Opening pool : green, smelly and full of worms

[Paxcou]

I have opened my pools 3 weeks later than last year and used exactly bathe same.pricesd last fall to close it. Last year i opened to a beautiful crystal clear water (almost), this year is very different:
- strong smell
- color: green
- already took a large quantity of worms
- CYA test could be closed to 0 (last fall was 50)
- the pH is above 7.7
- few bubbles from one of the jet
- for the first 4 hours the gauge increased by 10 points and i backwash twice already.

For the bubble i may need to add luv to the O-Ring, will do this week.
For the CYA and smell it could be ammonia due to a bacteria that consumes the CYA as i have read somewhere here.

I have added 4 gallons of chlorine, keep using the robot to clean the bottom of the pool and will leave the filter run during the night.

Questions : the smell world or ammonia due to bacteria ?
Question 2 : if my CYA test (done with water left to ambient temperature after few hours as the pool is very cold), is accurate and close to 0, the app is telling me to add 5 pounds of stabilizer, what do you think ? What should I do as i don't want to get my CYA too high too.
Question 3: any advice is super welcome. I had a successful year last year thanks to all of you, i hope.to have the same success this year !

 

[ajw22]

Do not add CYA. It will only make an ammonia problem worse.

Add chlorine for 10 ppm and test your free chlorine after 30-minutes. You likely have ammonia in your water if you lost 80%+ of FC in 30 minutes. Your CC will also be over 0.5.

Ammonia - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Paxcou]

Thanks for your help and for the link. Good thing i did not add CYA.
This week i am going to be busy all week from early to late and will not be able to take care of the pool, would you suggest that I follow the process indicated in the link next Saturday and meanwhile i just let the pool as it is ?

 

[ajw22]

Let the swamp sit until you can test it.

Do you have PoolMath?

2 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine will raise your 16,000 gallons by 12 ppm.

 

[Paxcou]

Let the swamp sit until you can test it.

Do you have PoolMath?

2 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine will raise your 16,000 gallons by 12 ppm.

Thank you i am using pool math. I will wait Saturday too. Thanks a lot for your kind help.

 

[ajw22]

Look at Effects of Adding under the PoolMath three bar menu.

Talk to you next weekend.

 

[Paxcou]

Just did an ammonia test and i have 1.00 ppm. I put yesterday 4 gallons of chlorine and the water.

Now with 1ppm of ammonia i need to add 10ppm of chlorine meaning i will add 2 more gallons and it should work. Will keep you posted.

 

[Paxcou]

Thanks to your expertise, I have in 7 days a great progress in balancing my pool :

Next step pool

https://imgur.com/a/IYMHVxR

The pool is now clean of debris, i have followed the process to get rid of the ammonia and my last test (aquarium test with chemical, no strip) shows either 0 or 0.1.
The chlorine is now stable and i have added yesterday 1 pound of dry stabilizer to raise my CYA from 0 to 10 ( i will add more tomorrow based on my test). I have brushed yesterday and this morning too and add some DPE powder in the skimmer.

My last logs are below.

The water is blue and so much better but still cloudy. I have slam this morning. I believe i am heading in the right direction but i want to make sure I don't miss anything. What would you suggest me ?

Thanks again for your incredible help.

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Chemical Addition 04-25-2021 @ 11:55 AM
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+ 1 Gallons of Bleach

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Test Results 04-25-2021 @ 11:42 AM
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Free Chlorine: 4.5
Combined Chlorine: 0.5
pH: 7.2
Total Alkalinity: 50
Calcium Hardness: 40
CSI: -1.95

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Chemical Addition 04-24-2021 @ 07:46 PM
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+ 2 Pounds of DryStabilizer

 

[mknauss]

You cannot test the CYA level until you get to 30 ppm. So add enough stabilizer to get to 30 ppm or just above.

Follow the SLAM Process. Use your targeted CYA as your current and follow the SLAM level FC for that level.

 

[Paxcou]

Perfect. Thanks. I will had 2 more pounds.

 

[Paxcou]

I have done another FC and CC test.
I have:
FC 6
CC 0.5
I put enough CYA to reach 30 but i will test in 24 hours.
The water is cloudy, i cannot see the bottom but it seems very "clean" and the CC seems to say that i don't have algae anymore. Is it normal ? Should I SLAM to each 12ppm of FC ?

 

[mknauss]

The pool water is cloudy and was recently very green.

Continue your SLAM. Pass the three criteria as described in SLAM Process. The first is crystal clear water.

 

[Paxcou]

The pool water is cloudy and was recently very green.

Continue your SLAM. Pass the three criteria as described in SLAM Process. The first is crystal clear water.

Thank you for the advice, working on it.

 

[CrystalRiver]

CCs mean there's something wrong, but not having CCs doesn't mean nothing is wrong. CCs are the equivalent of an oil puddle under your car - it's definitely a sign there's something wrong, but there can be something wrong without the puddle/CCs.

SLAM on! Filter running 24/7, keep that chlorine level up, and don't forget to brush the pool.

 

[Paxcou]

CCs mean there's something wrong, but not having CCs doesn't mean nothing is wrong. CCs are the equivalent of an oil puddle under your car - it's definitely a sign there's something wrong, but there can be something wrong without the puddle/CCs.

SLAM on! Filter running 24/7, keep that chlorine level up, and don't forget to brush the pool.

The CC level is extremely low, i have a very very light pink coloration that would probably needs a third of a drop to disappear.

I am able to maintain the level of chlorine between 10ppm at 6am to 8.5ppm at 7pm (I am away during the day). A drop of 1.5 during the day with a water temperature of 55, i believe it's good sign.
The dry stabilizer i have added brought me exactly to 30ppm, exactly the number i was trying to target. I keep the pump running 24/7.

 

[Paxcou]

When scrubbing the pool, k feel in a deep end something that kind of block the brush, the feeling looks like something kind of attach the the vynil at the bottom. As k removed lot of worms, i am wondering if i have a stain building up and i cannot see it yet. What do you think ?

 

[Paxcou]

As explained in another post, i have battled a very greeny pool since i opened it two weeks ago. Following your advices and using the slam process i am getting there, all my numbers are good, i got rid of the ammonia, the PH is 7.3, my CYA 30, I keep the FC at slam level (12) and finally the pool is getting clearer !
However now i can see something k was feeling when i was brushing : there is a dark stain at the bottom, we cannot see it yet perfectly as i still need to go probably for two days of SLAM, but we can definitely see the dark area. What could it be ? The brush get kind of stuck into it. It is in the deepest area. I had a ton of worms when i opened and they could have ended being in this deeper area maybe.
In term of product, i only add dry CYA and 10% bleach. I've never used any other products than the one recommended here last season and this beginning of season.

------------------------------------------
Chemical Addition 04-30-2021 @ 05:45 AM
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+ 51 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-30-2021 @ 05:43 AM
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Free Chlorine: 9.5
Combined Chlorine: 0.0
CSI: -1.64

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Chemical Addition 04-29-2021 @ 06:47 PM
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+ 92 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-29-2021 @ 06:36 PM
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Free Chlorine: 7.5
Combined Chlorine: 0.3
pH: 7.3
CSI: -1.64

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Chemical Addition 04-29-2021 @ 05:57 AM
------------------------------------------
+ 72 FluidOunces of Bleach

------------------------------------------
Test Results 04-29-2021 @ 05:50 AM
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Free Chlorine: 8.5
Combined Chlorine: 0.0
pH: 7.4
CSI: -1.55

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Chemical Addition 04-28-2021 @ 07:36 PM
------------------------------------------
+ 41 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-28-2021 @ 07:25 PM
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Free Chlorine: 10.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.0
pH: 7.3
CSI: -1.64

------------------------------------------
Chemical Addition 04-28-2021 @ 05:36 AM
------------------------------------------
+ 41 FluidOunces of Bleach

------------------------------------------
Test Results 04-28-2021 @ 05:34 AM
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Free Chlorine: 10.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.0
CSI: -1.74

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Chemical Addition 04-27-2021 @ 07:34 PM
------------------------------------------
+ 92 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-27-2021 @ 07:22 PM
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Free Chlorine: 7.5
Combined Chlorine: 0.3
pH: 7.2
CYA: 30
CSI: -1.74

------------------------------------------
Chemical Addition 04-27-2021 @ 06:03 AM
------------------------------------------
+ 41 FluidOunces of Bleach

------------------------------------------
Test Results 04-27-2021 @ 05:40 AM
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Free Chlorine: 10.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.0
pH: 7.4
CSI: -1.55

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Chemical Addition 04-26-2021 @ 07:11 PM
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+ 72 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-26-2021 @ 07:00 PM
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Free Chlorine: 8.5
Combined Chlorine: 0.5
pH: 7.3
CYA: 30
Temperature: 13°C
CSI: -1.64

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Chemical Addition 04-26-2021 @ 05:55 AM
------------------------------------------
+ 41 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-26-2021 @ 05:48 AM
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Free Chlorine: 10.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.5
CSI: -1.68

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Chemical Addition 04-25-2021 @ 09:30 PM
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+ 82 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-25-2021 @ 07:45 PM
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Free Chlorine: 6.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.5
pH: 7.2
Temperature: 12°C
CSI: -1.68

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Maintenance 04-25-2021 @ 02:05 PM
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Vacuumed, Backwashed, Brushed
Pressure: 21

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Chemical Addition 04-25-2021 @ 02:05 PM
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+ 2.12 Pounds of DryStabilizer

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Chemical Addition 04-25-2021 @ 11:55 AM
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+ 1 Gallons of Bleach

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Test Results 04-25-2021 @ 11:42 AM
------------------------------------------
Free Chlorine: 4.5
Combined Chlorine: 0.5
pH: 7.2
Total Alkalinity: 50
Calcium Hardness: 40
CSI: -1.95

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Chemical Addition 04-24-2021 @ 07:46 PM
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+ 2 Pounds of DryStabilizer

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Test Results 04-24-2021 @ 05:49 PM
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Free Chlorine: 6.0
Combined Chlorine: 1.0
pH: 6.8
Total Alkalinity: 50
Calcium Hardness: 50
CYA: 0
CSI: -2.26

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Chemical Addition 04-24-2021 @ 11:22 AM
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+ 1 Gallons of Bleach

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Test Results 04-24-2021 @ 10:34 AM
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Free Chlorine: 0.0
pH: 7.3
CSI: -1.47

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Chemical Addition 04-23-2021 @ 09:23 PM
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+ 2 Gallons of Bleach

 

[Paxcou]

What if i tell you that the stain was a pool.chsir cover that flew away and felt at the bottom of the pool ?
And what if told you it's my 4 years old daughter that saw this and save the day ?
She is swimming like a fish, the pool is her Kingdom, she walked away very proud of her and made her daddy happy.

 

[kellyfair]

Well, that’s an all’s well that ends well story!

 

[Paxcou]

Well, that’s an all’s well that ends well story!

Best outcome ever !