

THanks debra
 

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