I think I am on the right track ?

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TizMe

TizMe

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LifeTime Supporter
Aug 26, 2007
920
Covington, Georgia
I had my water balanced earlier in the year and the rains hit so I didnt look after it as I should because every night when it was time to check the pool it was raining.

With that my CYA got diluted and disappeared and with adding no bleach an algae bloom started, imagine that!

I have again started to get my water balanced but it seems to take forever this time. Right now the water is that blueish gray tint and here are my results from this morning.

FC 12
CC 1
TC 13
TA 60 ( little low)
CH 50
CYA 30 - 35
Temp 76

Been brushing and back washing. How long normally should it take to clear your water after the algae is dead ? My other question is how long does filter sand last ? (I think this is our 4th year with this sand) Should we be thinking about changing it after the season is over ?

Water has been this color for about 4 days now .....what am I missing ?

I have attached a picture so you can see the color of the water.

water color

water color 2
 
TizMe said:
My other question is how long does filter sand last ? (I think this is our 4th year with this sand) Should we be thinking about changing it after the season is over ?
Click to expand...

My sand is 24 years old, and still working fine, so I would not worry about this after only four.
 
Duraleigh I have been keeping my FC level at shock level (and a little bit higher, I dont like 1/2 bottles of bleach laying around) for about a week now , late at night and first thing in the morning before I leave for work. I have been doing this for about a week now just this time it seems like its taking forever to clear up !

I guess I need to buy some POP on my next bleach run as well !!
 
With your CYA, I wouldn't hesitate to run it on up to 16-20ppm and hold it there for a day or two. It may be just the kick you need to see some improvement and it won't hurt a thing.
 
And the frustration sets in !! I have been shocking the pool to 20ppm for a few days (since the morning of 06/08) now and not really seeing and improvement however with last nights bleach addition I didnt have enough on hand so I put in what I had. Calculator called for 4 - 96 oz bottles and I had 2. Will it help adding some DE to the filter as PaulR suggested or should I wait a few more days and see what happens. The wife wants to drain it and start over again, she is wanting in it bad !
 

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I just did my chlorine addition for the night about an hour ago so I will go see what the FC count is now and retest it in the morning. What could be the problem with the filter ? The water was clear earlier in the spring so I assume its working properly. When I do my back washing there is stuff coming out the discharge pipe so wouldnt that mean it is trapping particles of junk ? The only thing I have not done is vacuum the pool, but done a lot of brushing !!

Addition to post ...


FC was 23.5

After thought ....

As an after thought our solar cover has begun breaking up and I have noticed the blue bubble tops in the skimmer basket. Is there a chemical inside those bubbles this that could be causing this ?
 
Did my FC test this morning and my results were,

23.5 (FC from test last night)

20.5 (FC from test this morning)
1.0 (CC)
21.5 (TC)

I did not add any chlorine to the water this morning because I wasnt sure what approach you were going to have me take . The water looking at it during day light is still that blue/gray color and you can not see the bottom of the pool . I also edited my last post after a few people responded so I am not sure if you saw what was said.
 
I am no expert, but have been through the frustratingly slow pace of pool clearing that you have.

My experience is that things started to change quickly after I vacuumed to waste at least 2 times, added DE to sand filter, and vacuumed normal at least once a day.

Then my solar cover helped with both day and night FC loss, although I am not sure how it helps with night loss, but I saw a drop. Saved on bleach.

I think helping the filteration ( especially a sand filter) along is important. For me raising the Cl levels higher (above 15, with CYA about 45)) did not clear the water any faster.

A lot of POP did

Good luck
RV
 
Alright, it is algae and the filter is presumably fine.

I suggest raising your shock level FC target to at least 15, though I see you are already well over that, and doing as much vacuuming as you can. If there is any substantial amount of debris on the bottom of the pool the algae can hide out there to avoid most of the effects of high chlorine levels. Vacuum up everything you can, even if you can't see the bottom. You should also brush the entire pool at least once a day.
 
Could I put our Zippy pool cleaner in and let it run or is vacuuming better ? Vacuuming is about the only thing I have not done this year so far. If you suggest vacuuming should I vacuum to waste or just with the filter running ?

Also should I continue to shock to 20 ppm as Dave suggested or can I drop it to 15 ?
 
You can shock to 20 if you want. I wouldn't normally go that high, but you have been having problems and it shouldn't hurt anything.

I would give the pool cleaner a try. If it is the kind with a debris bag, you may need to clean it out much more often than usual. Depending on how much debris you have down there, it may clog up so quickly that it is almost useless, in which case you will need to switch to manual vacuuming.

If you manually vacuum and there is really a lot of debris on the bottom then vacuuming to waste is a good idea. Regular vacuuming in those conditions will fill up the filter quickly, raising the filter pressure and killing the water flow.
 
Our cleaner is the "Zippy" by barracuda. It has a debris collector but not a bag. I will throw it in tonight when I get in from work and see what we get. If there seems to be a lot of debris I will switch to the vacuum and manually do it
 
Ok,

"Zippy" has been in for about 5 hours and there wasnt very many leaves in the pool however it did pick up tons of dirt and other things off trees around the pool. I was just out getting my water sample for my FC test and I took Zippy out and gave the pool bottom a good brushing. You can actually make out the brush on the bottom of the pool !!

Tonights test ...



FC 11.5
CC 1.0
TC 12.5
 

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