New House, trying to learn

[kemotoe]

Involved long post incoming. So I bought this house in January. I have never owned or dealt with a pool before. My first thought was hire a guy the first year and learn so I could DIY the following season. I had done a little research, but still opted to hire a company to open the pool. I knew it was bad when they showed up didn't test anything, hooked up the pump, dumped shock in the pool, didn't vacuum, and just left (I think they got upset when I told them I didn't want the weekly service only the opening.). Well after getting extorted and finding out how much they charge to 'open' pools. I decided to do it myself. The previous owner left a basic test kit, got a new vacuum and hose, and started researching. I began testing the pool never knowing what the proper FC level was as the tester only went to 5 ppm.

I am vacuuming everyday, back washing, doing all needed maintenance, but I have a light 'debris' that tends to return every day or two and I vacuum it to waste. I decided to get serious and order a K-2006.

So after ordering the kit I performed my first test.
FC: 13
CC: 0
pH: 6.7
TA: 60
CH: 100
CYA: 200

I was shocked to learn the CYA levels were extremely high. It make sense now as I asked the previous owner and he used dichlor to shock and trichlor tabs. At this point the pool was clear except for slight cloudiness and the reoccurring light 'debris'. I decided that I would drain the pool as I've read it's not feasible to maintain chlorine at a CYA that high. The pool has no drain (which I thought was weird). I bought a sump pump and drained the pool about 50% and refilled. I retested
FC: 8
CC: 0
pH: 7.6
TA: 60
CH: 80
CYA: 90

So I have a few questions as it pertains to my pool. Also going forward I am using the TFPC methodology of chemicals.
1. Can I keep from draining my pool any further even though the CYA is still on the high end. It is a really long 2.5 day process that my filter isn't running during. It's only a small sump pump to drain once its below the skimmer and a hose to fill up (plus I just used 10-11k gallons of water). Will the CYA dissipate enough with rain, back-washing, evaporation/lowering when closing, that I can avoid doing a half drain again?
2. How hard is it to maintain 10-12 ppm chlorine (per the chart with 90 CYA)? Whats an estimation of how much chlorine it takes?
2. Is it normal for the pH to rise like that during partial drains, or is it a bad reading since the FC was so high?
3. The reoccurring debris in the picture below I think is dirt/pollen as I have a lot of trees around my house. Does it look like algae? I have an untrained eye.
4. I think the rest of my numbers besides CYA are where they need to be correct?
5. is there anything else I need to be doing during all this time?

The pool looks a lot better after the drain. I definitely notice the light cloudiness is gone. This website has been really helpful just from the research side of things. It makes it seem a lot less daunting and there are so many helpful knowledgeable people here. Thanks for all the help.
<- debris and present ->

 

[aussieta]

welcome to tfp
90 cya is manageable but i would do another 50 percent water change
bear in mind the ph test is inaccurate at fc above 10, so if you were to try to maintain 12 fc you would have to allow for that
the ph rise would be due to the higher ph water you added
it is always wise to test your fill water ph, ta and ch

 

[Alwayswantedapool]

You can use pool math or the app to see how much chlorine you are going to need.

I agree while 90 cya is manageable (been there, done that) but would say you might do a smaller drain and get it down to around 70 and the pool will be much easier to manage. You could also just drain it with keeping the pool drained after a rain, vacuum, to waste, or maybe longer back washes. Or any combination of the above.
Just make sure you keep your fc in range so you don't get algea. You don't want to have to slam at those high cya levels.

 

[Casey]

I understand the reluctance to do another smaller drain. If you get a lot of spring rain, you can use it to your benefit. Plus, splash out from use of the pool will also help, alongg with vacc'ing to waste and filter cleaning.

Congratulations on the beautiful pool and home. You did well by investing in the test kit and finding TFP. Just make sure that you keep your FC up until the CYA comes down a bit.

 

[kemotoe]

So the current picture above was taken yesterday afternoon. I came home today to find little spots and one big spot of 'debris'. Is this normal dirt or should I be worried? The filter was running almost the entire time.

 

[Pauls234]

Hard to say definitively, but it could be algae. When I had mustard algae a few years back, that is what it looked like when it collected dead on the floor.

It also could just be dirt. The circulation pattern will tend to collect debris in one general area over time. For a round above ground pool, this is typically the middle.

You can do an overnight chlorine loss test to see if something might be growing.

 

[Oly]

If your CYA was near 200 at one time then it's a good bet your FC was well below what was need to keep algae from reproducing. You probably have a resident population of algae just waiting to get going in earnest as the temperatures rise and your FC dips even for a few days.

Pauls234 advice is good, do an overnight chlorine loss test to isolate and determine how much FC you are losing to contaminants. If you have a biological contaminant that is burning through your FC at night then you need to go on the offensive with a SLAM and get it under control.