What a weekend...32 bottles of bleach and still cloudy...Am I doing it right?

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Snap96

Snap96

0
Jun 30, 2015
70
Chicago, IL
What a weekend….

After 3 years of crystal clear water, I opened the pool up this past Saturday to enjoy a dip in the 90+ heat and the water was cloudy and I couldn’t see the bottom the pool.

After 2 days of running around thinking the world is going to end and dumping 32 bottles of bleach and massaging 10 lbs of CYA in the pool, I opened it up this morning and it’s still cloudy but not as bad as it was a couple days ago.

FC and CC were 7 and 1.0 last night before adding 6 gallons of bleach and my current readings this morning were:

FC – 10.5
CC – 1.0
CYA – 70
PH – 7.4
TA – 410
CH – 300

I have my SWG set to 50% and I'm hesitant to turn this off and have a bigger problem, even though it recommends it during the SLAM process.

I’ll continue to vacuum, backwash, add fill water, and add bleach along the way, but it just seems crazy to think about all the bleach I’ve added over the last couple days


So….

Am I doing this right?

I’m thinking about adding some DE to my filter to help it out since maybe the filter is not doing an effective enough job. Is that a good idea?

Should I vacuum to waste instead of going through filter?

Is there anything else I should be doing?


Thanks in advance
 
At a CYA of 70 your shock level FC for your SLAM is 28ppm. Have you been raising your FC to that level every couple hours?
 
Since our pools are almost identical in volume, I have to ask ....... 32 bottles of bleach in one weekend? Are these standard one gallon 8.25% strength bleach bottles? One bottle alone (of 8.25%) is about 5 ppm of FC, so 6 bottles should get you to your SLAM level, then it's a matter of keeping it there. Just seems like a lot of FC consumption. As Marty noted, maintaining that FC of 28 is vital.

When you say "opened the pool this weekend", was it covered? I ask because keeping a cover on for extended periods of time can interfere with the oxidation process preventing the sun from burning-off CCs.

As for the DE, I'd hold-off just to ensure you complete the SLAM or at least pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. Use the DE as a final step in clearing only dead algae. Brush, vacuum as necessary, backwash when filter pressure increases by about 25% .... then repeat. :)
 
Thanks for the feedback...

We have an auto cover and keep it closed at night and when not in use. The pool has been open all weekend, except at night. Unfortunately, the bleach around here is 6% which means I using more of it.

Every time I test, I add whatever the pool math calculator tells me. So far, every time I test a couple hours after adding bleach, I'm back down to single digit FC. And this is with the SWG still on.

When I started the process on Saturday, my FC and CC were 0. I added the recommended amount of bleach and the test results a couple hours later were FC around 7 and CC wasn't even tested since the sample was so pink it was way above 1. The last couple tests have the CC hovering around 1.

It just seems crazy that I've added this amount of bleach...maybe it's normal.
 
Check the freshness of the bleach you are using. Should be a Julian date on it - 18XXX. The XXX is the number of days in 2018.

Is the CYA of 70 a test from today?
 
I just caught that you added CYA from 0?

This most likely is ammonia. The CYA you added is feeding it.

You need to add LC to get to 28 ppm FC and test in 30 minutes, add back to 28 ppm.

This could take a huge amount of bleach.
 

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With a fiberglass pool, you should never drain it.

You can exchange some water without draining.

If you place a low volume sub pump in the deep end and pull water from there while adding water in the shallow end (through a skimmer or into a bucket on a step so you lessen the water disturbance) you can do a fairly efficient exchange. That is assuming the water you are filling with is the same temperature or warmer than your pool water. If your fill water is much cooler than your pool water, then switch it. Add the water to the deep end (hose on bottom) and pull water from the top step.

The location of the pump and fill hose may change if you have salt water, high calcium, etc.
In my pool, with saltwater and high calcium when I drain, I put the pump in the deep end and hose in shallow end. The water in the pool weighs more per unit volume than the fill water from the hose.

Be sure to balance the water out and water in so the pool level stays the same. Also be sure your pool pump is disabled during this process. Once started do not stop until you have exchanged the amount of water you wish.
 
Aquarium stores sell ammonia kits.

The tough part is the addition of all that CYA powder after a sudden drop to 0. The CYA feeds the bacteria that creates the ammonia. So the bacteria needs to be eliminated to stop the creation of the ammonia. Then the ammonia neutralized. I have not seen a case that both had to be done.
 
I might also recommend one more thing here ....... if it is ammonia as predicted. It's critical to test the FC very quickly at first to see if it's holding. That will be key to overwhelming the suspected bacteria. We have a 10-min drill we like to employ for such cases. Since you added stabilizer which feeds on ammonia, the CYA may have dropped (been consumed). So you might consider re-testing the CYA before trying this 10 minute drill to confirm the proper SLAM FC level.

The Drill: Increase the FC to 28 or whatever your FC SLAM level should be as noted on the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] once you confirm your CYA. Then test the FC in 10 minutes and adjust FC again. You might have to do that several times until you see the FC start to hold. Once you crack through that barrier, things will be much better for you then you can continue with the regular SLAM.
 
Thanks for the additional recommendation.

Unfortunately, the 10 minute drill will have to wait since I have something I need to attend to this afternoon.

I obviously screwed this thing up from the beginning so hopefully I can turn it around. I'll retest my FC/CC/CYA before adding more bleach. If its ammonia, should I expect to see my CYA well below the 70 reading I got this morning?
 
Also....should I turn off my SWG to get a better reading as to how much chlorine I'm using up between tests?
Click to expand...
I would. Both for the 10 min drill when you start and your SLAM. The bleach will work quickly and be more predictable. Give the SWG cells a break. :)
 

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