Pool won't clear no matter what. Tired of fighting with it.

[cwswifty]

Looks like you have a ways to go to be TFP Clear.
How Clear is TFP Clear?

 

[PoolStored]

If this is an after picture, then you should continue to slam.

Slam is done (clear pool) when the pool water looks like these pictures. Link-->How Clear is TFP Clear?

 

[brettbandlow]

Continuing to slam. That picture was from a few days ago. It really is clearer in person but not crystal clear like in the tfp photos. Thanks for the advice.

 

[brettbandlow]

Been monitoring the pool. I continued to slam until last night. Passed an oclt test. Pool is pretty darn clear. Here are my current numbers from 11 am this morning. It is 99 degrees and sunny here. Pool gets full sun.

FC: 10
CC: .5
PH: 7
TA: 220
CH: 160
CYA: 30

Pool math tells me to add 15lbs of borax to achieve 7.8 on PH. I know I want to start slow by maybe doing two-thirds of that at first. I'm I ready for that? Thanks.

 

[Mdragger88]

Been monitoring the pool. I continued to slam until last night. Passed an oclt test. Pool is pretty darn clear. Here are my current numbers from 11 am this morning. It is 99 degrees and sunny here. Pool gets full sun.

FC: 10
CC: .5
PH: 7
TA: 220
CH: 160
CYA: 30

Pool math tells me to add 15lbs of borax to achieve 7.8 on PH. I know I want to start slow by maybe doing two-thirds of that at first. I'm I ready for that? Thanks.

Your ph will rise on its own as your ta is 220.
Point your jets up to help it along & go swimming & splashing!
You don’t need to add anything

 

[proavia]

"Pretty darn clear" means you probably aren't quite done with the SLAM Process.
How Clear is TFP Clear?

With a TA of 220, your pH of 7.0 will rise on its own. No need to add any chemicals to addrrss it.

 

[brettbandlow]

"Pretty darn clear" means you probably aren't quite done with the SLAM Process.
How Clear is TFP Clear?

With a TA of 220, your pH of 7.0 will rise on its own. No need to add any chemicals to addrrss it.

I do notice my fc drops pretty rapidly. It will hold overnight but can drop 3-6ppm within 3 hours after the sun comes up. Is that normal?

 

[proavia]

I do notice my fc drops pretty rapidly. It will hold overnight but can drop 3-6ppm within 3 hours after the sun comes up. Is that normal?

No
Double check for algae hiding around lights, ladders/steps, skimmer doors, etc.

3-4 ppm FC loss over the course of the entire day is pretty normal.

 

[cwswifty]

I do notice my fc drops pretty rapidly. It will hold overnight but can drop 3-6ppm within 3 hours after the sun comes up. Is that normal?

What you're describing is UV degradation of chlorine. How sure are you about your CYA level being 30 ppm? If it really is 30 that is pretty low. But if it is possibly less than 30, even worse.

 

[dereksanders]

Glad it all worked out for you.

 

[brettbandlow]

What you're describing is UV degradation of chlorine. How sure are you about your CYA level being 30 ppm? If it really is 30 that is pretty low. But if it is possibly less than 30, even worse.

Sorry I'm just now seeing this. My cya started a little closer to 40. It is now closer to 30 using the Taylor test kit. I am still slamming. I haven't been able to do it as often this week as I've been busy at work but I'm slamming first thing in the morning, checking before I leave for work, then when I get home, and again before i go to bed.

This morning for instance, I brought my fc up to 16. Lost about 3ppm overnight. That is about average overnight loss for me. I put chlorine in before work. I was gone about 10 hrs and checked this evening when I got home and my fc was down to 3ppm. The water has a ever so slight white haze to it. Definitely not tfp clear. I would say I'm averaging about 2 gallons of chlorine a day almost. FC Levels seem to drop pretty quickly. This past week I'm brushing about every other day. No visible algae anywhere. I always scrub ladder and behind ladder etc. PH been holding about 7. Any tips?

 

[PoolStored]

You will have a long road to clear this pool, if you can only test and replace 3x per day. Do you have anyone that can test and replace during the day?

The weekend is also a great time to get ahead. If you can test and replace every 2 hours, you can get ahead of this...

 

[brettbandlow]

You will have a long road to clear this pool, if you can only test and replace 3x per day. Do you have anyone that can test and replace during the day?

The weekend is also a great time to get ahead. If you can test and replace every 2 hours, you can get ahead of this...

I will just have to find a way. I will be off 5 days over the 4th of July holiday. Just seems like a lot of time and chlorine. Still can't believe the pool is this much work

 

[proavia]

I will just have to find a way. I will be off 5 days over the 4th of July holiday. Just seems like a lot of time and chlorine. Still can't believe the pool is this much work

It took a while to get bad, it will take a while to clear it.
After you successfully complete the SLAM Process, the workload is minimal.
When I was using liquid chlorine, the time involved to maintain my pool was about 3-5 minutes per day and an extra 20-30 minutes one day a week to brush and other minor pool maintenance. And that was during swim season. In the off season the time involved is a lot less. Haven't had even a hint of algae since adopting the TFP methods.

 

[brettbandlow]

Feels like I'm going backwards now. I'm losing 6ppm or more overnight. Every time I test I'm adding 3 or more quarts of chlorine. I'm over 35 gallons of chlorine in the last 3 weeks. I've depleted my local Walmart out of liquid chlorine and were not even to the 4th of July yet. I've got to find a new source as they told me they won't be stocking anymore . I get my fc up to 16 and next time I test it can be anywhere from 8-10. I'll ride it out here but it certainly doesn't seem like I have a trouble free pool anytime this season. Swim season is about half way over for us.

I'm going to test every two hours for the next week as I have some time off coming up. It's just hard to do unless you work from home which I do not. The method makes sense and my pool is a lot clearer, but I sure do spend a lot of time fooling with this thing.

 

[Mdragger88]

Call around to pool stores & see if they carry bulk liquid chlorine. (Refillable jugs)
Its often fresher & cheaper than other places.
Other good spots are atwoods, menards, ace hardware, rural king - not sure what you have.
Lastly Home Depot & lowes although they tend to be more expensive and keep their supply in the heat.

Did you do a true oclt last night (testing after your last addition?)
Have you yanked your steps & cleaned them inside & out? Check the weights too.

 

[dereksanders]

The ladder is what nailed me. Once I took it out and apart it revealed itself to be the demon spawn of algae. Just taking it out started the path of good chlorine readings.

 

[brettbandlow]

Did you do a true oclt last night (testing after your last addition?)
Have you yanked your steps & cleaned them inside & out? Check the weights too.

No I didn't do a true oclt test. I've just tested it enough over the last 3 weeks to know it's not holding. The first week it did better. Losing more and more now. I'll pull the steps tmw and see if maybe that could be the culprit. I always scrub them but just maybe there could be algae on them.

 

[brettbandlow]

The ladder is what nailed me. Once I took it out and apart it revealed itself to be the demon spawn of algae. Just taking it out started the path of good chlorine readings.

Thanks for that. I'll give it a shot.

 

[Mdragger88]

No I didn't do a true oclt test. I've just tested it enough over the last 3 weeks to know it's not holding. The first week it did better. Losing more and more now.

Just thinking, Maybe your addition didn’t actually reach your target

I'll pull the steps tmw and see if maybe that could be the culprit. I always scrub them but just maybe there could be algae on them.

Not on them - IN them