Newbie here having pool issues

[Amyb9111]

Hello! I am new here. Just got my test kit today and tested my water. Issue I am currently struggling with is cloudiness and some strange silt on bottom of pool. Picture of my robot just to show the cloudiness and then pic of the silt. My pool is much better than it has been. I’ve been brushing sides every day (yellowish (not green) growth, and vacuuming the silt to waste. It’s made huge difference. I’ve also got super high chlorine which is somewhat due to faulty testing prior to my new test arriving but also because I’ve been trying to treat this stuff. Started using only bleach (plus tabs) about 3 days ago.
FC -12
CC-0
TC-12
TA-140
CYA-30
PH-7.6
I welcome any and all input. Never had issues with my pool until this year. Wondering if it is from chlorinating granules-sodium dichloro- that I’ve never used before because no shock to be found. I haven’t used this in about 5 days now that I am learning I can use bleach.
Thank you all!

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! Great job on your testing with a great test kit. Your numbers look excellent and show that your FC is actually in a perfect position for the SLAM Process. Algae is what you are describing and the SLAM is the treatment. Be sure to follow that page carefully and maintain the FC level of 12 as best as you can until you pass all three criteria. Vacuum to waste is fine, but watch the CYA every couple days as losing water will lower the CYA. You don't want it any lower than 30 ppm. During the SLAM, your main focus is on the FC. No need to test pH, TA, or CH until after the SLAM. If you have any other questions let us know.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[TexEdmond]

Hi, Neighbor!

I believe it's also proper to lower pH to 7.2 before beginning SLAM? Check those instructions closely, it's been a while since I read them. This will likely also bring TA down a bit. Not as big a deal with a vinyl liner, but it still can lead to skyrocketing pH over time.

Dichlor adds as much CYA to the water as it does FC, but the CYA piles up over time. Don't throw it away if you're going to be doing multiple vacuums to drain... otherwise you'll have to go out and find straight CYA to bring your levels up to your desired long-term levels. I'm noticing the sun's getting lower in the sky and fortunately our pool is much cooler.

You got this thing! Good on you for getting the kit and taking control!

EDIT: I notice your FC is 12. If you've got the red-drop pH test in the comparator block, that won't give you an accurate pH reading. It's possible your actual pH is a bit lower already due to the high FC throwing off that test.

 

[Amyb9111]

Hi, Neighbor!

I believe it's also proper to lower pH to 7.2 before beginning SLAM? Check those instructions closely, it's been a while since I read them. This will likely also bring TA down a bit. Not as big a deal with a vinyl liner, but it still can lead to skyrocketing pH over time.

Dichlor adds as much CYA to the water as it does FC, but the CYA piles up over time. Don't throw it away if you're going to be doing multiple vacuums to drain... otherwise you'll have to go out and find straight CYA to bring your levels up to your desired long-term levels. I'm noticing the sun's getting lower in the sky and fortunately our pool is much cooler.

You got this thing! Good on you for getting the kit and taking control!

EDIT: I notice your FC is 12. If you've got the red-drop pH test in the comparator block, that won't give you an accurate pH reading. It's possible your actual pH is a bit lower already due to the high FC throwing off that test.

I did the other chlorine test in the kit, not the easy quick one. Thanks for your help. I need to go read about SLAM.

 

[TexEdmond]

I did the other chlorine test in the kit, not the easy quick one. Thanks for your help. I need to go read about SLAM.

You'll get the basics here and come back anytime with questions, gripes, frustrations, test numbers, and PICTURES OF YOUR CLEAR POOL!

I wasn't clear with my previous post, forgive me. It might be worth letting the FC dip slightly to 10 or below to grab a quick pH reading before heading back up to SLAM. There is a method to slightly dilute and neutralize some chlorine, but it's my understanding that's less than ideal. I'm finding good jugs of muriatic acid and liquid chlorine at Home Depot these days, I assume you've already got a good supply on hand.

 

[Amyb9111]

I did the other chlorine test in the kit, not the easy quick one. Thanks for your help. I need to go read about SLAM.

Oh sorry now it’s making more sense. Yes that quick PH test is the only one. Are you saying it’s not super accurate?

You'll get the basics here and come back anytime with questions, gripes, frustrations, test numbers, and PICTURES OF YOUR CLEAR POOL!

I wasn't clear with my previous post, forgive me. It might be worth letting the FC dip slightly to 10 or below to grab a quick pH reading before heading back up to SLAM. There is a method to slightly dilute and neutralize some chlorine, but it's my understanding that's less than ideal. I'm finding good jugs of muriatic acid and liquid chlorine at Home Depot these days, I assume you've already got a good supply on hand.

i don’t. This is all so new to me. I have the bleach but was waiting for testing kit to get supplies.

 

[Amyb9111]

Welcome to TFP! Great job on your testing with a great test kit. Your numbers look excellent and show that your FC is actually in a perfect position for the SLAM Process. Algae is what you are describing and the SLAM is the treatment. Be sure to follow that page carefully and maintain the FC level of 12 as best as you can until you pass all three criteria. Vacuum to waste is fine, but watch the CYA every couple days as losing water will lower the CYA. You don't want it any lower than 30 ppm. During the SLAM, your main focus is on the FC. No need to test pH, TA, or CH until after the SLAM. If you have any other questions let us know.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

So is the silt from the dichlor or is it algae?

 

[TexEdmond]

Oh sorry now it’s making more sense. Yes that quick PH test is the only one. Are you saying it’s not super accurate?

It's okay, it can seem like drinking from the firehose. We've got you covered, and sorry for going too fast. The red pH block test starts to read falsely high if your FC levels are above 12, which you've accurately measured with the powder.

o is the silt from the dichlor or is it algae?

Dichlor will dissolve pretty quickly and wouldn't stick around longer than 5 days unless you dumped a huge pile of it on the floor. It's either algae or dirt or both.

 

[TexEdmond]

Oh and for your new test kit numbers I'd highly recommend getting the PoolMath app (paid version) for your phone. It'll help you calculate chem additions and plan your upcoming pool parties. You can also link those test results to your profile here and we can save time by not having to make you enter them every time.

 

[Amyb9111]

Hello! I am new here. Just got my test kit today and tested my water. Issue I am currently struggling with is cloudiness and some strange silt on bottom of pool. Picture of my robot just to show the cloudiness and then pic of the silt. My pool is much better than it has been. I’ve been brushing sides every day (yellowish (not green) growth, and vacuuming the silt to waste. It’s made huge difference. I’ve also got super high chlorine which is somewhat due to faulty testing prior to my new test arriving but also because I’ve been trying to treat this stuff. Started using only bleach (plus tabs) about 3 days ago.
FC -12
CC-0
TC-12
TA-140
CYA-30
PH-7.6
I welcome any and all input. Never had issues with my pool until this year. Wondering if it is from chlorinating granules-sodium dichloro- that I’ve never used before because no shock to be found. I haven’t used this in about 5 days now that I am learning I can use bleach.
Thank you all!

Ok I’ve read about SLAM. Pool looks good today, still cloudy but very little silt a d nothing growing on walls. I’m not sure how to post results from pool math so here’s a pic showing yesterday and today. SLAM says PH must be 7.2 or lower. My FC SLAM requirement for SLAM is 12 so I’m good there. Should I reduce the PH? Can we use the smaller faster test kit for chlorine during SLAM? Didn’t here , just curious.

 

[PoolStored]

Hi, Neighbor!

I believe it's also proper to lower pH to 7.2 before beginning SLAM? Check those instructions closely, it's been a while since I read them. This will likely also bring TA down a bit. Not as big a deal with a vinyl liner, but it still can lead to skyrocketing pH over time.

Dichlor adds as much CYA to the water as it does FC, but the CYA piles up over time. Don't throw it away if you're going to be doing multiple vacuums to drain... otherwise you'll have to go out and find straight CYA to bring your levels up to your desired long-term levels. I'm noticing the sun's getting lower in the sky and fortunately our pool is much cooler.

You got this thing! Good on you for getting the kit and taking control!

EDIT: I notice your FC is 12. If you've got the red-drop pH test in the comparator block, that won't give you an accurate pH reading. It's possible your actual pH is a bit lower already due to the high FC throwing off that test.

Read the EDIT from earlier post.

 

[Amyb9111]

Ok I’ve read about SLAM. Pool looks good today, still cloudy but very little silt a d nothing growing on walls. I’m not sure how to post results from pool math so here’s a pic showing yesterday and today. SLAM says PH must be 7.2 or lower. My FC SLAM requirement for SLAM is 12 so I’m good there. Should I reduce the PH? Can we use the smaller faster test kit for chlorine during SLAM? Didn’t here , just curious.
It wont let me attach pic.
FC 13
CC 0
TA 160
CYA 30
PH 7.8

 

[TexEdmond]

Sadly the smaller, faster chlorine kit (mine is yellow OTO drops) is pretty useless day-to-day for any measurements other than "does my pool have more than the bare minimum chlorine" in it. I don't even remember what the max reading on mine is because I don't ever use it. I think it's 5ppm. So there's no way to measure 12ppm without a DPD powder test.

Also, I believe the yellow drop OTO test only gives total chlorine, and won't tell us the breakdown between FC and CC, which is very important to know if there's algae growing and trying to get rid of it. CC of higher than 0.5 indicates an active problem with something growing.

You can probably let FC drop for a day or a half day and get to 10 so the pH can be adjusted properly.

 

[TexEdmond]

Read the EDIT from earlier post.

I'm sorry, I don't know which edit and which post you're talking about. Can you help me understand? Did I make a mistake in my post? Certainly wasn't trying to overstep anyone.

 

[TexEdmond]

pic showing yesterday and

I'm not able to upload pictures to the website after trying multiple times yesterday. I think that might be affecting you as well, no pictures coming thru.

 

[PoolStored]

I'm sorry, I don't know which edit and which post you're talking about. Can you help me understand? Did I make a mistake in my post? Certainly wasn't trying to overstep anyone.

That was for OP, she asked a second time about reducing pH, after you had previously answered. I was giving her the answer by referencing your answer.