Post Closing What went wrong

[rthompson10]

living in an HOA with 50k gallon pool in Northeast as pool now closed. My buddy and I are the volunteer pool guys- keeping an eye on the pool in between pool company visits once a week. The last month before closing we had algae- pink and brown on walls. Pool company didn't really treat the algae. We were using a FC test kit keeping our range in the 2-4 range. Once every 2 weeks we would take to Leslies and have them do a water test. We worked at the end to get our CYA down as it was high. Given our FC was in the "range", how do we prevent this next year? I'm assuming upon opening we will have to treat the algae
Thx RT

 

[ajw22]

How is the pool chlorinated?

What chemicals are used in the pool?

In PA does your HOA pool fall under commercial pool regulations or considered a residential pool?

Post pictures of the pool equipment.

@JPMorgan does the same for his HOA/Condo pools. You may want to read his threads and see the learning curve he has gone though.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Lake Placid]

Your FC was likely too low relative to your CYA level. What did the CYA measure out at? Unfortunately if you fall under health codes limiting your FC level, then you must keep your CYA low for the chlorine to be effective. ETA: If you fall under health codes that dictate a set FC level, then you likely will have a set threshold for an upper limit of CYA in the same regs.

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

First step in taking control of the pool is to get a reliable test kit and test the water yourself. Leslies testing is notoriously inaccurate.

Pool Test Kits - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Allen beat me to the other questions.

 

[JPMorgan]

Happy to help in any way that I can. I am in the same position at our HOA. I do most of the regular daily maintenance and a pool company comes weekly. If you are using trichlor tabs (those white pucks) to chlorinate the pool, your cyanuric acid (CYA) is likely way too high. When I came here 3 years ago in the fall of 2021, they had that type of set up and there were significant problems with algae. I tested the CYA and it was 180 ppm.... that's at least three times what it should be.... and well over the regulated limit of 100 ppm. Shame on the pool company that allowed that to happen. I struggled with them for a couple years (while I gained the confidence of the HOA) and was eventually able to get them fired and replaced.

We drain and fill our pool every year, so in 2022 I committed to dosing the pool daily with liquid chlorine to eliminate the CYA issue. I did that for 2 years and residents really noticed the difference. I then advocated for installing a liquid chlorine feeder and we got that done this year. I informed the HOA that either they install the liquid chlorine feeder or plan on dumping half of the pool water 2-3 times over the summer months... and they approved the new equipment.

The questions and comments posted above are all relevant to your situation. Get a reliable test kit. Learn how to test the pool yourself (don't rely on Leslie's). People here can help with that. Once you test, post all your levels... FC, pH TA, CH and CYA. CYA is going to be important to your situation, as my guess is you are using tri-chlor tabs and it will be way out of range after a season of use. If it is very high, you probably need to drain and refill and start over with a different approach to chlorinating..... or plan to drain the pool partially at least a couple times during the season. In Illinois the CYA is not supposed to exceed 100 ppm and that is very high. The FC is also not supposed to go above 5, so I aim for 30-40 ppm CYA and 3-4 ppm FC. The chlorine feeder keeps the FC pretty steady, but sometime the controller needs a little tweaking or I will add some manually, but...... that's a vast improvement over having to run to the pool every day to add that chlorine manually.

Google "swimming facility regulations in PA" and read the code, so you know what the requirements are for swimming pools in your state.

Lots of help on this site if you have the ambition to learn!

 

[JPMorgan]

Here is a link to the Code requirements for a "Public bathing place" in PA...

28 Pa. Code Chapter 18. Public Swimming And Bathing Places

Information included at this site has been derived directly from the Pennsylvania Code, the Commonwealth's official publication of rules and regulations and from the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Commonwealth's official gazette for information and rulemaking

www.pacodeandbulletin.gov

This is how they define a public bathing place in the Code. (It appears that your HOA pool comes under this definition.)

Public bathing place—An outdoor or indoor place used for amateur, professional or recreative swimming or bathing whether or not a fee is charged for admission or for the use of the place, exclusive of a bathing place at a private, single-family residence which is used solely by the owner of the residence, his family and their personal guests.

....and here are the requirements for disinfection of pool water.

§ 18.29. Disinfection of pool water.​

(a) When chlorine or a hypochlorite compound is used for disinfection, the free chlorine residual in the water in all parts of the pool when in use shall be at least 0.4 milligram per liter and the pH value of the water shall be at least 7.2 and not more than 8.2.

(b) Other disinfecting materials or methods may be used after approval by the Department when they have been adequately demonstrated to:

(1) Provide a satisfactory residual effect which is easily measured.

(2) Work as effectively as the chlorine concentrations required by subsection (a).

(3) Create no danger to public health, create no objectionable physiological effects, or impart no toxic properties to the water.

(c) Testing kits shall be provided for making the necessary tests for residual disinfection and pH. The kit for disinfectant residual shall be accurate within 0.1 milligram per liter of chlorine or equivalent. The pH kit shall be accurate within 0.2 pH units. When the pool is in use tests shall be made at least twice daily or more often if required by the Department.

These regulations seem pretty flexible. I didn't see anything that places a limit on CYA or FC levels, so you should be able to maintain the pool at what TFP considers ideal FC/CYA ratios. However, if you are using tri-chlor tabs it is going to be difficult to keep CYA in check as the season progresses and you are going to need to backwash frequently and/or partially drain the pool periodically in order to eliminate the CYA that the trichlor tabs will be adding to your pool regularly.

 

[JPMorgan]

We worked at the end to get our CYA down as it was high. Given our FC was in the "range", how do we prevent this next year?

What did you get the CYA level down to... and how did you get it down? Your FC being "in range" is dependent on your CYA level. If your CYA is at, say 50 ppm, at 4 ppm FC you are at the low end of the recommended range. At 50 ppm CYA, you would want to shoot for 6 ppm FC and not go below 4 ppm.

 

[Lake Placid]

Here is a link to the Code requirements for a "Public bathing place" in PA...

28 Pa. Code Chapter 18. Public Swimming And Bathing Places

Information included at this site has been derived directly from the Pennsylvania Code, the Commonwealth's official publication of rules and regulations and from the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Commonwealth's official gazette for information and rulemaking

www.pacodeandbulletin.gov

This is how they define a public bathing place in the Code. (It appears that your HOA pool comes under this definition.)

Public bathing place—An outdoor or indoor place used for amateur, professional or recreative swimming or bathing whether or not a fee is charged for admission or for the use of the place, exclusive of a bathing place at a private, single-family residence which is used solely by the owner of the residence, his family and their personal guests.

....and here are the requirements for disinfection of pool water.

§ 18.29. Disinfection of pool water.​

(a) When chlorine or a hypochlorite compound is used for disinfection, the free chlorine residual in the water in all parts of the pool when in use shall be at least 0.4 milligram per liter and the pH value of the water shall be at least 7.2 and not more than 8.2.

(b) Other disinfecting materials or methods may be used after approval by the Department when they have been adequately demonstrated to:

(1) Provide a satisfactory residual effect which is easily measured.

(2) Work as effectively as the chlorine concentrations required by subsection (a).

(3) Create no danger to public health, create no objectionable physiological effects, or impart no toxic properties to the water.

(c) Testing kits shall be provided for making the necessary tests for residual disinfection and pH. The kit for disinfectant residual shall be accurate within 0.1 milligram per liter of chlorine or equivalent. The pH kit shall be accurate within 0.2 pH units. When the pool is in use tests shall be made at least twice daily or more often if required by the Department.

These regulations seem pretty flexible. I didn't see anything that places a limit on CYA or FC levels, so you should be able to maintain the pool at what TFP considers ideal FC/CYA ratios. However, if you are using tri-chlor tabs it is going to be difficult to keep CYA in check as the season progresses and you are going to need to backwash frequently and/or partially drain the pool periodically in order to eliminate the CYA that the trichlor tabs will be adding to your pool regularly.

I suspect OP needs to lookup the County Health Code they are in for more specific requirements. Allegheny County for instance mandates no less than 1 ppm FC and no more than 5 ppm FC in public bathing facilities.

 

[JPMorgan]

I suspect OP needs to lookup the County Health Code they are in for more specific requirements. Allegheny County for instance mandates no less than 1 ppm FC and no more than 5 ppm FC in public bathing facilities.

Those parameters are very similar to what is mandated in Illinois. .5 ppm is the minimum and 5 ppm is the maximum.