I was lazy, and now I'm paying for it!

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finydb

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Jun 5, 2013
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Last year, just threw bleach or dichlor in here and there. Didn't test regularly (medical problems kept me out of the pool part of the summer, so didn't care). Oh, btw, I have a 12x24 above ground partially buried. This winter, it got BAD! Couldn't see the bottom, robot vacuum broke, leaf net kept blowing off . . . Well, now it's spring, and the month of April I vowed to turn the swamp back into a pool. First step was finding the vacuum parts lost on the bottom that we couldn't see, so we shocked the HECK out of it. Wayyyy too much, but we got the vacuum fixed, and it finally cleared up . . . Except for the yellow algae! Booooo! So, NOW I test . . . YIKES! FC is off the charts . . . Hmmmm, should probably check CYA - oh gosh, wayyyy over 100. Sooo, now to the question. LOL.

How long you think it will take me to backwash every evening after work to the bottom of the skimmer and refill to the top . . . Maybe 4 inches of water a day . . How long will it take to get my CYA back to appropriate levels and get rid of the yellow algae? I got about 8 cases of bleach from Sam's in the garage, and I probably can't get in the pool for a couple more weeks anyway.

What levels am I looking for when I can stop the backwashing everyday? I'm assuming I need to get my CYA around 50? What level do I need the FC to be before I start adding bleach again? I hate to add a bunch of stuff during the draining process, but I don't want the mustard algae to get worse. Or, is it even algae since my chlorine levels are testing so high? Its settling on the bottom and the steps, but not really in the sides. Is it just pollen? How do i get rid of pollen? I'm brushing every day, and running the vacuum, but it always settles back. It looks just like sand, and we do have sandy soil and dogs that like to go in on the first step. I can't drain past the skimmer, right? They told me not to empty too much since it's vinyl - it could collapse. When do I SLAM?
 
finydb said:
Last year, just threw bleach or dichlor in here and there. Didn't test regularly (medical problems kept me out of the pool part of the summer, so didn't care). Oh, btw, I have a 12x24 above ground partially buried. This winter, it got BAD! Couldn't see the bottom, robot vacuum broke, leaf net kept blowing off . . . Well, now it's spring, and the month of April I vowed to turn the swamp back into a pool. First step was finding the vacuum parts lost on the bottom that we couldn't see, so we shocked the HECK out of it. Wayyyy too much, but we got the vacuum fixed, and it finally cleared up . . . Except for the yellow algae! Booooo! So, NOW I test . . . YIKES! FC is off the charts . . . Hmmmm, should probably check CYA - oh gosh, wayyyy over 100. Sooo, now to the question. LOL.

How long you think it will take me to backwash every evening after work to the bottom of the skimmer and refill to the top . . . Maybe 4 inches of water a day . . How long will it take to get my CYA back to appropriate levels and get rid of the yellow algae? I got about 8 cases of bleach from Sam's in the garage, and I probably can't get in the pool for a couple more weeks anyway.

What levels am I looking for when I can stop the backwashing everyday? I'm assuming I need to get my CYA around 50? What level do I need the FC to be before I start adding bleach again? I hate to add a bunch of stuff during the draining process, but I don't want the mustard algae to get worse. Or, is it even algae since my chlorine levels are testing so high? Its settling on the bottom and the steps, but not really in the sides. Is it just pollen? How do i get rid of pollen? I'm brushing every day, and running the vacuum, but it always settles back. It looks just like sand, and we do have sandy soil and dogs that like to go in on the first step. I can't drain past the skimmer, right? They told me not to empty too much since it's vinyl - it could collapse. When do I SLAM?
Click to expand...
Wow, this is quite the mess.

The first order of business is to get your CYA to <50ppm, and doing it 4" at a time will take forever. Your pool is about 8000 gallons when filled to about 50" of water depth. That makes each inch of water depth approx. 160 gallons. 160 x 4 = 640, or about 8% of the volume of the pool.

If your CYA is 120ppm, an 8% drain then refill would yield an 8% reduction in CYA, or about 10ppm less. The next 4" drain would lower another 8% from 110ppm to about 101ppm, the next drain would get you to to about 92ppm, etc, etc. You will end up using much more water, energy & time than one or two larger drains.

I see no reason to not do 1/3 of the volume, the pool structure should be fine with that.

Once the CYA is under control, get your pH to about 7.2 and start your SLAM Process.

Do you have the proper test kit for a SLAM?

What type of filter do you have?
 
domct203 said:
Wow, this is quite the mess.

The first order of business is to get your CYA to <50ppm, and doing it 4" at a time will take forever. Your pool is about 8000 gallons when filled to about 50" of water depth. That makes each inch of water depth approx. 160 gallons. 160 x 4 = 640, or about 8% of the volume of the pool.

If your CYA is 120ppm, an 8% drain then refill would yield an 8% reduction in CYA, or about 10ppm less. The next 4" drain would lower another 8% from 110ppm to about 101ppm, the next drain would get you to to about 92ppm, etc, etc. You will end up using much more water, energy & time than one or two larger drains.

I see no reason to not do 1/3 of the volume, the pool structure should be fine with that.

Once the CYA is under control, get your pH to about 7.2 and start your SLAM Process.

Do you have the proper test kit for a SLAM?

What type of filter do you have?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have the full taylor kit, and a sand filter. Your math makes sense! I think I'll do a larger drain this weekend and see if I can get it lower. My simple pool app said I needed to replace 67% of the water! Hopefully by this weekend I can post some test numbers that aren't off the charts.
 
Welp, I did the diluted CYA test, and I'm at 160. Whomp whomp! Simple pool app says I need to replace 75% of volume. Guess I'll do as much as I can this weekend, and see what it's looks like afterwards.

Learn from me, don't be lazy! I knew better!
 
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