Nasty Black Pool Inherited from Home Purchase

Good read. And nasty caked up filter on that one. Thanks for that. Btw the weather is NASTY!!! I hate being rained on and everything being wet. Gets on my nerves. My wife thinks it's funny.


16k gallon IG, Hayward Super Pump, Polaris Booster Pump, Hayward DE filter, 2 skimmers and a main drain?, 4 returns that I can see, Vinyl liner w/aluminum coping
 
It's just stupid weather. I got out there earlier to do a quick skim and add some chlorine. (I skipped yesterday. It was Avengers day!)

Getting ready to go out now and can't decide how to dress for this stupid weather.

My pool will be covered with garbage after all this wind I'm sure. Thank God for my net/mesh pool cover!
 
Haven't posted levels in a while. I brought the FC up to 14 last night before going to bed (9pm) and was at 10 this morning (530am). Brought it back up to 14 before going to work (0530). At 1245pm when I got home it was back at 10. Brought it up to 12 and maintaining that since I'm home now.
I tested my CC and it's only at 1. I thought it would be higher. I also tested TA and it's at 120. I brought that up from before I started the SLAM. it was at 40 before. Also how much does it have to rain/ me back washing before I worry about adding more CYA? I originally started with 30 from my sock, and that is fully dissolved now.
Not much difference in the way of pictures. Just doing my thing.


I'm on the Pad.
 
Making progress if the CCs are staying lower and your FC isn't disappearing as quickly. Now it's to the point where it's up to filtration to take out all the dead/dying algae. Rain has much less effect on chemical levels than most people assume. Other than perhaps raising pH due to all the aeration (depending on TA ppm), it's nice for a little free refill when you're backwashing. The backwashing might be removing some of your CYA, but I would not add any more until you've completed the SLAM.

Keep at it! Next time your FC happens to dip below 10 you could check pH as it might be rising with that higher TA level but that's a very minor concern when compared to keeping the FC up for the duration. Don't drop it intentionally just to test pH.
 
Sometimes CC isn't high. It doesn't *have* to be. I've seen a bunch of slams that didn't have high CC. The FC is being used up so you know it's working. I think with the DE filter if it were me I'd stick with the half and half so you don't have too much going through there at once.

Someone else might have more input on that...
 
I try. :) here's a picture. Not much difference but lots of stuff gets mixed up when I brush. Think I'm going to wash out the filter tomorrow and rake some to see what I get.
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16k gallon IG, Hayward Super Pump, Polaris Booster Pump, Hayward DE filter, 2 skimmers and a main drain?, 4 returns that I can see, Vinyl liner w/aluminum coping
 

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Good job so far, AWT. I'm just throwing in a tip that might help your color-change go faster:
"Regular" shock value for your slam at a presumed CYA of 30 is "12". There is also something called "Mustard shock level" for dealing with mustard algae...in this case, that level would be "18."

When I turned my black swamp to green, then turquoise, then blue, I was riding at "mustard shock" level for a good few days and it went faster.

So you might want to try 18 over the weekend to see if that helps convert more quickly.

If you ever want the reference re where I got the number, here it is:http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/2177-Chlorine-CYA-Chart

Cheers!
 
So my wife posed the question and I didn't have a good answer.
Why wouldn't you use those "magic" bottles sold by the pool store in my current situation? The main ones that come to mind are: shock, flocc, clarifier, whatever else they pour in.
The guy that came out for my pool inspection said it would take him a few days. His method was something similar to the following.
Use some short of shock stuff to turn all the algae to sand and then flocc it and then vacuum to waste all of the sand. Then the pool would be clear and I could see the bottom and would be able to get out any other stuff. Our friend owns a pool and there's was green and it was clear the next day. Not sure what they used but...
So other than the costs why not go that route and then maintain with bleach?
This is her question, I know that SLAM works because I have seen it. She just wants to know why not go the quicker route even if it costs more?


16k gallon IG, Hayward Super Pump, Polaris Booster Pump, Hayward DE filter, 2 skimmers and a main drain?, 4 returns that I can see, Vinyl liner w/aluminum coping
 
There are various things you can do if you are in a large hurry, but they are more total work and more total money, and likely to fail on a seriously black nasty pool. Someone with a one day old algae outbreak in an otherwise clear pool is in a totally different situation than you are, one that is dramatically simpler to deal with. They don't have any debris/sludge in the bottom of the pool at all, which makes all the difference in the world. They also don't have one tenth as much algae as you have, which is also significant.
 
With a pool in the condition yours is in, there is no quick fix. Even if draining it dry was an option (its not, it will ruin the liner) manually cleaning it out would take time. More often than not, those "magic elixir" solutions end up making the problem worse. Your pool did not get in this state overnight, it will take longer than overnight to fix it. We have thread after thread where someone with a swamp-pool asked a pool company to clean it up. They throw in all their magic hoo-haw and end up walking away from the job a week or two later because they can't get it clean. In the mean time they have raised the CYA to astronomical levels or added enough copper to the pool to cause stains and you end up having to do a series of drain and refill cycles to safely exchange the water in your pool.

By now you know how important it is to test and balance the chemicals and keep them in balance. It is temping to try a "magic elixir" to see if it will work, but before you do read the labels. If it contains minerals (copper, silver, ect) you don't want it in your pool. If is is just a mega dose of stabilized chlorine (dichlor/trichlor or Calcium Hypochlorite) not only do you not want it in your pool, but you are already giving a mega dose of chlorine when you slam, and your doing it without adding CYA or Calcium that you don't need. If the active ingredient is something you haven't heard of look it up, you probably don't want it in your pool. If it says "proprietary formula" don't use it. Never add a chemical to the pool that you can't identify.

My advise is stay on the slam, raising back to slam levels as often as you can and be patient. Keep that pump going 24-7 until the pool is clear. Your patience will pay off in the end.
 
I think I saw a rule when I first got here that said no shockers or flockers allowed. :)

Shock adds a ton of CYA to your pool, that is why we "shock" with bleach. Flock can help to aggregate the dead algae somewhat, but results are mixed and it seems to cause extra work as often as it helps. And it certainly costs more.

Here is a funny essay on clarifier.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/42260-Clarifier-a-wonderul-product-to-use-if

There are lots of threads here about clarifier and flock. Not many of them have good outcomes. If the stuff worked then TFP would definitely recommend it.
 

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