As new pool owners we had been successfully using our pool since late July. Since we've had the pool, we religiously test the pool's FC each evening and add liquid chlorine (from Home Depot @10%) as needed to keep it at 6ppm, with a CYA of 30. The water quality was great. However a couple of weeks ago, my wife put the dark blue Intex pool cover on our pool to warm the water for a few days and our water quality hasn't been the same since. (We have also noticed an increase in tree sap in our area of late.) Regardless of the cause, in the past two weeks our water has turned greenish with clouds of green dust on the pool bottom when we brush the pool.
Our latest battery of full tests on the evening of 10/3:
FC - 4.0; CC - 0.5
CH - 75
TA - 70
CYA - 30
PH -7.5
Starting on 10/5 we began slamming the pool to 12, according to the FC/CYA chart. (Adding chlorine in the evening).
• 10/6 we were down to FC - 5.0; CC - 0.5 in the evening, so slammed again to 12.
• 10/7 we were FC - 10.5 in the morning, 5.0 in the evening, so slammed again to 12.
• 10/8 we were FC - 11 in the morning, 8.0 by 11:00am, so slammed again to 12 then; 8.0 by 7pm so slammed again to 12.
• 10/9 we were FC - 10 in the morning, so slammed to 16 then; 9.5 by 7pm so slammed again to 16.
Looking back over posts, I am wondering if we are SLAMMING the pool often enough. Do we need to test and add chlorine multiple times a day? Any idea how long we should expect a typical SLAM to work, in days? Should we up the chlorine level more?
We are also wondering if we really have adequate equipment to deal with this problem. Our pool is pretty much the stock Intex with no skimmer, etc. We are now running our pump 12-18 hours a day, but wonder if it's really up to the task of helping filter out the green dust (assuming that's dead algae?) It's not powerful enough to support an in-pool vacuum, so the we went and bought a simple suction vacuum from a local pool supply store but it's just OK. We do brush the walls and floor of the pool each day and try to keep it free of debris (we have one overhanging pecan tree nearby) but feel like we may be fighting a losing battle.
On top of all this, we're heading away next week for a week or more and don't know how to leave this! My wife is suggesting we just drain the pool and start over when we get back. Though it seems like a waste, we need help! Do we keep trying to clarify our existing water? Drain the pool, clean it thoroughly and start again in a few weeks? (I'm thinking maybe we could add a in-wall skimmer and get a better pump that could run a vacuum robot type cleaner?)
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!
Our latest battery of full tests on the evening of 10/3:
FC - 4.0; CC - 0.5
CH - 75
TA - 70
CYA - 30
PH -7.5
Starting on 10/5 we began slamming the pool to 12, according to the FC/CYA chart. (Adding chlorine in the evening).
• 10/6 we were down to FC - 5.0; CC - 0.5 in the evening, so slammed again to 12.
• 10/7 we were FC - 10.5 in the morning, 5.0 in the evening, so slammed again to 12.
• 10/8 we were FC - 11 in the morning, 8.0 by 11:00am, so slammed again to 12 then; 8.0 by 7pm so slammed again to 12.
• 10/9 we were FC - 10 in the morning, so slammed to 16 then; 9.5 by 7pm so slammed again to 16.
Looking back over posts, I am wondering if we are SLAMMING the pool often enough. Do we need to test and add chlorine multiple times a day? Any idea how long we should expect a typical SLAM to work, in days? Should we up the chlorine level more?
We are also wondering if we really have adequate equipment to deal with this problem. Our pool is pretty much the stock Intex with no skimmer, etc. We are now running our pump 12-18 hours a day, but wonder if it's really up to the task of helping filter out the green dust (assuming that's dead algae?) It's not powerful enough to support an in-pool vacuum, so the we went and bought a simple suction vacuum from a local pool supply store but it's just OK. We do brush the walls and floor of the pool each day and try to keep it free of debris (we have one overhanging pecan tree nearby) but feel like we may be fighting a losing battle.
On top of all this, we're heading away next week for a week or more and don't know how to leave this! My wife is suggesting we just drain the pool and start over when we get back. Though it seems like a waste, we need help! Do we keep trying to clarify our existing water? Drain the pool, clean it thoroughly and start again in a few weeks? (I'm thinking maybe we could add a in-wall skimmer and get a better pump that could run a vacuum robot type cleaner?)
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!
