New and overwhelmed

[Searstj]

Hey all,
Recently purchased a foreclosure last sept. Which had a 16x32 vinyl inground pool roughly, 20k gallons I think. As you can imagine with a foreclosure the water was BLACK! Ive done quite a bit of research over the winter and opened our pool up 2 weeks ago and have been working nonstop to clear it up (removed the majority of crud from the floor and dumped lots of Shock into this)
I had gotten it fairly balanced prior:
Cya: 35
TA: 80
ph: 7.2 before shock
TDS:375
CH: 160

ive triple/quadruple shocked this bad boy multiple times but the water is still only a grayish teal color and very cloudy. I do have a sand filter so I know it takes these a little longer to clear up severe cases of bad algae
My last shock attempt was two nights ago where I used around 9-10 lbs of 73% cal hypo with 70% available chlorine. I believe I went way overboard but at this point I didn’t care as I’m getting frustrated with not seeing results.
This morning I measured chlorine levels with the Taylor kit and showed:
FC 23.5
Cc:3.0

I’m wondering if I need to shock again to stay above that recommended breakpoint of 30ppm??? Or do I give the chlorine in there more time to kill this off??

Thanks all,
Tj

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
You need to follow the SLAM Process. To do that, you need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100 A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.

While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[Searstj]

Welcome to the forum!
You need to follow the SLAM Process. To do that, you need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100 A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.

While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

Mknauss,

thanks for quick reply. Read through the recommended material and already has helped clear some of my confusion. I do have the Taylor k-2006 test kit which has proved useful.

You noted the use of liquid chlorine...is there any disadvantage to using cal hypo vs bleach to maintain slam levels?
Thanks,
TJ

 

[mknauss]

Great on the test kit. Fill out your signature so we know what pool size, type, equipment, test kit, etc you have. Makes it so much easier for us to help. Create Your Signature - Further Reading

Cal Hypo adds calcium. Not sure if that is an issue for you. It also can react with other chemicals if added at the same time. Be sure the cal hypo is fully dissolved or you can get staining. TFPC recommends the use of liquid chlorine. It is more controllable, quicker, and a known factor in adding chlorine to your pool.

 

[mknauss]

One question I have, you say you are using your K2006. How did you measure TDS? TDS is useless in pool chemistry, and typically a pool store thing to scare their customers.

 

[Searstj]

Got it thanks again. I’ll get my profile updated with this info!!

and the TDS came from my original test results at the pool store.

 

[Divin Dave]

@Searstj
The premise of using liquid chlorine over powdered shock, is to not add any additonal chemicals to the pool which aren't needed. When Slamming, its especially emphasized not to use anything which will add CYA which is what Trichlor does.

According to the pool math app, cal hypo doesn't add any CYA, so it might be ok to use but understand that it will increase the CH which might become problematic but that depends on your CH and pH and at worse may require dilution of the pool water (drain and refill). So sometimes it can get a bit complicated and with those less experienced in teh understanding of pool chemistry - confusing to say the least.

Using liquid chlorine doesnt change anything except the FC and keeps the chemistry as simple as it can be and helps the people who are trying to help you.

 

[Searstj]

Thanks all for the help and guidance on getting this process started. We've been slamming since Saturday - no apparrent change in color, but i'm passing chlorine lost tests consistentently, and CC stays arounds .5-1.0 for all my checks. Unfortunately, there is no progress on the color/clarity - as i've read on this forum, this process can take forever - not to mention even longer with a sand filter.

I did want to run something by the group in regard to filter/pump set up. When we moved in, the filter was trashed, so we replaced with a larger 24 inch, as the previous one was clearly undersized for a 20k pool. We kept the pump they had installed as it was still pulling water - it's an old 3/4 hp hayward super II pump. I'm guess it is VERY OLD, but seems to be going strong. One of the things i noticed with installing the new filter was that my baseline PSI is roughly 4 when running clean. When i first started this process, it would shoot up to around 15-20 about every few hours / backwash/ filter/backwash/filter... and so on. I'm wondering is it possible that my pump is too large and is just pushing my dirty water through my filter and it's not catching it? I know feet of head needs to be calculated to properly gauge your pump gpm, but without knowing the history of this pool I'm not 100% on what this is.
I've recently started running one of those kreepy krawler vacs to help clean up the pool as I can't tell if my manual vacuum is even flush with the floor surface. When I run this from the skimmer line, i turn the main drain off so it will move around the pool better.... but then my pump is clearly searching for water like it can't get enough, and the only way to keep the pump primed is to turn the main drain on... but then the vac doesn't really move around much. With only 1.5 plumbing, it makes me wonder if my pump is too big because it's trying to pull the full 43gpm from the skimmer but can't.

My wife is questioning whether we just upgrade our pump now to a VS... but i struggle to upgrade when my current one is still working.

Thanks all!
TJ

 

[clduncan]

I have a 1.5 HP pump on 250lbs of sand and it worked to clean the dead algae out after a SLAM, so I imagine your pump/filter setup is fine. Make sure to brush that pool, the SLAM does take some patience, mine took 15 days to complete.

 

[mknauss]

If your FC loss is minimal. Try Add DE to a Sand Filter - Trouble Free Pool

You have to babysit the filter when you do this. The pressure can rise quickly. Add more after you backwash.

 

[cowboycasey]

with just the vac on it is probably pulling air in from breaks in the plastic tubing... try going 3/4 skimmer and 1/4 main drain...

 

[Bperry]

Has the water ever been clear since you’ve owned it? I’m wondering what’s in the water if it’s really black. I’ve seen a few really dark green/brown pools that were scary.

 

[Searstj]

Hey guys,

sorry didn’t see these last few comments come through. It was a foreclosure so no it hasn’t been clear in years. I was just starting to see some progress yesterday.. day 7 of our slam... unfortunately our pump started smoking yesterday and crapped out. As I stated earlier, I think it was very old...so not unexpected, just unfortunate as I worry about the effect it may have on our slam process during the down time.

I figured with getting a new pump I should consider looking at VS pumps. There looks to be some 1.5hp Harris/doheny brands for around $400-500, but concerned that it may be too much power for my setup. No clue on the pools feet of head or resistance, but with 1.5” piping and the current pump being a single speed Hayward super II 3/4 hp I’m worried it may not be a smart purchase.
Any thoughts on upgrading to the 1.5VS set up??

 

[mknauss]

Any thoughts on upgrading to the 1.5VS set up??

Variable speed pumps are variable hp pumps. So no VS pump is 'too big' for any pool. Your goal is to run the VS pump at the lowest rpm to achieve the objective of running the pump, typically to skim the surface of the pool.
The Intelliflo VS 011056 is the gold standard, but costs about $1400 with a short warranty for DIY. The next best, especially for DIY, are Waterway / VGreen pumps. In fact, you might be able to get a VS motor to mate to your pump. Call InyoPools tomorrow to see what they have.
The Harris/Doheny pumps are most likely Speck brand. OK, but longevity of the electronics, etc is not as robust.

 

[Searstj]

Thanks for the info. As we started researching more we decided to go up a tier and settled on the Hayward maxflo VS 1.5hp. Obviously not the intelliflo, but substantially cheaper at around 850. Doesnt arrive until Friday so may need to start my slam over