No FC???

[poolpartytownie]

Hi all,

New pool owner as I inherited one when we bought a new house last August at the tail end of the summer season in Boston. No prior experience with pool ownership so has been a rapid learning curve. We originally had a company helping open/maintain/close the pool, but so far this summer they have been very unreliable and I've started to take things over.

I got the Taylor K-2006 test kit a couple weeks ago and when I tested the results seemed off.
FC = <0.5
CC = <0.5
pH = <7
TA = 40
CH = 180
CYA < 5 (couldn't read any)

After a couple weeks of effort I am currently at:
FC = 0.5
CC = <0.5
pH = 7.4
TA = 80
CH = 290
CYA = 45

My problem is that I can't seem to hold any free chlorine. For example, over the past week I've been adding about 1-2 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine per day (while I was raising the CYA), but it doesn't seem to hold. This morning, I brought up the FC to 2.5ppm using Cal-Hypo at ~1030am and by 1:30pm it was reading below 0.5. The CC seems to be negligible, <0.5, and the water in general looks great (appears to be clear/sparkling), however, I have sometimes notice 'cloudiness' when I brush the bottom of the pool (which I wasn't sure if it was undissolved chemicals/pollen/dirt from recent patio power washing activity). Any ideas what could be happening?? Suggestions?

 

[PoolStored]

Always round up your CYA results to the next 10. Your CYA level is 50.

You need to maintain your FC based on your CYA level...Link-->FC/CYA Levels

Your FC issue is that you likely have algae, even if you can't see it. Do this test tonight...Link-->Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

If you fail, follow the SLAM process...Link-->SLAM Process

If you pass, post both results and we'll go from there.

 

[Deb04]

Unless you have a cheaper liquid chlorine source, Ocean State has 12.5% for $5.99. It’s always fresh.

 

[Texas Splash]

First of all, welcome to TFP! Great to have you on the forum. Something that caught my eye was that you said you added 1-2 gallons of chlorine per day. For some pools that might be adequate, but not in that 50K monster you have up there. Ha. Wow, that's quite the pond. Using the PoolMath APP, it looks like it would take TEN gallons of 10% liquid chorine to increase the FC from zero to 20 ppm. Yikes. Simple math, one gallon of chlorine only increases the FC by 2 ppm. Maybe that puts it into perspective. Lots more chlorine I'm afraid.

 

[wireform]

Yeh, take it all in what was said above. I'd ask has the pressure being going up from a known clean pressure number, also an indication of algae. I would jump into a slam immediately with a 50k pool it can get out of hand too fast.

 

[CreedenceTapes]

50K monster

@poolpartytownie forgot to mention that his new house was a converted from an old YMCA.

 

[poolpartytownie]

Thanks everyone! So, yesterday afternoon I noticed a patch of yellow in the deep end which when brushed seemed to come off, so assuming it was algae. I've been confused since I thought if the CC level was steady/low (<0.5), that indicated the FC wasn't reacting with algae/organics....but apparently that's not true. So, last night I went ahead and started to SLAM the pool.

I tried to do the OCLT and last night was FC = 19.5 after adding 8 jugs of liquid chlorine, this morning was at FC = 19. But I realized that I stupidly left the trichlor tabs that had been in the skimmer, so that invalidates the test. As of this afternoon it dropped down to FC = 10.5 so brought it back up to FC=20.

 

[poolpartytownie]

Unless you have a cheaper liquid chlorine source, Ocean State has 12.5% for $5.99. It’s always fresh.

Thanks! I've been going to walmart which is $5.97 for a gal of 10% or home depot for $8.48, so that is a much better deal!

 

[poolpartytownie]

Yeh, take it all in what was said above. I'd ask has the pressure being going up from a known clean pressure number, also an indication of algae. I would jump into a slam immediately with a 50k pool it can get out of hand too fast.

Hmm - I don't have a good baseline to work with unfortunately. Assume I'll have to backwash to reset things and keep an eye on it from there?

 

[Texas Splash]

Good you caught your OCLT mistake. You're already learning. Stick with it.

 

[proavia]

Don't put tablets in the skimmer. Trichlor tabs are acidic and will eventually cause equipment issues if they are placed in the skimmer. Use a chlorine floater instead if you are intent on using tablets.