Help....I found TFP at the end of last season. I was fighting a green pool & ended up not covering it for the winter. It’s pretty green now & I know I have a lot of work to do on it. Where do I start? It’s a 15 x 30 unground liner, sport bottom with stairs on 1 end. I think it’s 15,000 gallons. I didn’t know if I should drain & refill before I test it. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks!
Uncovered all winter in south central PA
- Thread starter Mlquattro
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 59,490
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Welcome back. Did you follow through with the recommendations last fall from Pat?
From that thread, it appears you have a TF100 test kit. Do a set of tests and post them up. How did you store the test kit over winter? Did you get a set of fresh reagents this spring?
You have a vinyl liner pool, so draining is not an option. You can do small amounts, but not a complete drain. Run your water chemistry tests first.
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
From that thread, it appears you have a TF100 test kit. Do a set of tests and post them up. How did you store the test kit over winter? Did you get a set of fresh reagents this spring?
You have a vinyl liner pool, so draining is not an option. You can do small amounts, but not a complete drain. Run your water chemistry tests first.
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Hey, I am not too far from you! We also left our pool uncovered over the winter. Let's just call that an experiment that will not be repeated....
Anyway, I'll tell you what we did to get started with clearing it out.
1. Run your tests. Pay attention to CYA. Ours was down to 0. Start working on your water chemistry as per the @mknauss post above.
2. Started with the pool leaf rake. This is essential. Use it to clear all the gunk of the bottom.
3. Once you've got the leaves out and you've started with the chemistry you will likely have algae dropping on the pool floor. We had really high water levels because of the all the rain, so I was able to vacuum a lot of this to waste - to the point where I got the water level to the midway line of the skimmer.
4. From here, it's a matter of being patient and keeping your chlorine at a level that it will always be killing the algae (see your CYA/chlorine chart Chlorine / CYA Chart - Trouble Free Pool).
5. Keep vacuuming and keep brushing. You want that algae running through your filter, not sitting on the floor/walls of the pool.
That's about the stage I'm at now. I'm pretty sure I'll have it cleared up by Memorial Day (with some patience. Good thing it is cold an no one is even thinking about swimming).
Good luck!
Anyway, I'll tell you what we did to get started with clearing it out.
1. Run your tests. Pay attention to CYA. Ours was down to 0. Start working on your water chemistry as per the @mknauss post above.
2. Started with the pool leaf rake. This is essential. Use it to clear all the gunk of the bottom.
3. Once you've got the leaves out and you've started with the chemistry you will likely have algae dropping on the pool floor. We had really high water levels because of the all the rain, so I was able to vacuum a lot of this to waste - to the point where I got the water level to the midway line of the skimmer.
4. From here, it's a matter of being patient and keeping your chlorine at a level that it will always be killing the algae (see your CYA/chlorine chart Chlorine / CYA Chart - Trouble Free Pool).
5. Keep vacuuming and keep brushing. You want that algae running through your filter, not sitting on the floor/walls of the pool.
That's about the stage I'm at now. I'm pretty sure I'll have it cleared up by Memorial Day (with some patience. Good thing it is cold an no one is even thinking about swimming).
Good luck!
IMO it will be far cheaper to drain it down so 12” of water covers the shallow end. Get out every lead left in the remaining water, refill and then begin to balance then chlorinate it.
Thanks for your replies. I am working from my mom’s kit which is new, but I forgot to get her CYA tube so I don’t have that reading. My readings are as follows: from the basic kit, CL is .5; Br is 1; Ph is 6.8. From the rest of the kit, FC= 1.5; CC=1.5; TC=3; CH=75; TA=60. I put 8 gallons of bleach in yesterday when we started it, then I put 6 more gallons in this morning at 10. I tested it this evening at 7. And backwashed 2 times yesterday & once this morning. Plus lots of brushing. I intended to vacuum this evening but we had a thunder storm. The color from yesterday was green swampy and this evening is cloudy turquoise.I can’t seem to find my way around the forum to see what I posted last fall. What should I do next? Thanks so much for your help.
Attachments
- May 3, 2014
- 59,490
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Adding bleach blindly without a CYA number is not getting you anywhere.
Read SLAM Process.
If your CYA is zero when you test, let us know.
Read SLAM Process.
If your CYA is zero when you test, let us know.