Tips while waiting for new test supplies-Green Pool!

[TCpoolnoob]

I've had my inground, gunite pool for 5 years now. Other that the first month or two before I found TFP it's been an easy process to keep it sparkling clean using liquid chlorine.

BUT 2020 has not been kind to my pool. We started out with a very large pollen load from the surrounding trees, worst I've seen it since I've lived here. The pollen left a mustard yellow dust layer on everything and seemed to come and go over a few weeks. Much of that pollen ended up in the pool.

The pollen clouded the water and settled to the bottom. The sand filter didn't seem to filter it out. I mainly vacuumed it out to waste due to this issue. But at some point, I felt I was no longer addressing pollen but now had dead algae in the pool as well.

I've run out of 0871 as the bottle cracked.

I tried to check my CYA level but the water is so cloudy that it is well over 100 on the scale. This lead me to drain roughly 1/3rd of the pool and refill a couple of days ago. Initially this looked to help the problem but the pool has quickly turned green with more dead brown algae on bottom of the pool. Current attempt at CYA test reveals similar results still.

As a last ditch effort to keep it from getting worse, I added 3 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine which should have raised my level by 12 according to pool math. The taylor kit read well over 5 so I know I've got at least 17 but no way to verify the level or detect a drop until the new test kit arrives.

FC Above 17 but unknown
CYA Well above 100 if the test is accurate with cloudy water.
PH 7.2 Tested prior to adding 3 gallons of chlorine.
TA no test
CH no test
I know I need to complete the slam process but without the test kit, I'm just blindly adding chlorine.

Do I just tread water by adding bleach daily until the kit arrives or is there a better way?

 

[mknauss]

While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.

 

[TCpoolnoob]

Thanks, I'm so mad I let this happen and was unprepared. Hopefully, I'll get it turned around fairly quickly!

 

[IceShadow]

The CYA test - do a diluted test. You could exchange water while waiting too.

 

[TCpoolnoob]

Thanks, I didn't know that was an option. I just searched the forum for diluted CYA test. Looks pretty straight forward!

 

[TCpoolnoob]

Just updating because I hate finding these old threads with no conclusion for the reader.

I received my test kit, slammed the pool and approx 4 days later I had crystal clear water again.

I also want to pass along another warning that I often see ignored. Don't use those Tri-Chlor pucks!

I bought a bucket of them last year just to throw in the floater to make sure the chlorine didn't drop too low while I was away. That became a bad habit and I used pretty much the whole bucket last year. This year I bought a new bucket from Costco and had used approx 1/4 of the bucket.

I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyways. Now sure enough, my CYA levels are still reading 100. This is the reading after I've already drained and refilled approx 1/3rd of the pool recently.

I have at least 1 more significant drain and refill in my future to get control of the CYA.

Those pucks don't look quite as convenient to me as they used to.