Help to Adjust - Low pH, High TA, Chlorine won't hold

[Amajo]

Dear all,
I'm hoping for some advice. Pool was down for a week due to leak repair, unable to run filter/add chemicals/open cover. At start of season I blew thru 25 lbs of Powder Plus shock 73% Cal-Hypo trying to get CC gone (never could, but did get it below 0.5). Purchased home w/ pool last year. CYA was always thru the roof - previous owner had used pucks. Last year we stopped pucks and started following Trouble Free pool (liquid chlorine bleach, etc). Start of this season CYA was high - off the charts as usual. Developed a leak in underground lines, was having to add water frequently. Leak got fixed. Pool down for a week. CYA now down.

Opening up after that week of no filtration or chemicals- cloudy water. Started running filter 24 hours for 3 days, backwashing daily, vacuumed and adding liquid chlorine. The chlorine wasn't doing much. Had changed from Aldi to Ollie's. FIgured their chlorine was bad, went back to Aldi's. Water started clearing. Found CYA registering well below 30 (Leslie's test says 15). Started using trichlor pucks, wide open, trying to get CYA back up. Meanwhile pH is LOW and TA is HIGH. Concerned to add Muriatic Acid will then further lower pH. I've got the jets pointed up trying to aerate, but cover is on all the time. We have only swam three times this entire season due to chemical and leak issues :-(. Want to get the chemicals under control to swim!!!

The cover stays closed ALL the time except for one hour after adding any chemicals. TONS of leaves blow in every time we open the cover, so we are constantly skimming when the pool is open (someone planted river birch trees near the pool - they are spitting yellow leaves all summer long due to heat).

July 25th - pool fixed. Added 2 gallons of 6% bleach and started the pucks wide open. Two hours later the readings were:
FC 0.4
CC1.6
pH Apera 7.5
pH Taylor 7.2
TA210
CH180
CYA - Zero??? (well below 30)
Visual Pool Cloudy

July 30th Leslie's results
FC 1
TC 2.05
pH 7.1
TA 159
CH 127
CYA 15
Iron 0
Copper 0.4
Phosphates 0
TDS 1300

August 1st (morning)
Added 2lbs of shock power powder plus 73
One hour later readings were:
FC 1.5
CC 2.0
pH Taylor 7.0
Visual - Pool cleared up (not cloudy), but green tint.

My question is - should I keep adding bleach and/or shock OR should I attempt to get the pH and TA under control first? I'm not sure about adding Muriatic acid to lower TA because pH is already so low?? Should I attempt to raise pH with Borax first and then use Muriatic acid to lower the TA? If yes, any thoughts on timing and how long to wait/test and how high to try and raise pH before Muriatic acid is appreciated.

THANK YOU. I just want to be able to swim......

 

[mknauss]

You have a quality test kit. Please post a full set of test results using that kit.

 

[Amajo]

August 1st (noon)
FC 1.0
CC 1.8
pH Taylor 7.0
TA 180
CH 130 or 140
CYA - below 30, filled to top of tube and spot became not visible.

 

[mknauss]

CYA?

 

[mknauss]

Is pool crystal clear green?

 

[Amajo]

CYA?

Sorry, edited

 

[Amajo]

Is pool crystal clear green?

It's clear. I wouldn't say it's sparking crystal clear, but it's not cloudy. The shallow end has no green at all. The deep end just has a slight slight slight tint, barely noticeable and perhaps it's just trees, but it looks a little different than what it normally does.

Edit - I mean, I can clearly see the drain at bottom of pool, so it's clear enough for that but not crystal sparkling as I've had it in the past.

 

[mknauss]

Ok. So you need to add 10 ppm of CYA granular using the sock method. Unless you plan to continue using pucks.

Follow the SLAM Process.

Does not sound like iron. You have algae.

 

[Amajo]

Ok. So you need to add 10 ppm of CYA granular using the sock method. Unless you plan to continue using pucks.

Follow the SLAM Process.

Does not sound like iron. You have algae.

Thank you. If I continue to use pucks, how long would it take to get CYA up, in your opinion? I was going to go back to bleach, but if I can use some of these pucks up and not hurt anything, that would be great. We stopped using pucks when we purchased the home because the CYA was around 200. Now we have no CYA, wouldn't mind using up some of these pucks in conjunction w/ liquid bleach to supplement.

If I do the granular CYA - I will use pool math to get the correct amount to raise 10ppm; however, I'm concerned about high TA and low pH. Should I worry about that later (Muriatic acid??)? and would I raise the pH first w/ Borax and then lower using Muriatic acid? I'll keep searching the forums on this, yet I'm a bit confused on the proper method to get TA and pH good.

Thank you.

 

[mknauss]

You have lower pH because of the pucks. It will rise naturally when you stop the pucks. The TA is of no concern at your low CH.

Use Effects of Adding Chemicals in PoolMath for what the pucks add to your pool.

 

[Amajo]

You have lower pH because of the pucks. It will rise naturally when you stop the pucks. The TA is of no concern at your low CH.

Use Effects of Adding Chemicals in PoolMath for what the pucks add to your pool.

Thank you!! So I don't need to worry about the high TA, just get my pH and CYA up and start the SLAM process. That makes my life so much easier. I was concerned about the TA. Thanks again.

 

[mknauss]

No reason to chemically raise the pH. It will rise naturally once the acid from the pucks is stopped.