Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/-$50

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Re: I thought it was too cold for algae... I was wrong.

We woke up this morning and could see the pattern on the bottom! It's cloudy, but no more green, and sometimes I'm getting zero CC. I'm still getting leaves out as I see them and still testing & adding chlorine every few hours, but it's coming along quite well. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow, things were pretty busy today.

My chemical refills arrived today. Thanks Dave!
 
Re: I thought it was too cold for algae... I was wrong.

I haven't been tracking that very closely, I'd guess I backwash once per day. It normally runs 11PSI, I backwash for 30 seconds when it reaches 13-14. The water runs clear after about 20 seconds. It's a new filter housing with new sand (I know, sand doesn't wear out)

Now that I can see shades on the bottom I started running the Intex filter with the hoses over the side. This gets a good whirlpool going and really helps get the debris on the bottom concentrated into the middle where it's more visible.

Thanks for the encouragement- it helps!
 
Re: I thought it was too cold for algae... I was wrong.

Day 6 (I think?)
It rained last night. FC was at 16 around 8:00 pm, it was 11.5 this morning around 9:30. I dosed it according to the pool calculator to bring it back up to 15 (33oz of 10% liquid). This pic was taken a few minutes ago. Yes, that's the little squares on the bottom of the pool showing in the pic, not just a trick of the camera. Plan is to get a CYA reading and grab an old sock today. The weather is cloudy, so that should help keep chlorine loss down today.

I hope this thread helps someone someday, or at least provides some entertainment or encouragement.

This morning's view from an upstairs window:
4-5-13_zps6e42862b.jpg
 
Re: I thought it was too cold for algae... I was wrong.

Today's update:
This morning's numbers:
FC 13.5
CC: 0 (YAY!)
TC: 13.5
PH: 7
TA: 70
CH: 40
CYA: <20
Added:
14 fluid ounces of 10% chlorine
54 ounces(weight) Soda
I held off on adding Calcium. I have 2 socks dissolving stabilizer, and didn't want too add too much to quickly. I keep going after those 5 or 6 remaining leaves, but they keep escaping. I'm going to have to get in it to get them out of it, I think. That, or I'll vacuum them up once I can backwash again.

Approximate total costs so far:
Liquid chlorine: $51
Stabilizer: $20

Last years water bill increase when we filled the pool:$200. Had I drained & refilled I'd still have had to clean and sanitize the pool.

Is that sparklypoolitis I see on the horizon? It only took 10 days, a little bit of effort, some testing, and 17.5 gallons of chlorine at various concentrations. Also HUGE thanks to everyone here who has helped make this site what it is. As with any site, this is what the admins and the posters make it. I'm by no means an expert, but I'll chime in if I have something to add or an experience to relate.

Today's pic:
IMG_0036_zps16897bed.jpg


Pool album here:
http://s249.photobucket.com/user/buggy_ ... 013?page=1
 
Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

You have a vinyl pool, so there is no need to increase CH. For example, my pool is currently running 30. As to the clarity, you are getting there. It looks nice. Just keep at it, and you'll be there. Also, just be glad you didn't have to listen to the pool store, throwing 50 different (expensive) chemicals at you.
 
Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Great job! :goodjob:
 

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Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

When I came home from work I went out & tested again. I turned off the pump this morning.
FC: 8.5
CC: .5
TC: 9
TA: 110
PH: 7.0
CYA: 40 (I've really been working the sock, I took it out when I got this reading)

Looks like with a bit of aeration, I'll be golden! I put the "bubble wrap" cover on yesterday, the water is starting to get warmer already. Another week or two...

Thanks again to those who put the site together, and those who keep it going. I couldn't have done it without you all.
 
Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Big_Kid,

I have been absent for a few months & finally had a chance to read up on your progress in this thread.
I must say.... SUPER AWESOME!!! stuff bro. :thumleft:
I never get tired of watching people clear up their pools.

Way to show it who's boss!!

I don't think it was mentioned in this thread, but are you aware of the : cost per active CL oz. calculation formula?
It makes it easier to compare different costs using the actual usable chlorine in each bottle, the business end of it that your pool needs.
If you don't have it, I can post it. It's just not handy atm.
 
Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Thanks, Y_not! (BTW Ynot is the name of my favorite pizza place here in Va Beach!)
I do have it on my desktop, thanks. I've used it in the past, but here lately it's been catch as catch can finding bleach. Sam's club doesn't have it anymore, the pool store was out of liquid, etc. I punched in all the pricing at the end of last year, and at $9 for 2.5 gallons of 12% the pool store was the best value. It's all been fairly close in bottom line pricing, but I will be watching what it costs. The pool store came in a bit cheaper than the rest.

In other news, I actually got in it today to vacuum- Fun, until the sun went down. I've never been so glad to vacuum a pool in my life though. The bubble wrap solar cover is helping.

Thanks for the encouragement- I posted this thread as a means to keep track of what I'd done, as a reference for others, as a testimonial to the BBB method & the TF100, and to serve as either a stellar example or a horrible warning. If it's entertaining too, so much the better!
 
Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Congrats on your success!

I just went through the same thing. Over the past 12 or so years, I've only opened up to a green pool twice. This was the second time. Last week I took a peek and saw the water was green. The pool water was green but the spa water was crystal clear. After pulling the loop-lock cover, my water level was about 10" low, so I had to add water before running the pump. The pool water was green enough where you couldn't see the bottom. While filling with water I used the leaf net on a pole to drag the pool bottom, but didn't pull a single leaf out of the pool. There was no debris in it at all.

With the water level finally high enough, I fired up the pump and tossed the pool cleaner (letro legend) in to stir things up. The water was thick enough so you couldn't see the pool cleaner, even when it was at the bottom of the shallow end of the pool, about 3-1/2' down.

I had already ordered some pool stuff a few days earlier (new filter, new VS pump, Taylor test kit, etc), but it hadn't been delivered yet. Locally no one had test kits out, only strips. So I bought strips. Cl was zero. pH was low, TA was low, and CYA was low. No CYA was available locally, so all I added was some baking soda to up the TA and pH. I bought 8 gallons of 12% Cl and went at it. My goal was a FC of about 15, so I added 3 gallons of 12% to start with and let the pump and sidewall cleaner run 24/7.

The next day I got called out of town for 4 days, so I asked my wife to add a gallon of 12% each day for the first three days I'd be gone. I'd rather over-nuke the pool with too much Cl than let the Cl fall and the algae go on for too long. Came home last night and the pool was crystal clear. I was pretty surprised, as I figured I'd come home at best to a cloudy gray pool full of dead algae due to having a cartridge filter and the carts not capturing the dead algae. But the pool was indeed crystal clear and colorless, and the filter pressure had increased about 11 psi, so the carts did a good job. One less thing to worry about.

So 6 gallons of 12%, and a couple of boxes of Arm and Hammer. About $32 total. More chem to follow though.

Today I cleaned the cartridges. My new equipment should arrive in a couple of days, so I'm going to give the pool those few days to mellow out Cl-wise before I do any more testing and balancing. Then comes the task of the new pump and filter install.

Should be fun!

EDIT to add: My water temp was 56 when I opened the pool last week. Today, 58.
 
Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Mongo said:
I had already ordered some pool stuff a few days earlier (new filter, new VS pump, Taylor test kit, etc), but it hadn't been delivered yet. Locally no one had test kits out, only strips. So I bought strips.
Click to expand...
As I'm sure you know, those test strips are, in many ways, worse than guessing. But I understand you do what you gotta do. With that said, it is entirely impossible to "shock" your pool at such high CL levels with anything but the FAS-DPD test. There's just not enough resolution to verify when you're finished shocking.

Mongo said:
Came home last night and the pool was crystal clear. I was pretty surprised, as I figured I'd come home at best to a cloudy gray pool full of dead algae due to having a cartridge filter and the carts not capturing the dead algae. But the pool was indeed crystal clear and colorless, and the filter pressure had increased about 11 psi, so the carts did a good job. One less thing to worry about.
Click to expand...
Does this mean you didn't need to replace your old filter after all?
Congrats on having such a nice sparkly clear pool in such a short amount of time, at minimal expenditure to boot. Bravo!! :thumleft:

Mongo said:
More chem to follow though.
Click to expand...
You're waiting till you get your proper test kit/refills, right?

Mongo said:
Today I cleaned the cartridges. My new equipment should arrive in a couple of days, so I'm going to give the pool those few days to mellow out Cl-wise before I do any more testing and balancing. Then comes the task of the new pump and filter install.
Click to expand...
With all that said, I would highly advise, seeing as you have already dumped all that time & bottles of bleach in there, it would be good to bring it back up to shock level toward evening as the sun goes down and do an OCLT. Make sure you aren't dropping in CL once the sun goes down & before you go to bed, if not, proceed /w the OCLT. Test it before you go to bed, then again just before sunrise with as little light as possible. Compare the two and so long as you loose <1ppm FC, you're good to go.
This makes sure, with 100% certainty, that you eliminated all organics in your pool. Lest they return from a tiny bit missed and at minimum, eat CL faster than normal as a result of still being present over the course of your swim season.

As you may know when it comes to shocking your pool, that last little bit where the water appears completely clear, can be rather deceiving. It can sometimes take longer than the 1st part did, to where it stops consuming CL, in an OCLT that is. At least it can seemingly take an eternity. HAHA
 
Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

As I'm sure you know, those test strips are, in many ways, worse than guessing. But I understand you do what you gotta do. With that said, it is entirely impossible to "shock" your pool at such high CL levels with anything but the FAS-DPD test. There's just not enough resolution to verify when you're finished shocking.

Understood. I needed to ballpark the initial water quality (or lack thereof :-D ) and the strips were all that was available. I didn't use the strips to establish a level of chlorine for shocking though, I initially used the pool chem calculator. Example: I have zero CL, I want 15. How much to add? I erred on the side of being too high for too long though. Kill the algae....kill...the...algae...killllll... :grrrr:

Does this mean you didn't need to replace your old filter after all?

I didn't have to replace my filter, it does work okay. But my cartridge filter was due for a new set of carts, so I figured it'd be good time to upgrade the entire filter itself, which I had been wanting to do for a few years. I've only had an algae bloom once before, and that time the filter cartridges were brand new and would not filter out the dead algae. I can't vacuum to waste. So I added a bit of DE through the skimmer to coat the C&C 240 pleated cartridges, just enough to bump the filter psi by a few pounds. The DE-coated cartridges then did filter out the dead algae. I figured I'd have to do that again this time, but the cartridges I put into the filter were a spare set, a few years old. The filter media was garbaged up enough so they actually filtered out the dead algae. That was my "pleasant surprise." Old cartridges to the rescue!

You're waiting till you get your proper test kit/refills, right? It's all done now, but yes. I waited for the reagent kit before I went to work on getting the water "right". Which it now is.

Make sure you aren't dropping in CL once the sun goes down & before you go to bed, if not, proceed /w the OCLT. Test it before you go to bed, then again just before sunrise with as little light as possible. Compare the two and so long as you loose <1ppm FC, you're good to go.
This makes sure, with 100% certainty, that you eliminated all organics in your pool. Lest they return from a tiny bit missed and at minimum, eat CL faster than normal as a result of still being present over the course of your swim season.
That's where I ended up, and that's exactly how I did it. Initially, before the Taylor kit was delivered, I kept the chlorine way high for several days, I brushed the pool daily, I left the sidewall cleaner in to run around and stir things up, and left the pump running 24/7 for about a week. When the pool was clear I cleaned the filters and dosed one more time with Cl2. Then I let the FC slowly bleed down to normal levels, which took a few more days. Then I did just as you wrote, I tested to see how much was being consumed per night. All is well!

The water is still chilly, in the low 60s, but I've been swimming laps. Been firing up the spa too. I do like my pool.
:cheers:
 

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