TFTestkit finally in! Results posted, SLAM needed.

[Fast7]

Yes, it's highly possible that heavy rain and wind dumped a lot of leaves into your pool as it seems to be surrounded by trees.
Elevated CC also indicates chlorine is oxidizing new organics in water.

 

[Lemonred34]

19 days. With any luck I’ll be done by closing time to avoid this in the future. I’m not giving up but I no longer have the expectation to swim this summer. Pool maintenance (brushing, shocking, vacuuming, testing) has become a part of the daily routine on days I’m off. Unless my electric bill is astronomical, I’ll continue on. I’ve checked filter so no issues there. FC still holding most of the time except for those 5-6 hours pool is in direct sunlight. Still lose very little there. Here’s a pic as of this am. Still making progress, no matter how small.

 

[Lemonred34]

And somehow after uploading the picture it is much “duller/murkier” than the original. Don’t know what happened there. Took a screen shot of this photo and did a side by side of the original and the original looks much better ? I promise. But I can see the return jet this am!

 

[Fast7]

It shouldn’t take this long. Double check your CYA on a sunny day as outlined in extended test instructions. Maybe you’re not hitting your SLAM target for your CYA.
Usually it takes only a few days to turn into blue cloudy stage.

 

[Lemonred34]

Thabks

It shouldn’t take this long. Double check your CYA on a sunny day as outlined in extended test instructions. Maybe you’re not hitting your SLAM target for your CYA.
Usually it takes only a few days to turn into blue cloudy stage.

Thanks! I’ll check the extended instructions. I checked it today due to the frequent backwashing and heavy rains over the week. But will read up on that and recheck tomorrow.

 

[Lemonred34]

I did read that when the test, done correctly, could be plus or minus 15. Would it be beneficial to assume my CYA is 50 instead of “35” (I rounded to 40) for a few days to see if that helps any? I’m ok with wasting bleach at this point.

 

[Fast7]

What FC level are you targeting currently while under SLAM? Are you keeping your pump running 24 hours a day?

 

[Lemonred34]

16. And yes. 24/7 since May 13th (note, didn’t start true slam on this day) well, aside from one time my electricity went off in the middle of the night. Pump was off for no more than 6 hours.

 

[Lemonred34]

Friday to today. 3 weeks total today! Getting there.

 

[Fast7]

That looks much better. You are on the right track.

 

[Lemonred34]

Just an update- pool is now at the “clear enough to see debris at the bottom” stage. Sticking leaf eater in shortly!

 

[Fast7]

Great news! It should speed up your process once you get all that debris clean out. You will be able to reclaim your pool soon.

 

[Lemonred34]

Been almost a week since my last update. No significant change in water clarity. I’ve read the article about adding DE to sand filter through skimmer. I have an over the wall skimmer so I don’t know if that will work? I could get a 60cc catheter tip syringe to inject closer to actual skimmer line. The article mentioned mixing the DE in a bucket of water. Didn’t mention how much water to use. A 5 gallon bucket? ?that’s going to be a lot of injecting.

Any tips at this point? Or just let my “doo doo” filter do it’s thing. That’s what I’ve been referring to it as

 

[Fast7]

Did you read this guide?
Add DE to a Sand Filter
Your thru the wall skimmer should have a cap on top of it that you remove to get access to your skimmer basket. Remove the cap and with pump running slowly pour mixture of DE & water as outlined in the link above.
Make sure to note filter pressure before you add any DE. Amount of water to mix with DE is not really important. Just get it mixed so you don't breath it in.

 

[Lemonred34]

I have one of these. Didn’t want to risk getting DE in the pool. Don’t really know how likely that is.... but I assume a good possibility.

 

[Fast7]

It should be doable. Pour slowly mixture of DE & water directly into your skimmer basket. It should get sucked in. Just go slowly.

 

[Lemonred34]

Sounds good! Thanks!

 

[Lemonred34]

Just an update: 5 weeks of SLAM. Pool is still cloudy blue BUT it does show improvement every other day/ 3rd day so my “doo doo” filter is doing something ?

Put the kids (13 & 14) in it today and had them “diving” organics. You can very faintly make out the liner detail at bottom of the pool and also “see” your feet, not clearly but at least a flesh colored blob. 5 sticks and a pine cone with a few leaves/pine straw. No slimy feeling at the bottom of the pool or sides. No longer getting a cloud of brown from dead algae being brushed. Backwash when needed which has slowed to about every other day/day and a half. Still brown dead algae coming out. All and all I’m happy with the progress that my poor little 12in 50lb sand filter has been able to do. I don’t have the equipment to vacuum to waste, yes I have a waste option but the vacuum and hose itself. I’ve been using an automatic. Suspect that has slowed the progress down a bit as well. No big deal. (To me anyway)

My mother complemented my hard work today and how far the pool has come. She’s also the one who told me “well it doesn’t look like you’re getting anywhere with your method maybe you should take a sample to the pool store” I didn’t listen to that advice.

At least we can swim! 98 degrees here today. Thanks for the continued guidance!

 

[Fast7]

I'm glad to see you making progress and I commend your patience.
That's have to be the longest SLAM ever!
Good job on getting all the organics out.
Did you ended up adding DE to your filter?
How much FC are you loosing a day on average?

 

[Lemonred34]

its ranging about 4-5ppm. But we’ve had heavy winds/rain this week which always dumps some organics in the pool. I’ve been pretty delligent skimming them out and not letting it sink to the bottom. All that pinestraw and more sticks! But I tested my CYA yesterday and it’s showing 20, which is a little confusing for me because I KNOW I haven’t replaced half my pool water in the last month. So I plan to add some more this weekend. No CC for at least 10 days except of course after a heavy rain etc. but will go back to 0 by the next test after getting the debris out. I think I read an old comment to another thread about surface debris not really affecting your FC etc but that does not hold true to my pool from what I’ve experienced.

Haven’t added the DE yet. Have an air leak somewhere in my skimmer line and it doesn’t seem to be suctioning much if at all so figured that was a lost cause. My dad is coming by Monday to help fix that. I’m pretty illiterate when it comes to pumps and plumbing, even after reading article after article. ?

This has been a learning experience for sure! But I can brag about how Far my pool has come by using bleach only. So that’s pretty cool.

Also, I’m pretty sure my patience is largely due to the fact that we wouldn’t have had many swim days anyway in June due to my work schedule ? July may be a totally different story since I’ll be back to my 3 days a week work schedule instead of my 60-70 hour work weeks.