Swamp Fever

[JJ_Tex]

Yes, please no more CYA. At a CYA of 60, your SLAM FC is 28

 

[jerseyrails]

I had to backwash and recharge the filter for a third time this week. Did my tests early this afternoon, going to do it again later this evening.

 

[jerseyrails]

So due to circumstances I only tested this morning and this evening. I had to backwash and recharge the filter again today, and judging by the waterflow right now (3450RPM, 30PSI) I suspect I'll need to do it again tomorrow. Not sure where I will end up with this, it feels like I've been cleaning this pool forever. I don't understand how the CYA went up, I haven't added any. since you guys told me not to. Here's where my chemistry stands right now. There's a chlorine floater in the pool, and three tablets in one of the skimmers as well. I have a saltwater pool, but as the salinity is so low and I'm still dealing with the swamp, I haven't put any salt in it or turned on the SWG. Will doing this help, or should I wait until I have the water clearer? My local Lowe's doesn't have pool salt in stock, so I'll need to order it. A lot of it.

 

[mknauss]

You are making your situation worse by adding more CYA via the tablets.

You will struggle with this until you follow the process.

 

[jerseyrails]

So I need to pull the tablets, I wasn't aware the tablets were adding CYA.

 

[Flying Tivo]

Now that you have the Poolmath app, you can see under Effects of adding and select whatever kind of tablet you have and foresee what changes will happen. I dont have a DE filter, but if you remove the grids and close it back up, you essentially are recirculating until you kill most of your algae.

 

[jerseyrails]

Now that you have the Poolmath app, you can see under Effects of adding and select whatever kind of tablet you have and foresee what changes will happen. I dont have a DE filter, but if you remove the grids and close it back up, you essentially are recirculating until you kill most of your algae.

I need the filter to remove the dead algae. I already disassembled the filter once, if I need to do it again, it's no problem. I've gone through 36lbs of DE so far, and now that I have my pump running at high-speed overnight, I expect I'll see better results in the morning.

 

[Flying Tivo]

The only disadvantage of DE is that it clogs very fast during a slam, and if you are not able to attend to it when pressure rises 25% of clean pressure then you risk high pressure and damage to equipment. That is why i suggested to keep it en recirculate while you kill stuff and when you have the time go to filter because it will clog very fast.

 

[jerseyrails]

Should I add the salt ASAP? Or keep going with just the liquid?

 

[JJ_Tex]

Just do liquid chlorine. Save the salt and your salt water chlorine generator until after the SLAM.

If you are getting frustrated with the backwashing, do you have a Recirculate setting on your multi valve? Try using that. It will bypass the filter and obviously keep it from filtering, but that way you can better control the days when you backwash. When you have the time to backwash, switch it to filter the day prior so it can do its thing and be ready to backwash.

I understand you are busy, so this will hopefully free up some time on your busy days and focus on the #1 pool item right now which is maintaining your chlorine levels to kill stuff.

 

[jerseyrails]

Now that you have the Poolmath app, you can see under Effects of adding and select whatever kind of tablet you have and foresee what changes will happen. I dont have a DE filter, but if you remove the grids and close it back up, you essentially are recirculating until you kill most of your algae.

I need the filter to remove the dead algae. I already disassembled the filter once, if I need to do it again, it's no problem. I've gone through 36lbs of DE so far, and now that I have my ppump running at high-speed overnight, I expect I'll see better results in the morning.

 

[mknauss]

You have a VS pump. There is no need to run it at a high speed during a SLAM. If 1500 rpm is sufficient to skim the surface, then that is enough circulation. Filtering is more efficient at lower flow rates.

 

[jerseyrails]

So I think my TA is off; I did the test twice and never got the red I usually get, just orangeish. Pulled the chlorine pucks, and switched the filter to recirculate. I backwashed and rinsed it first, and I'm adding fresh water now.

 

[DoubleEcho]

Jerseyrails, I was in almost your exact situation last year. Bought a house with a pool that was negelcted for years. Hired a pool guy to come out, he dumped in chlorine and algaecide at the same time (which is a waste) and told me to run the pump. When this obviously didn't work, I went to a pool store and got chemicals. Then I found the TFP forums and unfortunately didn't buy the test kit until about a week after posting. Then I took a co-worker's advice on some more magic chemicals to throw in, which Marty told me was a bad idea (sure was!)

The only thing that got that pool from green to clean was a SLAM. Just keeping that chlorine up and running that pump 24/7. I had a cartridge filter and I was cleaning cartridges every 12 hours for weeks. I know your said your wife thinks the kit was a bad idea, have her read my post from last year and show her what it did for me. And I know things seem frustrating now.....however, once you start to see that bottom in the shallow area you'll get a boost of confidence, you'll realize that this IS working. And once you see the bottom of the deep end, that feeling of accomplishment is indescribable.

Just keeping SLAMing! Don't give up. Add nothing more to that pool but chlorine, run the pump on circulate and you WILL see results.

 

[aeh0603]

So I think my TA is off; I did the test twice and never got the red I usually get, just orangeish. Pulled the chlorine pucks, and switched the filter to recirculate. I backwashed and rinsed it first, and I'm adding fresh water now.

View attachment 133810

I'm not sure if you are testing all these parameters each time, but if so, there is no need to test anything but FC and sometimes CC during the SLAM process so you can save some of your reagents. When your pool is clear and you pass SLAM, you can go back to maintenance testing of everything.

pH - this test is invalid with FC above 10 (reads false high).
TA - I believe the color difference you saw with the TA test is also due to the high FC so your results are likely not valid.
CH - you have a vinyl liner so CH is not needed. Very high values can still cause scale, but yours is low so checking every couple months is sufficient.
CYA - this will not change much unless you add more or drain a lot of water from your pool.
Salt - no need to test until you pass your SLAM and are ready to get your SWCG running. Most SWCGs won't generate chlorine at 54F anyway.

 

[mknauss]

Total Alkalinity

A drop-based test used to measure the alkalinity in water. Alkalinity helps serve as a … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

At high FC levels the TA test changes.

 

[jerseyrails]

Tonights tes t was good, FC of 24.5, app says it should be 24.

 

[duraleigh]

I am not aware that high FC has any affect on the TA test.

 

[wogster]

I am not aware that high FC has any affect on the TA test.

It changes the colour, instead of green/red you get blue/yellow. Increasing the CR007 from say 2 drops to 5 drops, will counteract this to some degree.....

 

[duraleigh]

I had forgotten that. That said, the results are still perfectly valid.