Help!!! Yikes!

[tessv]

If you had salt in the water left over from last year, it does not go away so that might be it.

Yeah, that 3500 was our starting amount... we ended the year at 4000 last summer, so I thought that the -500 represented winter loss? Wonder if that 3500 was just a low initial reading and really we opened closer to 4000?

Is your SWCG running? That's a possible source of salt. Are you using test strips instead of the test kit? That's a problem too.

No test strips here. . . generally just go with the sensor readings, though I have a salt test kit on the way. . .

 

[tessv]

Okay--another update--we will be tiling that ledge, hopefully next week. . .

Current situation--SO CLOSE to being finished with this SLAM... BUT! We aren't fully opened at this point--water is still below skimmers, haven't primed/set up the pump that runs the laminars & sheers yet.

Talked to PB today--his suggestion is to go ahead and fill the rest of the way now (which will add about 7% dilution), and will allow us to get the skimmers running--possibly will be enough for the salt cell to have the will to work again. As soon as they're able, they will come and get the other pump up and going and will catch the initial crud that comes out of the laminar & sheers on the pool cover, which we can then pump off to prevent any of that Crud from getting into my oh-so-close-to ready water. . . THEN, when the tiles are in, we'll lower the water again to allow the work surface, which will give us another opportunity to dilute. . .

Wha'chy'all think of that plan???

 

[kimkats]

It might even give you a chance to enjoy the pool while waiting for the tiles! WIN to me!!

 

[ajw22]

Chemistry question, folks...

At this point, we’ve added abt 80 gallons of liquid chlorine (Pool Essentials). When we started, my salt was at 3500... Now it’s reading 4300 (salt test kit is on the way).

Pool math says that amt of chlorine should add just 342...

Can anyone explain how the salt may have gotten that high???

Cell salt measurement accuracy is +/- 500 ppm.

If you are not measuring salt with the K-1766 Taylor Salt Test you don’t know what the salt really is. Even the K-1766 Taylor Salt Test accuracy is +/- 200 ppm.

 

[tessv]

@ajw22 hopefully it gets here soon so we can determine if the problem is the water or the sensor ?

 

[tessv]

Okay, team...

Pool is filling, CYA is at 30 (which feels a little like sending a kid off to school—kinda empowering that it no longer requires your constant attention, yet you have strong urges to check on it just to make sure it’s okay ?)... numbers are holding nicely... only one gallon of LC added since last night... which brings me to my next thing...

Once this puppy is full, I’m going to turn on the skimmers and bubblers... guys, I’m terrified that there’s going to be more ammonia making bacteria in those lines.

We can catch & divert the water from the laminars and sheers when they come on next week... but... ugh... I’m excited to get the skimmers on and for the hand skimming to be done, but so fearful of what’s going to come from those lines... tell me it’s gonna be okay and that I need to just jump on that horse!

I’m still running at shock levels—should I bump up even higher just before we turn those on? Other ideas for proceeding with least amount of contamination???

*last night’s tornadoes luckily missed us, but dumped quite a bit of rain... ground is now fully saturated... 90% of our property (including the lateral field) has about 3” of standing water... we need sun and wind!

 

[duraleigh]

guys, I’m terrified that there’s going to be more ammonia making bacteria in those lines.

The chlorine will quickly kill it. More importantly, you have no choice......you need to get circulating.

 

[ajw22]

Just do regular testing of your FC levels and supplement with LC if you see a big drop.

 

[tessv]

Thanks, @duraleigh and @ajw22!!! I just needed a little push...

 

[tessv]

Okay, water levels are up enough that the salinity now reads 3.7. Salt cell is happy and has been running w/o incident since last night....

I tried to run the bubblers, which are connected to the main pump. The pump increased its speed as it should, but after about a minute, nothing was coming out of the bubblers. I turned them off, worried that there’s another step in there that needs to happen first. Haven’t tried with the skimmers yet... I will check the PoolSchool equipment articles, but thought I’d ask you guys (also have a text into the PB). This is the most involved I’ve ever been with opening—I’m learning so much!!!

 

[ajw22]

Okay, water levels are up enough that the salinity now reads 3.7. Salt cell is happy and has been running w/o incident since last night....

I tried to run the bubblers, which are connected to the main pump. The pump increased its speed as it should, but after about a minute, nothing was coming out of the bubblers. I turned them off, worried that there’s another step in there that needs to happen first. Haven’t tried with the skimmers yet... I will check the PoolSchool equipment articles, but thought I’d ask you guys (also have a text into the PB). This is the most involved I’ve ever been with opening—I’m learning so much!!!

You should have an actuator that rotates a valve to feed bubbler. You know which one it is? You see it rotate when you turn on the bubbler?

 

[tessv]

Just as I was trying to figure it out, the guys got here... ?

Everything is up & running now, and both salt cells are active... wooohoooo!!!!

THANK YOU ALL for holding my hand through all this...

Much love!
—Steph

 

[tessv]

Day 9 of this adventure! Updating for folks who may be following...things are definitely better...

Pool is clear, I believe... gonna toss a quarter in the deep end to check for sure.

*ALMOST passed OCLT... lost 1.5 FC overnight, 0.5 cc... so, will keep going...

Family is anxious to get swimming, but I have to know in my heart that we’ve taken care of any residual winter nasty first...

 

[kimkats]

Let the FC dip just under SLAM level for your CYA and let them in. Once they get out push it back up again.

Have you taken out the lights and looked behind them yet? Can you take your bubblers out? There might be some yuck in them as well.

Kim

 

[tessv]

Hey, Kim... our lights don’t have niches—they’re LEDs... the two in the shallow end were improperly set, and aren’t flush with the plaster, but we’ve been brushing them with a small wire brush throughout... “look” clean... when they tile the ledge next week they’re going to try to fill those gaps some kinda way—grout maybe??? I don’t believe the bubblers come out either??? Will ask when the guys are here... the Laminars do come out and they thoroughly cleaned those Thursday when they got em up & running... one of my theories was that perhaps it’s residual stuff from all the accessory lines, since they’ve only been active about 36 hours, even though they were super careful about keeping that water out of the pool... ??‍ Another was just a look back at that starting pic and remembering how utterly disgusting it was just 9 days ago... thinking perhaps it just takes time?? And my last thought is that perhaps we have some black algae in places... I can’t tell because nothing scrapes off for me to try a smear test... possible that it’s just an area where the aggregate has more of the darker pieces... ??‍

 

[kimkats]

Your gut is right on track.......I bet it is all of what you say! Time will fix it with lots of chlorine! Good job!

Kim

 

[tessv]

Team... I’m seeking encouragement. Feeling like this is never going to end... water is clear, chlorine demand has decreased significantly, but...

Still can’t pass an OCLT. Have been vigilant about keeping chlorine up, backwashing after a 20%pressure increase, brushing and vacuuming... have gotten into all the nooks & crannies that are accessible... is there something I’m missing???!!!

 

[kimkats]

Deep clean you sand filter. Here is a link on how to do it:

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...

www.troublefreepool.com

Also share a pic of the water looking down in it with something like the brush so we can see just how clear it is.

Kim

 

[duraleigh]

Still can’t pass an OCLT.

What were your OCLT results? When?

 

[tessv]

Deep clean you sand filter. Here is a link on how to do it:

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...

www.troublefreepool.com

Also share a pic of the water looking down in it with something like the brush so we can see just how clear it is.

Kim

Here ya go, Kim! That’s a quarter next to the drain on the left...