Please help walk me through this...
- Thread starter Riven
- Start date
Did you vacuum?
Go ahead and post a full set of test results.
Post a pic if you can.
Go ahead and post a full set of test results.
Post a pic if you can.
Have you passed the OCLT yet? If not, I'd concentrate on getting that resolved first, and then worry about the clarity. Maybe hold FC a bit above the recommended shock level to be sure you're getting everything.
I vacuumed best I could, I got some patches of light green out, but not a lot.
I'll do the OCLT tonight, I was hoping to do it this morning but I apparently hit the snooze button. I'll post current results in a bit here and some pics. I literally just woke up as I'm still recovering from a massive 4 day 4th of July work weekend at the hospital. I'll tell you if more people had pools.... there would be less injuries, heat strokes, heart attacks and all of the other heat and explosive induced injuries! LOL
I'll do the OCLT tonight, I was hoping to do it this morning but I apparently hit the snooze button. I'll post current results in a bit here and some pics. I literally just woke up as I'm still recovering from a massive 4 day 4th of July work weekend at the hospital. I'll tell you if more people had pools.... there would be less injuries, heat strokes, heart attacks and all of the other heat and explosive induced injuries! LOL
Siamese said:
+1!
Make sure all the solids are out. Hold the shock level. Make sure you get everything killed. The only way to tell is with the OCLT. Vacuum as often as you can. The clarity usually comes last, in my case it does anyway. This year, (no winter cover, dumb me) I had passed the OCLT numerous times, let the FC drop a little to check ph, back up to shock, back down, still passing at night, & the clarity still took me weeks (& I mean weeks!) to clear up. Extremely frustrating, especially reading about cloudy to clear transformations overnight! In my case, I think my replacement 1hp pump is a little oversized for my sand filter & is partially to blame. My biggest transformation after the green to milky blue phase (that happened quickly), started after my 20 something son & friends started swimming. Not that I'm promoting that by any means, but they did & it helped get the dead nasties in the filter.
Stay the course, have some patience, (it may take a whole bunch), & finally it will get there.
This "morning" we're at 8 FC, and 0 CC, CYA is at 25, and I also checked the PH because I've had problems with it in the past and... it's over 500. So that's probably where the lack of clarity is coming from, but how do I fix that?!
Yea, I had this issue last year as well, but I think a lot of last year was that my pump was apparently going out and was old, as well as probably too small for the pool ideally. It was the original pump that came with the pool over 20 years ago when my grandparents first bought it!
We've been swimming the last couple days. In Nebraska we don't have any chance of even close to 6 months of swimming, our ideal swim range is maybe 3 months, and when I'm spending a month of that each year just trying to get the pool clean it really makes me think that pumping it out and starting from scratch is easier. Our winter cover was compromised this last winter and we just pumped it out, so when we hooked everything up we were perfectly clear, but with the pump going out I lost that battle.
I've been vacuuming, but I don't really seem to be picking much up, and of course I can't see the bottom so I'm at a major disadvantage there. I have gotten some big flakes off the bottom in the basket when I vacuum... but not a lot of them either.
I'm thinking at this point we need to address the high pH?
Yea, I had this issue last year as well, but I think a lot of last year was that my pump was apparently going out and was old, as well as probably too small for the pool ideally. It was the original pump that came with the pool over 20 years ago when my grandparents first bought it!
We've been swimming the last couple days. In Nebraska we don't have any chance of even close to 6 months of swimming, our ideal swim range is maybe 3 months, and when I'm spending a month of that each year just trying to get the pool clean it really makes me think that pumping it out and starting from scratch is easier. Our winter cover was compromised this last winter and we just pumped it out, so when we hooked everything up we were perfectly clear, but with the pump going out I lost that battle.
I've been vacuuming, but I don't really seem to be picking much up, and of course I can't see the bottom so I'm at a major disadvantage there. I have gotten some big flakes off the bottom in the basket when I vacuum... but not a lot of them either.
I'm thinking at this point we need to address the high pH?
Please check your test results again. There is no way pH is over 500! Which test kit are you using?
EDIT: Also try pulling the ladder out and scrubbing the nooks and crannies, especially underneath. Those areas typically get poor circulation and can harbor live algae.
EDIT: Also try pulling the ladder out and scrubbing the nooks and crannies, especially underneath. Those areas typically get poor circulation and can harbor live algae.
I just realized as I was doing some searching on the board that I meant my TA is about 540 and my pH is 8.6 ( the highest reading on the test ) I didn't dilute and re run but can if needed.
Yea, for the last month plus my brain's not been right, we've tracked it down to sinus issues with think, but not exactly sure what so I get a CT tomorrow to see what it says, until then, my thought process is extremely slower than normal and usually jumbled up.
Yea, for the last month plus my brain's not been right, we've tracked it down to sinus issues with think, but not exactly sure what so I get a CT tomorrow to see what it says, until then, my thought process is extremely slower than normal and usually jumbled up.
Yes, go ahead and lower the pH down to 7.2. That will bring the TA down some, but don't try to tackle lowering TA until the pool is clear. You can swim with high TA, and it will take some time to bring down from that level.
Whoa! PH >500? Are you instead meaning CH (calcium hardness)? If it is CH, & your getting flakes, it could be calcium scaling & clouding. I've had scaling before my bbb days with mis-managed pool chemistry. What is your PH? And, maybe I missed it, but what test kit are you using? I strongly recommend the TF100. It accurately puts you in charge of the testing. Like Bama said, an accurate full set of tests would help the Mods (seasoned experts) greatly.
Your pics look like mine did about 3 weeks ago. Isn't it frustrating imagining what the next step lower will look like, lol? It didn't totally clear till just before the 4th. My ch is around the 250-300 range.
As far as locale, here in Iowa I'm in the same boat as you for the length of swimming season. As for this years experience with a swamp, I don't care how cold or windy it is..I'm going to get my cover on at closing.
Your pics look like mine did about 3 weeks ago. Isn't it frustrating imagining what the next step lower will look like, lol? It didn't totally clear till just before the 4th. My ch is around the 250-300 range.
As far as locale, here in Iowa I'm in the same boat as you for the length of swimming season. As for this years experience with a swamp, I don't care how cold or windy it is..I'm going to get my cover on at closing.
I did take the ladder out and power washed it because I remembered having to do that last year as well, lol.
I should have thought of that.. funny. That's one way to see the next lower step. Anyway, stay with it! Get the S))) killed. If you haven't heard it yet.. get a test kit where you can test your shock level at the level it requires & keep it there. Tfttestkits.net. I know you've read pool school. As zea3 said, lower your ph. Do it with Muratic acid. Then with your "new" TF100 test kit, you'll be able to keep it at shock level till you know everything is killed. The clarity is the last thing to worry about, although with most (me included) its the first thing you hope to see.
I have the TF100. We passed the OCLT last night. Should I keep running at shock level until we're clear?
Today turned into a mess, we went from a doctor appt and drop off daughter to father's aunts, to a kazillion totally non-related things... and in the process I forgot to pick up the MA until they were closed... but I'll pick it up tomorrow and we'll get to working on dropping the pH levels.
Today turned into a mess, we went from a doctor appt and drop off daughter to father's aunts, to a kazillion totally non-related things... and in the process I forgot to pick up the MA until they were closed... but I'll pick it up tomorrow and we'll get to working on dropping the pH levels.
I sure would, or at least till you have done multiple OCLT's. (loose less than 1ppm fc, .5 or less cc). Also the general consensus on this site is "your water is clear". The problem with letting the FC lower now before it is clear, or there are definite signs of progress, is because in a couple days if it hasn't cleared significantly, you'll be second guessing whether it's still algae or not, & you'll be on a roller coaster, so to speak. It's just a little more expense & work keeping it up, but by doing so, you can be confident you are still killing the live nasties if they are potentially in the water yet.Riven said:
You'll get there..
Last year, I never did get the water clear, ever. The problem I run into is, at what point do we swim? There is no point in paying for all of the bleach and doing all of the work if we can't swim. In the last week I've put in nearly $100 worth of bleach, it would've been cheaper, and I'm thinking quicker, to pump it out and start over. I know the general theory is that this is not the answer because it will just happen again, but when we opened, we pumped, had it clear and our pump went out leaving us without filter or circulation or over a week... My biggest concern with starting over this time is how long it takes to warm it back up as it is at a lovely temp right now.
I know that some of the cloudy may be pH balance, which I hope to work on today.
I know that some of the cloudy may be pH balance, which I hope to work on today.
If it were me, after having passed the OCLT and once I had the ph in range, I would swim. If you can't see the bottom, keep a close eye on the kids - you wouldn't be able to see them on the bottom as well.
Others may have a different opinion.
Others may have a different opinion.
Something else you might try is deep cleaning your sand bed in the filter. How you do that is open up the filter, and take a water hose and very gently work it down into the sand, being careful not to break or dislodge the center pipe or laterals. Turn on the water and let it flush the dirt and crud out of the sand until clear. Repeat the process all around the sand bed. You will get very wet doing this! Gently run your fingers through the sand bed and make sure there are no clumped or hard packed areas. When finished fill the filter with water and close it back up. Run the filter on rinse for a couple of minutes to make sure and loose sand is discharged to waste instead of your pool. You may also want to add enough DE to raise the pressure 1 pt and run the filter as usual.
I have no problem with deep cleaning, but the sand is new this season, in fact less than 3 weeks old. Do you think this still needs to be done? I'm sure a lot of gunk's gone through it!
I'm currently backwashing about two - three times a day when the flow is decreased significantly. It's milky white coming out, no green tint or anything. I backwash until it's clear, rinse, then filter. I know it's filtering stuff out.
I'm currently backwashing about two - three times a day when the flow is decreased significantly. It's milky white coming out, no green tint or anything. I backwash until it's clear, rinse, then filter. I know it's filtering stuff out.
You might try a little DE or DE substitute to help your sand filter along. I've heard it said that dirty sand filters better than new sand, so a little DE might be a good idea. I added some Fiber Clear (DE substitute) to my sand filter. I've read mixed reviews on Fiber Clear from people who use it in their DE filters, but I've never had a problem using it as an additive to my sand filter. You don't need much, but it has to be added again after backwashing.
I did pick up a bag of DE...
Today there IS more visibility, I just get so frustrated with it, and I've been sick with massive sinus issues which makes me even crankier, especially since my new meds make me extremely nauseous all the time.
I gave the girls the go to swim, they're splashing away already and I'll probably be in there soon!
Today there IS more visibility, I just get so frustrated with it, and I've been sick with massive sinus issues which makes me even crankier, especially since my new meds make me extremely nauseous all the time.
I gave the girls the go to swim, they're splashing away already and I'll probably be in there soon!