Hello, We moved to a house with a pool about 10 months ago. We've made every mistake in the book, made Leslie's and Amazon very happy with excess chemical purchases and been given wildly different advice by 3 different pool companies as to how to solve our problems. We live in Houston, TX, so very hot temps. Our 24,000 gallon pool was installed in 1961, and every tech that comes out here laughs at our setup and takes pictures of to text to their friends.
We've had persistent algae issues from April 'til present. First green, now yellow. I am brushing this BIG pool nearly every day, and the algae just keeps coming back. I found this site last week order my T-100 kit, which arrived yesterday. I have learned a lot by reading, and today I tested everything.
Total chlorine 4.5, PH 7.5. These readings line up with my readings on former kits.
TA is 110-120. (The test turns purple-red at 110, fully red at 120) My old $16.99 Amazon kit always gave a reading of 90. I'm assuming the T-100 is more accurate.
My CH is high, with the test liquid turning purple at 450, purple-blue at 475, and fully blue at 500.
1) Should I be taking the reading at FULLY red on the CH and fully blue on the TA or when the first major color change occurs?
My CYA levels can't be measured. That dot disappears well before I hit the 100 mark on the test tube.
2) It is my understanding the high CH and CYA both require partial drain & fill to fix. I *think* I get it that the high CYA levels are at the root of our algae issues, preventing the chlorine from doing it's job well. One of the pool companies we had out here said we needed to do a full drain & acid wash on the algae, another said just a 1/4 drain & fill because our CYA levels were over 200 (which mathematically doesn't make sense and wouldn't lower the levels enough), another said we needed a new pump and that nothing we did would matter because our circulation is too poor. I am inclined to go with a partial drain and fill and just keep measuring 'til we get to where we need to be. Does this sound like the best move?
3) If yes, do we have to hire a company to come out and pump water from the pool, or can we drain and fill it ourselves?
I have more questions, but that should be enough to get started for now! In case it matters, we have a DE quad cartridge filter system. I'm happy to answer questions about our setup and take pics if they would be helpful. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Gratefully,
Cara
We've had persistent algae issues from April 'til present. First green, now yellow. I am brushing this BIG pool nearly every day, and the algae just keeps coming back. I found this site last week order my T-100 kit, which arrived yesterday. I have learned a lot by reading, and today I tested everything.
Total chlorine 4.5, PH 7.5. These readings line up with my readings on former kits.
TA is 110-120. (The test turns purple-red at 110, fully red at 120) My old $16.99 Amazon kit always gave a reading of 90. I'm assuming the T-100 is more accurate.
My CH is high, with the test liquid turning purple at 450, purple-blue at 475, and fully blue at 500.
1) Should I be taking the reading at FULLY red on the CH and fully blue on the TA or when the first major color change occurs?
My CYA levels can't be measured. That dot disappears well before I hit the 100 mark on the test tube.
2) It is my understanding the high CH and CYA both require partial drain & fill to fix. I *think* I get it that the high CYA levels are at the root of our algae issues, preventing the chlorine from doing it's job well. One of the pool companies we had out here said we needed to do a full drain & acid wash on the algae, another said just a 1/4 drain & fill because our CYA levels were over 200 (which mathematically doesn't make sense and wouldn't lower the levels enough), another said we needed a new pump and that nothing we did would matter because our circulation is too poor. I am inclined to go with a partial drain and fill and just keep measuring 'til we get to where we need to be. Does this sound like the best move?
3) If yes, do we have to hire a company to come out and pump water from the pool, or can we drain and fill it ourselves?
I have more questions, but that should be enough to get started for now! In case it matters, we have a DE quad cartridge filter system. I'm happy to answer questions about our setup and take pics if they would be helpful. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Gratefully,
Cara
