New pool owner

[MJL2325]

Hello,
Another pool owner seeking advice, I know you all receive similar questions all the time but I also am interested in your input!
Taking over pool maintenance this year, bought house with pool last year and paid pool maintenance company last year to do everything. They were using loads of algaecide in our pool?
Been a rough start—they opened pool for us and it was green. A week later our pump broke. Now we have new pump, clear water, but trace/few specks of algae that I am vacuuming daily. Chlorinator broke and so using chlorine tabs in skimmers until that gets fixed. However it seems from what I have read on here that I should start using liquid chlorine instead, especially since CYA is high. Here are my numbers:

Plaster pool, chlorine
Just got my TFT 100 kit:

pH 8.0
FC 2.5
CC: 0.5
CH 400-425
TA 110-120
CYA 75

Will CYA come down on its own as water evaporates and I add water to pool over the summer, if I switch from pucks to liquid chlorine?
Will the pH come down also as I add the chlorine?
I should also SLAM, correct?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP. Good to have you here

Chlorine won't affect pH (other than a very slight increase after adding it, then back down as it's used up). Use muriatic (hydrochloric) acid to reduce pH. Your TA will come down over time to a more reasonable level.

Add enough chlorinating liquid to raise FC to 7 or 8.

You're going to need to SLAM, so read this article through and come up with a plan that works for you; perhaps starting Friday night so you have the weekend to focus on it.
SLAM Process

Yes definitely remove the tabs, let them dry, and store for the future sometime when you go away or want to raise CYA.

CYA will not leave the pool due to evaporation. Overflow and splashout will reduce it over time. The high chlorine level you will be using during the SLAM will very likely reduce it a bit. The pool is quite manageable at 70-80, but you'll be surprised how much chlorine you need to start the SLAM. Fortunately there's a chlorine holiday after the SLAM which offsets it a bit.

Not TFPC, but I like to start a SLAM at pH 7.2 myself. I believe the article says 7.2 to 7.5 which is fine as well. Chlorine consumption during the SLAM will be a bit less if you start at 7.2

Please go to profile and create a signature. Also, typical list of test results goes...

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

 

[Bperry]

Hello,
Another pool owner seeking advice, I know you all receive similar questions all the time but I also am interested in your input!
Taking over pool maintenance this year, bought house with pool last year and paid pool maintenance company last year to do everything. They were using loads of algaecide in our pool?
Been a rough start—they opened pool for us and it was green. A week later our pump broke. Now we have new pump, clear water, but trace/few specks of algae that I am vacuuming daily. Chlorinator broke and so using chlorine tabs in skimmers until that gets fixed. However it seems from what I have read on here that I should start using liquid chlorine instead, especially since CYA is high. Here are my numbers:

Plaster pool, chlorine
Just got my TFT 100 kit:

pH 8.0
FC 2.5
CC: 0.5
CH 400-425
TA 110-120
CYA 75

Will CYA come down on its own as water evaporates and I add water to pool over the summer, if I switch from pucks to liquid chlorine?
Will the pH come down also as I add the chlorine?
I should also SLAM, correct?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Take the pucks out of the skimmers. You dont want acidic water getting into the equipment like that when the pump turns off and then on again. If you have to use them in the future, put them in a $10 walmart floater, but you shouldnt use anymore for a while.

Another item: the CYA is measured in 10’s and should be rounded up so yours would be 80ppm. Exchanging ~1/3 the water with fresh would make the SLAM need less chlorine but you can do it at 80ppm.

 

[Mdragger88]

Do you know exactly what algaecide was added?
Many algaecides contain copper and some even contain ammonia both of which you don’t want in your pool.
Doing a water exchange would dilute those as well as lower your cya making the
SLAM Process much easier. Slamming at 40/50 ppm cya is much less costly than doing so at 80.
Please read

Draining - Further Reading

www.google.com

 

[kellyfair]

I echo the post above. You don’t want to completely drain the pool, but taking the water level down some and adding fresh will rid you of some CYA and any bad stuff like copper from the algaecide. Every increment of decrease in your CYA is going to save you some chlorine.

 

[MJL2325]

Thanks guys for the advice!
I was hoping to avoid draining some of the pool water but it looks like that will be inevitable.
Follow up question— from what I have seen on this forum it seems to be safe to swim in the pool if water is clear and your chlorine is below slam level. How urgent is the pool water draining? I am thinking if possible I might wait until end of season when some water is drained with pool closing and start fresh next year?

 

[kellyfair]

Yes, you could do that. Getting in is fine, all the way up to SLAM level, as long as you can clearly see bottom. Kick up your chlorine level to kill any nasties, and check again when you get out, since sunscreen, dirt tracked in, etc. will consume chlorine. Keep up with the brushing and vacuuming as well.

 

[Mdragger88]

Note*
it is safe to swim so long as all 3 are true:
fc is between min & slam level for your cya;
ph is in the 7’s;
&
the water is clear enough to see a swimmer in the deep end.

With a cya of 80 that is between 6ppm and 31ppm fc.

 

[MJL2325]

Thanks!

 

[needsajet]

Draining part of the water needn't be stressful. One or all of us would be happy to walk you through it.

It's especially easy if there's a place for water to go that's lower than the pool surface, and you have a couple of garden hoses. It can be done over quite a few hours so that flows aren't enormous and hard to manage.