First time poster here, I'll try not to write a novel.
I've essentially ignored our pool for 12 years but we are having a really hard time getting it open this year. 20,000 gallon, inground, saltwater pool with pebble tec finish and cartridge filters.
We let it get really bad over the winter. 2nd year we've done this. It was a swamp. Got it cleaned out and had a pool service company come do an "opening" about a month ago. I wasn't super impressed as they left some algae in the corners and provided no instructions at all. But it did get the pool 90% there, at least visually.
A week or so later we came out to cloudy water after heavy rain and have not been able to recover. We've tested the water 4 times at Leslie's and it seems to match the cheap (I need an upgrade) testing kit I bought. Basic problem from the first day of cloudiness has been persistent algae and no chlorine. We have shocked the pool at least 4 times. We realized after the 2nd shock that the Intellichlor IC40 was dead and have since installed a new one. The pool currently seems to be largely free of algae, but we have persistent low (close to zero). That's both free chlorine and available chlorine according to my test kit and Leslie's.
PH consistently reads right in the middle at 7.4. CYA is at 40. Leslie's told my husband to use Phos-Free and said we couldn't add too much (wrong apparently) as phosphates were at 500. We cleaned the filter Saturday and will be cleaning again as I suspect the Phos-free may have gummed it up again. I think we have an air issue, but have ordered a new 0-ring for the filter cartridge/housing and will be buying a new vacuum hose (side suction Hayward Navigator). Pressure problems aside, I cannot figure out why we cannot get ANY chlorine in the pool when the other readings all seem decent. I thought we might have a "lock" but free and available are both at close to 0.
Sorry for the super long post. Are we just not adding enough chlorine? We added 6 bags for the first shock but that was before we realized we needed a new SWG. Since then each shock has only been the recommended amount (1 bag per 10,000 gallons). Would throwing in another 6 bags finally let the SWG catch up? I should add that salt levels are about 3500.
TIA for any responses. We also can't get a pool service out to save our lives since it's a million degrees out and probably their busiest time of year. I have learned far more than I ever wanted to know on this topic in the last 3-4 weeks!
I've essentially ignored our pool for 12 years but we are having a really hard time getting it open this year. 20,000 gallon, inground, saltwater pool with pebble tec finish and cartridge filters.
We let it get really bad over the winter. 2nd year we've done this. It was a swamp. Got it cleaned out and had a pool service company come do an "opening" about a month ago. I wasn't super impressed as they left some algae in the corners and provided no instructions at all. But it did get the pool 90% there, at least visually.
A week or so later we came out to cloudy water after heavy rain and have not been able to recover. We've tested the water 4 times at Leslie's and it seems to match the cheap (I need an upgrade) testing kit I bought. Basic problem from the first day of cloudiness has been persistent algae and no chlorine. We have shocked the pool at least 4 times. We realized after the 2nd shock that the Intellichlor IC40 was dead and have since installed a new one. The pool currently seems to be largely free of algae, but we have persistent low (close to zero). That's both free chlorine and available chlorine according to my test kit and Leslie's.
PH consistently reads right in the middle at 7.4. CYA is at 40. Leslie's told my husband to use Phos-Free and said we couldn't add too much (wrong apparently) as phosphates were at 500. We cleaned the filter Saturday and will be cleaning again as I suspect the Phos-free may have gummed it up again. I think we have an air issue, but have ordered a new 0-ring for the filter cartridge/housing and will be buying a new vacuum hose (side suction Hayward Navigator). Pressure problems aside, I cannot figure out why we cannot get ANY chlorine in the pool when the other readings all seem decent. I thought we might have a "lock" but free and available are both at close to 0.
Sorry for the super long post. Are we just not adding enough chlorine? We added 6 bags for the first shock but that was before we realized we needed a new SWG. Since then each shock has only been the recommended amount (1 bag per 10,000 gallons). Would throwing in another 6 bags finally let the SWG catch up? I should add that salt levels are about 3500.
TIA for any responses. We also can't get a pool service out to save our lives since it's a million degrees out and probably their busiest time of year. I have learned far more than I ever wanted to know on this topic in the last 3-4 weeks!
) 
(sorry LOL)
