Jack’s purple stuff, algae, shock, green - I screwed up

[Debdoo32]

I have created a huge mess for myself. I have a 7500 gal fiberglass, SWG & iron.
I treated for iron using Jack’s purple stuff when I saw staining appearing on my walls. I did this treatment a couple summers ago with no major issues. Well this year I forgot to wait before shocking - it was cloudy & I'm impatient which turned the pool green & staining came back instantly. So, I waited for the FC level to drop & did a second treatment, then began SLOWLY raising chlorine level using liquid chlorine. I may have been going too slow because I ended up with cloudy water & signs of algae - so, though it had been almost a week since treating with Jack’s the second time I shocked before the algae took control- now I’m back to a green pool with iron stains.
My focus now is to get rid of the algae, balance & then deal with the iron.
My question is- should I SLAM right now? My levels are all out of whack- I just don’t know where to begin - correctly.
Added about 100 oz of liquid chlorine last night & it’s less cloudy but green. Levels last night before shocking were:
FC 0
TC 1
PH 7.4
TA 70
CYA 0
This morning:
FC 5
TC 5
PH 7.8
TA 70
CYA 0
I know I have to get the CYA up but there is no stabilizer to be found at any stores in my area so that has to wait.
Thoughts? I just want my crystal clear blue pool back!
Thank you!!!

 

[RLP]

Lowes has Clorox cya. Thats the only clorox product you want to use.

Youll want to lower your PH to 7.2, add cya to 30, and slam away.

 

[Debdoo32]

Thank you! Lowe’s was out too I checked there on my citywide search.
Do you know if SLAM will clear the green since I’m guessing it’s the iron that is causing that.

 

[RLP]

If your FC was at zero, it's probably algae. Slam away to get rid of the algae, until the 3 parameters of a successful slam are met.

someone with more knowledge about iron will be along to advise you on that. You should fill out your signature to make it easier for others to help you.

 

[MITBeta]

Ocean State Job Lot is a great resource for pool chems if you have one close by.

 

[tikoh]

0 CYA isn’t a terrible thing for SLAMing if you’re able to keep on it. Your bleach will be much more effective, but you have to pay much more attention. The bleach with no CYA is about 5 times as potent than it is with 10 CYA.

What chlorine test are you using?

If you’re set on getting some CYA, a pound of dichlor shock will get your pH in range and give you almost 10 CYA.

 

[Debdoo32]

Ocean State Job Lot is a great resource for pool chems if you have one close by.

Oh I do! Thank you! I always forget they carry supplies

 

[Debdoo32]

0 CYA isn’t a terrible thing for SLAMing if you’re able to keep on it. Your bleach will be much more effective, but you have to pay much more attention. The bleach with no CYA is about 5 times as potent than it is with 10 CYA.

What chlorine test are you using?

If you’re set on getting some CYA, a pound of dichlor shock will get your pH in range and give you almost 10 CYA.

Thank you! Good to know. I’d rather get the SLAM underway asap instead of waiting to be able to get the CYA up
I use Taylor K-2005 salt test kit.

 

[tikoh]

Thank you! Good to know. I’d rather get the SLAM underway asap instead of waiting to be able to get the CYA up
I use Taylor K-2005 salt test kit.

I know that's a pricey kit, but you'll be much better off also getting the FAS-DPD chlorine test from Taylor. It's much more accurate, and is a requirement for SLAMing. You can add bleach in the meantime, but you won't be able to do the OCLT.

 

[RLP]

Read up on the process.

SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain

We’ve all had to deal with a green pool. Clear algae from your pool with a SLAM! Read here to use shock level and maintain to clear your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

Im pretty sure you want some cya in the pool. Lets ask. @Newdude @Texas Splash

 

[tikoh]

Read up on the process.

SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain

We’ve all had to deal with a green pool. Clear algae from your pool with a SLAM! Read here to use shock level and maintain to clear your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

Im pretty sure you want some cya in the pool. Lets ask. @Newdude @Texas Splash

Oh, for sure. What I'm suggesting is definitely outside of the prescribed method...but if you don't have any stabilizer available, you may as well turn your lemons into lemonade and use the full potential of your bleach.

 

[Newdude]

What I'm suggesting is definitely outside of the prescribed method

It's terrible advice is what it is.

you don't have any stabilizer available, you may as well turn your lemons into lemonade and use the full potential of your bleach.

The half life of chlorine with no CYA is in the 2 hour range. That's 5+ ppm lost to the sun every 2 hours with a target of 10.

Not only will the slam lose effectiveness, it will be costly.

Get the CYA to 30 to protect the gallons of chlorine you will be adding. SLAM away. If the pool goes emerald green from iron you can filter it while you slam, or wait until after.

Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[tikoh]

It's terrible advice is what it is.


The half life of chlorine with no CYA is in the 2 hour range.

Not only will the slam lose effectiveness, it will be costly.

Get the CYA to 30 to protect the gallons of chlorine you will be adding. SLAM away. If the pool goes emerald green from iron you can filter it while you slam, or wait until after.

Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

To be clear, the question was "I have no stabilizer and no where to buy stabilizer, should I still try to SLAM?" and the answer is Yes.

This person has a pool and the pool has 0 CYA. That cannot be changed. At that point there are two options: Wait for stabilizer to arrive while the swamp grows, or make the best of a bad situation. I run CYA, you run CYA, clearly the most efficient way to run an outdoor residential pool is with CYA. That just isn't an option for this person. Given that information, this person can take some solace in knowing that while they're waiting for stabilizer, their chlorine will be super effective.

The math isn't really that bad...For your pool or my pool, it's a lot, but this person has a 7500 gallon pool. Shock level at 0 CYA is 0.64ppm FC. Lets call it 1ppm to give some wiggle room. 1ppm FC for 7500 gallons is 11oz of 6.5% bleach. Let's say they add that every hour to maintain their level. For 24 hours that is 2 gallons of 6.5%. 12ppm is wildly high for no CYA and I wouldn't go above 4 for the sake of the liner.

Again, I'm not suggesting that this is best practice. I'm suggesting that given their bad situation, it's not an impossible task and it is better than doing nothing. This discussion is probably better suited for "The Deep End", but this person has this pool and they need to do something until they're able to get stabilizer.

Edit:
I maintained outdoor public pools with 0 CYA (you're allowed a max of 15 CYA, but we never bothered). Even with hundreds of kids peeing (I assume) in the pool, we never had an issue. We ran 2ppm FC and very rarely had more than 0.5ppm CC. The regs allow between 1 and 4ppm for a public pool and in that range with no CYA, it's like full SLAM all the time. Of course we had a pump supplying bleach continuously, and that's why it was possible. Manually dosing a residential pool like that isn't feasible long term both in terms of effort and cost, but it works and works well.

 

[Newdude]

Given that information, this person can take some solace in knowing that while they're waiting for stabilizer, their chlorine will be super effective.

Again. It doesn't remain anywhere near SLAM level long enough to make much difference.

Soon after finding TFP, but before I really grasped anything, I added a gallon of LC to my 350 gallon hot tub to sanitize the plumbing with a fresh fill after sitting empty. It was 286 ppm per pool math and it was gone in 30 minutes in the middle of the day. The bleach was new but even if it was weak, it still would have been 100+ FC.

Everyone's mileage may vary. I think it's fruitless based on my own experience with no CYA, which far exceeded the expected 2 hour half life, of 100% gone in 30 mins.

Maybe let it be during the higher UV loss part of the day from 9 to 4 and hit it often outside that, especially in the dark.

 

[tikoh]

Again. It doesn't remain anywhere near SLAM level long enough to make much difference.

Soon after finding TFP, but before I really grasped anything, I added a gallon of LC to my 350 gallon hot tub to sanitize the plumbing with a fresh fill after sitting empty. It was 286 ppm per pool math and it was gone in 30 minutes in the middle of the day. The bleach was new but even if it was weak, it still would have been 100+ FC.

Everyone's mileage may vary. I think it's fruitless based on my own experience with no CYA, which far exceeded the expected 2 hour half life, of 100% gone in 30 mins.

Maybe let it be during the higher UV loss part of the day from 9 to 4 and hit it often outside that, especially in the dark.

How do public pools survive then? Six flags? You just have to constantly add it.

What would you do in this situation then? Do nothing all day and let the algae grow? I guess that's an option...

 

[Newdude]

How do public pools survive then? Six flags?

For one, they are operating at low FC, which is the part which takes the longest to half life itself away. Starting at 10 will get there almost as quick.

What would you do in this situation then?

I'm honestly torn. I'd half want to treat well into the night and start again in the early morning before work. During the day, it wouldn't get considerably worse and I would pick up where I left off after work. I'd make more progress than I lost at the end of the day.

But prolonged 10FC with 0CYA might bleach the liner / finish. We know it's fine for 30 minutes for the ammonia test, but for how much longer is anyone's guess. No two pools are built and/or age the same and while one may tolerate it, another may not.

So I'd most likely add 5ppm a day (assuming there is 0 again tomorrow) and get CYA asap. It would stop it from getting exponentially worse.

 

[tikoh]

For one, they are operating at low FC, which is the part which takes the longest to half life itself away. Starting at 10 will get there almost as quick.

I'm honestly torn. I'd half want to treat well into the night and start again in the early morning before work. Duriyupng the day, it wouldn't get considerably worse and I would pick up where I left off after work. I'd make more progress than I lost at the end of the day.

But prolonged 10FC with 0CYA might bleach the liner / finish. We know it's fine for 30 minutes for the ammonia test, but for how much longer is anyone's guess. No two pools are built and/or age the same and while one may tolerate it, another may not.

So I'd most likely add 5ppm a day (assuming there is 0 again tomorrow) and get CYA asap. It would stop it from getting exponentially worse.

That's all I suggested...I think 10 is way too high for 0 CYA too.

Keep it at a low FC 1-2ppm, if you stay on it, it'll work.

 

[Newdude]

Keep it at a low FC 1-2ppm, if you stay on it, it'll work

At worst, CYA is a only few days away from Amazon. It would be easy to simply stop it from getting worse for that time and maybe even improve a little, by adding to 5 ppm daily

 

[tikoh]

At worst, CYA is a only few days away from Amazon. It would be easy to simply stop it from getting worse for that time and maybe even improve a little, by adding to 5 ppm a day

That's all I'm suggesting. That it is worth it to dump bleach while you wait. Not to live that way forever...Just until you can do things right.

 

[Debdoo32]

Thank you everyone! I ended up finding cya & added a dose yesterday and keeping on the bleach/ FC level while the cya increases.
Back to clear water but still green which I think is heavily due to my iron content. Once I’m certain there’s no algae I’ll be tackling the iron issue again.
I appreciate the help!!