Pool company strikes again -

[sdrilling]

We purchased our home with an older pool in October. We spent about $8K on new pump, filter etc....

We were paying a big named pool company to do the maintenance but they made a big mess of the chemistry. We discontinued their chemistry maintenance, purchased our own Taylor test kit and have had beautiful clear pool water ever since. Until today.

The pool pump failed under warranty about 10 days ago. We had managed to keep the pool clear and the color pretty good with the pump off Only a bit hazy by brushing every day, running our dolphin robot a couple of hours a day and keeping the chlorine levels up..

The pool company arrived and replaced the pump parts. Within 20 minutes of their departure, our pool is a delightful shade of green the day before July 4th. I called the office and they said we must have metals in our pool. I called the pool tech on his cell and he said it is from the filter that has been fermenting for the past 10 days. He did not think to flush it before turning the pump back on.

Ok -- please advise what my next steps should be

Current Chemistry

Chlorine - 5.5
CYA - 30 (We have been using liquid chlorine to bring down CYA from 90 after a 2/3 partial drain in December)
Alkalinity - 90
Calcium - 210
PH - 8 (pebble tec pool and PH has been climbing. We have been reluctant to add acid without the pool pump to mix it in.) Ph normally runs 7.4 - 7.6

Should I shock to the CYA level?

 

[Texas Splash]

First, lower the pH to about 7.2 then start a SLAM Process with an FC of "12". Follow that SLAM page and you should see improvements soon.

As for metals, iron specifically, only once a SLAM is complete can you reevaluate to see if there's any truth to a high iron content in your local water. But I suspect algae is your #1 issue right now. Good luck!

 

[Richard320]

First thing is to fix the pH. It could be metals precipitating because of high pH. Lowering pH could send it back into suspension. I wouldn't put it past a "pro" to use copper algaecides. Give it half an hour to clear up.

And then go for the SLAM if it's still greenish.

 

[sdrilling]

I've dropped the PH to 7.2 - 7.3ish.

The pump is on full blast. Water is losing the haze from the pump being off the past 10 days. The pool never got real dirty as I kept it chlorinated to the target level every day, ran the robot a couple of hours each morning and I swam laps in the afternoon for a half hour to keep the water well mixed.

I went ahead and slammed the pool to 12 PPM for the 30 CYA. The water is pretty clear though

So last December we had this whole "thing" with the pool company after they installed the new equipment. The pool was beautiful for a couple of days and then one of their techs decided we had too much metal in the pool. The added like 3 quarts of Metal Klear which turned our pool shocking green. Then they wanted $2,000 to drain and acid wash the pool to make the green go away. That is when we parted company with them for chemistry. We still deal with them for the equipment which is under warranty. It took me about three weeks in January and multiple emails to this forum to get our pool looking good.

The DE filter has not been backflushed since they installed it in October. The gauge never reached NEED Cleaning because I use the robot every single day and I have a very fine skimmer I use.

QUESTION: Is it possible that old Metal Klear Crud came back to life while it was fermenting in the filter system for the past 10 days and that is what has turned the pool green again? I do not think it is algae bloom because the water is very clear. The pool looks like very clear green tea. And by the way, it was BLUE until they repaired the pump at 11:00 AM this morning.

Thanks

Stephanie

 

[Fast7]

If you have Iron in your pool water it might have precipitated due to pH climbing outside normal range, since your pump was off and you didn't add muriatic acid.