Newbie in Netherlands. Trying to fix my pool

[dbalzan]

Hi TFP

I have recently bought a house with an old 60,000 litre (16,000 US gallon) vinyl pool. The owner said that the pool hadn't given him any trouble in the 18+ years since he put it in.
The water was crystal clear until earlier this week when we had a heavy rainfall. Unfortunately I woke up yesterday to agreenish tinge but no signs of algae on the walls or floor.
I have done some reading on TFP and think I need to SLAM the pool. But good test kits (or pure bleach) aren't easily available in Europe so I am trying my best to fix it with what I have (which isn't much - AquaCheck strips, Chlorine Pucks, a tub of Dichlor, and a tub of PH+ and PH-)

Based on the aqua check test strips the pool was reading:
FC - 3.0
PH - 6.5
TA - 20
CYA - 0

I used Pool Math to calculate the Dichlor to add to reach SLAM level of 10ppm. I added this to the pool yesterday and ran the pump for 24hrs.

Testing this morning (with my garbage aquacheck strips) I got:
FC - 10.0
PH - 6.5
TA - 20
CYA - 0

The pool doesn't really look any better and I don't know what I need to do next.

All help appreciated

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

You need to follow the SLAM Process step by step with no shortcuts for the chemistry to work. You need to maintain the required FC level for as long as necessary to eradicate the algae.

Can you obtain a good test kit from one of these sources:

How to Buy a TF-100 outside the USA:
Check legality, if legal: Have a friend buy it in the US and send it to you or ship to PO Box/will-call near border and pickup yourself or use an international forwarding service if you can find a trustworthy one (suggestions here)

How to Buy a K2006 or K2006C Outside the USA:
Canada: only Lowry & Associates in Newmarket, Ontario (905-836-0505) or [email protected].
Spain & Portugal: only BEHQ SL (34-93-846-53-36) or [email protected].
Rest of the World: pretty much only HornerXpress Worldwide in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954-938-5355) or [email protected].

How to Buy LaMotte 7002 FAS-DPD Commercial Series Kits (FAS-DPD Commercial 7 Kit):
UK: poolandspacentre.co.uk or sword-scientific.com or pro-swim.co.uk

How to Buy Palintest: [SP 315C (similar to K-2005) AND/+ SP 300 FAS-DPD chlorine test]
UK: Tel: +44 (0) 191 491 0808 ext. 208 Email: [email protected] or camlabworld.com or pool-chem.co.uk

How to Buy Lovibond test kit:
UK: pro-swim.co.uk or lovibondwater.com or leisureteq.co.uk

 

[dbalzan]

Unfortnuately many of those links are dead or unavailable. I did manage to borrow one of the Lovibond test sets Lovibond DPD testset but it only tests PH and FC - not CYA

The pool has got worse despite being on the third day of shock. After topping up the FC to 16 yesterday afternoon, 24 hours later the the test readings are:
FC - 15
PH - 6.2 (may not be reliable)

The pool does not seem to be consuming chlorine. I'm now wondering if this isn't algae but perhaps copper in the water.

I will try calling around the contacts above for a better test set. Most contacts seem to be in the UK so shipping will be 1-2 weeks at least.

Looks like my pool will be staying green for quite a bit longer unless anyone can help me out?

 

[frogabog]

I can't help with the test kits or how to tell if your pool has copper or algae, but your pool most certainly has CYA in it. You use pucks and dichlor, therefore you have CYA. Those strips are junk, clearly.

I think it's probably algae and the CYA is very high. We have a couple members in Europe who may be able to help with the test kit. Although I can only think of one atm... @jesper, you back from your holiday?

 

[jesper]

Yes I’m back. I got my Taylor K2006 testkit from BEHQ in Spain, they shipped it to me. However it was quite expensive, once shipping was included it was almost 3x what I see them advertised for in the US. Next time I think I’ll try ebay from the US I think.