Please help me figure out what’s wrong

[Chad_Gilmore]

Hi everyone,

I just purchased this home with this pool and it’s been a few years since I’ve had to maintain one. I’m excited to get back into it. The equipment appears to be in poor condition. The filters were extremely dirty, o-rings for the filters were missing and the pressure gauge was broken. I replaced the pressure gauge first and found that pressure was sitting at 15 psi. I then replaced the filters and o-rings tonight and then my pressure was at 30 psi. I decided to let it run a few minutes and I started seeing a lot of cloudy mess shooting out of the return closes to the pump. I had not seen this before. It never stopped until I turned the pump off. Also I noticed the pressure started jumping from 10 psi to 30 psi. Any idea as to what could be wrong? I attached some photos. The pool is approximately 15,000 gallons from what I can tell and I’m located in the Dallas area if that matters. Thanks for the help in advance

 

[Texas Splash]

How are you chlorinating your water? Cloudy water and inconsistent pressure could be a sign of algae even though the water looks okay. Are you testing your own water with a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit? Seeing a full set of results from one of those kits would be step #1. Also be sure to update your signature with all of you pool and equipment info. It will help as we move forward in this thread.

 

[Chad_Gilmore]

I just received my TF-100 in the mail but I haven’t used it yet. The last owners had tablets in the skimmer which I know is bad so I removed them and bought a float. I want to install an inline chlorinator soon. I had the pool store test my water on 9/4 because I didn’t have my kit and I attached a photo of their results. I will use the TF-100 and test tomorrow. I attached a photo of their results. The old filters were really nasty and caked with stuff. Could the cloudines be related to that somehow?

 

[ajw22]

Breakout your TF-100 and do all the tests.

The most important one for you right now is the CYA test. It will likely read over 100 in which case you need to do the dilution test. described below.

Your CYA should be between 30-50. CYA can only be reduced by draining and replacing water. You will need to drain 70% or more of the pool. Get back to us with results from your TF-100 and we can discuss your draining options.

CYA > 90 dilution Test​

For CYA > 90ppm, repeat the test adjusting the procedure as follows:

1. Fill the mixing bottle to the lower mark with pool water.
2. Continue filling the mixing bottle to the upper mark with tap water.
3. Shake briefly to mix.
4. Pour off half of the contents of the mixing bottle, so it is again filled to the lower mark.
5. Continue the test normally from adding R-0013, but multiply the final result by two.

If you need to dilute the pool water further then apply these ratios:

Pool water	Tap or distilled water	Multiply result by
1	1	2
1	2	3
1	4	5

Note that when doing a diluted test not only do you multiply the range of the test you multiply the error rate of the test, so results are a ballpark - not an absolute.

See CYA Testing for tips in how to read the test results.

 

[Chad_Gilmore]

I think I fixed the issue pressure issue and the cloudy return. I think it was related to the missing orings. I had to turn a valve 90 degrees. I noticed this morning that hardly any water was coming out of the return closet to the pump. When I turned the valve, flow increased and my pressure dropped to about 5 psi. I still took readings using my test kit. Came back with:
FC- 5ppm
No combined chlorine
I need to redo the calcium hardness one again tomorrow.
TA-160
CYA- 110

I’ll do the CYA dilution test again as mentioned above tomorrow as well.

 

[BowserB]

It doesn't matter how you use chlorine tabs...they're bad and will continue to increase your CYA until the chlorine doesn't work at all, and you'll have to drain some water out. Your CYA of 110 is proof of that. In any case, I wouldn't spend money adding a inline chlorinator. Liquid chlorine is your best bet, although many people swear by salt water chlorine generators. I've used liquid chlorine and now use a SWCG but am not advocating for either so much as against tabs.

BTW, you signature doesn't match the description you gave of your pool. Is it 7,000 gallons or 15,000? Do have or not have an inline chlorinator?