Opening the pool after 3 years

[hanwit]

Hi, we recently bought the house with the unground pool on property. We decided to open it in May. From the previous owner we learned that pool was not opened for last 3 years. When opened, there was a lot of leaves in it, so while working on pump/filter issues we clean up as much as we could. Few things were done: we change the pump to new one, as the old one was leaking, the chlorinator and the filter were changed as well. Now we have sand filter. The swimming pool is ~18,000 gallons.
The bottom was vacuumed at least twice, with a lot of debris removed.
Last Wednesday, (6/28) after we knew all is working we added 15 gallons of liquid chlorine, water from green changed to grey/brownish Filter is backwashed ~ 2x/24 hours since that day. On Monday (7/3) we added additional 10 gallons of chlorine, as the water did not improve (still very cloudy, color did not change). We just purchased the kit recommended to measure water parameters at home (didn't arrive yet), so we used our local pool store to check the water (last Friday): chlorine was very high (I still can't measure that with my small home kit, as is still above 5); pH ~7.2; alkalinity ~80 ppm, CYA ~6. Calcium was adjusted as it was 0 at that time, but I don't know what is now, as we didn't measure it yet. We have some stabilizer to increase CYA as well, but we were told not to do that until the chlorine is in range.
My biggest concern is how the water looks after a week: very cloudy, brownings/ grayish, we can't see more than 2 steps down. I know that sand filter is slower that the other but concerning is that there is not much going on and water is still cloudy and not improving. Am I just impatient? How long it will take to clarify the water? Should we keep shocking with chlorine or it does take some time now to filter the water? Should we add the CYA now or wait until the water is clear and chlorine in range? The pictures with water attached.
Any advices will be highly appreciated

 

[Getitrite]

Welcome to Trouble Free Pool ! I'm sure the staff will be with you soon. Be patient. Which Test Kit did you order, TF-100 or Taylor K-2006?

 

[mknauss]

We just purchased the kit recommended to measure water parameters at home

Welcome to the forum!
When you get your kit, run a full set of tests. As Getitrite asked, Which kit did you get?
In the interim, you can add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine each day. Please do not do the large amount you did before. That level can damage equipment.
Please fill out your signature. We use that information to provide timely, accurate guidance.

 

[hanwit]

Welcome to Trouble Free Pool ! I'm sure the staff will be with you soon. Be patient. Which Test Kit did you order, TF-100 or Taylor K-2006?

I ordered TF-100

 

[Mdragger88]

As Mknauss said - just add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine each day until the kit comes. Use
PoolMath to calculate that amount.
No need to waste chlorine or risk damaging your equipment & surfaces.
More Things you can do until then:
*Get as much debris out as possible (scooping & vacuuming)
*Backwash when filter pressure rises 25% over clean pressure
* get a good source for liquid chlorine (sounds like you have this)
* fill out your signature in detail with your pool type, all equipment, test kit etc.

Create Your Signature - Further Reading

www.google.com

When your kit comes, do all the tests & post the results like this

Fc
Cc
Ph
Ta
Ch
Cya
We’ll be waiting.

 

[Newdude]

Hey hanwit and Welcome !!!!

This is gonna be GREAT to watch.





If you have cheap fill water, you'd be far better off draining down to a foot in the shallow end. You need to leave that much water to hold the liner in place, but doing it twice would get rid of 3/4 or so of the water. The remaining battle would be much easier/quicker/cheaper.

We've seen way worse more times than I can count. We can fix anything. But personally I'd scream 4 letter words at the water bill, not the water. Lol.

If you do drain, it'll be easier to see whatever crud is left on the bottom. That needs to go ASAP. It will chew through chlorine almost as fast as you can add it. I watched my own go blue in front of me 5 mins after the last scoop of crud came out. If you don't drain, scoop or vac blind. Work a pattern and go from perpendicular directions. It will take patience and alot of empty nets, but eventually you'll get it all.

 

[Mdragger88]

I see your signature now
As Newdude mentioned getting alot of that funky water out would make the battle immensely easier. Particularly because you have no clue what they threw in there before you owned it!
Here’s the details on safe ways to accomplish a water exchange

Draining - Further Reading

www.google.com

You’ll still need to do the
SLAM Process but hopefully use much less liquid gold!

 

[V___25]

Just food for thought while waiting for your test kit- I saw you replaced the chlorinator as well as other equipment. Do you plan to use tabs? I would hold off on buying them if you already haven't. Tabs aren't the best way to chlorinate long term.

 

[hanwit]

Thanks everyone for advices. For now we are not planning to drain/replace the water. We ill try with filtrate, vacuum and chlorinate, and see where we end up. This is the possibility, however if we have to drain - we will most probably drain completely and switch to salt.
For now we do see small progress, but it is sooo slow. The filter is backwashed when we reach ~20 (the base is 12) - usually twice a day. We vacuum every other day, the robot is also doing his job for most of the day, and there is not much left at the bottom. Our neighbor will dive either today or tomorrow to clean the drain and he will see what is there left.
Test kit is here, see below parameters of the water from today morning:
FC: 12
CC: 2
pH: 7.0
TA: 60
CH: 180
Cya <30

 

[Newdude]

however if we have to drain - we will most probably drain completely

The shallow end of the pool needs to have some water (about a foot) or the liner may not go back right when refilling. It's why I reccomended draining that much, twice. Although it's less efficient than a full drain, 75% is better than none. Anywho, keep this in mind if the need arises.

and switch to salt.

There is no 'switch'. You simply add some salt to end up about 10% of ocean salinity. There will be some in there already, each gallon of 'Sodium Hyperchlorite' adds a few ppm, so test your baseline before adding.

Cya <30

Add 10 ppm and wait a few days to retest. Repeat until you read a solid 30.

Brush, vac, and keep the FC at target as often as it needs. It will tell you how long it holds. As it holds longer, you can extend your test/add intervals. 2 to 3 hours is best for the start, and then go from there.

 

[Mdragger88]

Point your jets up to aerate the water- this should help raise ph without having to add anything.
If your fc is holding for 15 minutes you can add some cya (target 30ppm via the sock method)
Was the cya tube completely clear or a little cloudy? If it was clear just add 30ppm worth)
Your
SLAM Process
target will then be 12ppm.
FC/CYA Levels
Without some cya your fc will be gone quickly in the sun.
You don’t want to go over slam level as it risks damaging your liner & equipment.

Also, you don’t need to drain to switch to salt. A salt pool is a chlorine pool with the amount of salt in it required to operate your salt water chlorine generator. (Usually Around 3000ppm)
All forms of manually added chlorine add salt to the water so you may have more than you think already & only need very little to get to the target for that.
Of course dealing with algae comes first!

 

[Mdragger88]

@Newdude got me!