High CYA low PH, Chlorine and TA

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S

ShaneP

0
Jan 9, 2017
5
Lafayette Louisiana
Working on a buddies pool Fiberglass, 8500 gallon, Chlorine pool with sand filter, chiller & heater combo. He had it tested because it was a clear & green. his copper read 3.1 so the pool company gave him some liquid and an absorbent pad to put in his skimmer (Don't know what kind of chemical), but the water clear up. He called me again and he started to get algae on the walls. I tested it today with A Color Q x2 tester. Readings are as followed
FC 0.17
TC 0.35
CC .18
PH 6.3
ALK 21
CA 106
CYA 112
I did a 10% water change due to only having skimmer drain and no main drain. Added 6lbs (96 oz) of Baking Soda which calls for 158 oz (figured I would start low), waited an hour then added about 200 oz of 7.55 bleach to bring up FC to close to 15%. On the 15% number I was looking at the CYA/FC chart for slam which calls for FC of 39.
The pool went from clear to cloudy after adding the baking soda to green cloudy after adding the bleach.
Questions are as followed
Will the greeness & cloudiness clear up thru circulation?
Should I try to do more of a water change to lower CYA then start slam process?
I'm trying to make it right for this saturday (6 days away)
 
Welcome to TFP!!!!

You have a lot going on here. There are three things to start with:
Copper, CYA and a test kit. We don't rely on pool store (except for copper and iron) or colorQ testing (lots of threads here on the lack of accuracy or repeatability). I would start with the test kit and get this ordered today. If you end up needing to SLAM Process the pool, you will need a good test kit read here -->Test Kits Compared

Now on to Copper and CYA.

The only way to get the copper out is to replace water.

The only way to get the CYA out is to replace water. To get your CYA down to 40, you will need to replace 65% of the water.

Copper concentrations and how much is bad for the pool, that might lead to staining and/or green pool water depends on pH and FC levels, but in general, less than 0.5 ppm copper will likely not have much effect on pool water. 0.3 ppm is even safer. Over 0.5 ppm you may have some staining or water discoloration, depending on pH. To get this pool down to an acceptable level of copper you will need to replace 90% of the water.

Normally, we would not make this recommendation on a colorQ test result for CYA. But if the pool store indicates you have 3+ppm of copper, I'd get started on the replacement.

I'm sorry for this, but likely your only path.

Given that it is a fiberglass pool, and you are in Louisiana, you have a good likely hood of popping the pool out (if you have a high water table). I would read up on no drain water exchange, as this allows you to replace water without draining. Please carefully read the "no drain water exchange" section here (click the link) -->Draining - Further Reading

If you have any questions on this, don't hesitate to ask, lots of experience to help!

Your cloudiness is really not the concern, but it could be:
  • The beginnings of an algae bloom from too many days with insufficient chlorine
  • Microscopic CO2 bubbles from the baking soda reaction with the acidic water. The "fizz" when you mix baking soda and vinegar, just on a giant scale with weaker acid.
You MAY be able to make 6 days, as it is a fairly small pool. Took me 3 days to drain 60% of a 30K pool. You should get a sump pump as using the pool pump is not advised. If you are going to use a hose to fill, then match the input to the output. Usually the sump pumps more than a residential hose I draped mine over a tall ladder and put a kink in it until my input and output matched. Residential hose fill is around 6 GPM. To replace 7200 gallons, should be around 20 hours.

While you are replacing the water and waiting for the test kit (YES ORDER IT NOW), add 5ppm of liquid chlorine a day until the test kit comes. This should keep the algae at bay. When you get your kit, we will help you balance!

Here to help you get this -->How Clear is TFP Clear?

Good luck. We'll help!
 
PoolStored said:
Welcome to TFP!!!!

You have a lot going on here. There are three things to start with:
Copper, CYA and a test kit. We don't rely on pool store (except for copper and iron) or colorQ testing (lots of threads here on the lack of accuracy or repeatability). I would start with the test kit and get this ordered today. If you end up needing to SLAM Process the pool, you will need a good test kit read here -->Test Kits Compared

Now on to Copper and CYA.

The only way to get the copper out is to replace water.

The only way to get the CYA out is to replace water. To get your CYA down to 40, you will need to replace 65% of the water.

Copper concentrations and how much is bad for the pool, that might lead to staining and/or green pool water depends on pH and FC levels, but in general, less than 0.5 ppm copper will likely not have much effect on pool water. 0.3 ppm is even safer. Over 0.5 ppm you may have some staining or water discoloration, depending on pH. To get this pool down to an acceptable level of copper you will need to replace 90% of the water.

Normally, we would not make this recommendation on a colorQ test result for CYA. But if the pool store indicates you have 3+ppm of copper, I'd get started on the replacement.

I'm sorry for this, but likely your only path.

Given that it is a fiberglass pool, and you are in Louisiana, you have a good likely hood of popping the pool out (if you have a high water table). I would read up on no drain water exchange, as this allows you to replace water without draining. Please carefully read the "no drain water exchange" section here (click the link) -->Draining - Further Reading

If you have any questions on this, don't hesitate to ask, lots of experience to help!

Your cloudiness is really not the concern, but it could be:
  • The beginnings of an algae bloom from too many days with insufficient chlorine
  • Microscopic CO2 bubbles from the baking soda reaction with the acidic water. The "fizz" when you mix baking soda and vinegar, just on a giant scale with weaker acid.
You MAY be able to make 6 days, as it is a fairly small pool. Took me 3 days to drain 60% of a 30K pool. You should get a sump pump as using the pool pump is not advised. If you are going to use a hose to fill, then match the input to the output. Usually the sump pumps more than a residential hose I draped mine over a tall ladder and put a kink in it until my input and output matched. Residential hose fill is around 6 GPM. To replace 7200 gallons, should be around 20 hours.

While you are replacing the water and waiting for the test kit (YES ORDER IT NOW), add 5ppm of liquid chlorine a day until the test kit comes. This should keep the algae at bay. When you get your kit, we will help you balance!

Here to help you get this -->How Clear is TFP Clear?

Good luck. We'll help!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestions. I do have the Taylor K-2006 complete(fast-DPD chlorine) tester but I’m currently low on R-0013.
I usually test my own pool with both kits and they are fairly close.
Tomorrow I will start working on the water exchange. It’s been very hot and little rain for the past week so I’m not that worried with a 5ft deep pool. I’ll sell him on the water change as a way to cool down his pool for the weekend. With his city water running overnight I think it would take 12 hrs to fill his pool. That’s about what it took for mine (9200 gallons) when I 1st filled it up.
He is currently getting soda ash to raise the PH but I will hold him off of that until we can do a water replacement. I told him that with most metal chemicals it just encapsulates the metals and doesn’t remove them. His PH has been low for a while and it has messed up his chiller/heater to the point it isn’t working.
After water change I’ll test everything again and start from there. I will get him to test metals to see if we are on the right track then add chemicals as needed.
I guess after the water change I should be on the right track.
Is there a way to test CYA without using so much reagent? If so what is it?
Again thanks for the advice
 
ShaneP said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I do have the Taylor K-2006 complete(fast-DPD chlorine) tester but I’m currently low on R-0013.
I usually test my own pool with both kits and they are fairly close.
Tomorrow I will start working on the water exchange. It’s been very hot and little rain for the past week so I’m not that worried with a 5ft deep pool. I’ll sell him on the water change as a way to cool down his pool for the weekend. With his city water running overnight I think it would take 12 hrs to fill his pool. That’s about what it took for mine (9200 gallons) when I 1st filled it up.
He is currently getting soda ash to raise the PH but I will hold him off of that until we can do a water replacement. I told him that with most metal chemicals it just encapsulates the metals and doesn’t remove them. His PH has been low for a while and it has messed up his chiller/heater to the point it isn’t working.
After water change I’ll test everything again and start from there. I will get him to test metals to see if we are on the right track then add chemicals as needed.
I guess after the water change I should be on the right track.
Is there a way to test CYA without using so much reagent? If so what is it?
Again thanks for the advice
Click to expand...
Just do the water exchange. Calculate properly to know deep end/shallow end. Do NOTHING to pH until your exchange is complete.

There is no good way to test CYA without sufficient R-0013 reagent, unfortunately.
 
So I had him do a 50% water change and slammed the pool for 2 days until we met all criteria then vac to waist. OCLT was less than a ppm. I'm having him turn off the chlorinator today so his levels will go down enough to swim tomorrow. Thanks for all the advise. PS the ColorQ x2 numbers were very comparable to my Taylor K-2006 numbers. At least I know now I can simi trust the Q
 
ShaneP said:
So I had him do a 50% water change and slammed the pool for 2 days until we met all criteria then vac to waist. OCLT was less than a ppm. I'm having him turn off the chlorinator today so his levels will go down enough to swim tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Niiiice!! Congrats. You can swim at any FC level up to SLAM level. SWIM AWAY!!!


Season 1 Swimming GIF by Blunt Talk
 
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