What am I dealing with? (Pics)

[JoyfulNoise]

FYI - I’ve gone on 10 day vacations with my pool. Just add some liquid chlorine to bump it up to half SLAM level, float a few trichlor pucks and leave the cleaner in the pool with the automation running it’s normal routine. Asked my mom to check on the house while gone to make sure it didn’t burn down (neighbor is happy to text me while I’m gone too). Pool stays % crystal clear the entire time with not even thought on my part.

 

[JamesR]

Maybe its just the pics, but that plaster looks very rough and porous. I went through the same thing you are going through many years ago. CYA had drifted high because I was using pucks and never knew anything about proper testing. No chlorine level I had maintained was doing anything for the algae. I'd brush, shock, backwash the filter.... Then in a day, the algae would return. My plaster surface was very rough also which did not help matters. I ended up draining over half of the poolwater and refilling to get the CYA back to normal. After that I was able to control the algae with normal chlorine levels.
The following year, I had the pool replastered again to fix the porous issue. The plaster was 17 years old at the time I believe.

 

[Metalman23]

I would just get the SWCG, it took me about 2 hours to install mine, very easy. If you have any experience with plumbing, if not, maybe you have a friend who does. It's the best thing I ever did to the pool

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I leave the country for 2 weeks + and all I do is keep my SWG running as normal and close the cover of my pool. I always come home to sparkling clear water.
A county sheriff do walks even thru the backyard 2x day on house checks and they have a way of contacting us if need be. (A great free service by our local county!)

Maddie

 

[SoDel]

With a SWG you can deal with the pool weekly (IMHO). Once you get things set up, it’s pretty much auto-pilot. I can assure you my prior “professionals” managed things that way and did very little over the season besides a vac and skim. From what I have come to know about managing FC, your CYA levels are excessive and affect the Cl in combating the algae. Probably over simplistic, but that’s my current level of understanding. In your shoes (and I think I’ve been there), direct your pool person to the algae and ask for the plan. If the plan makes no sense, then no hard feelings, but time to move on. If it’s a sensible plan, then you have better things to do and I totally get that.

 

[Jrobertp]

Well its official. You all talked me into to it. The pool is now fully under my care. I'll be draining water this week and trying to get all of the levels in a proper balance.

For the last few weeks I've been testing to watch what was happening with the pool chemistry while I was still with the pool chemical company. For the record I measured the free chlorine as low as 6.5 and as high as 28. A Couple of weeks ago I started adding liquid chlorine later in the week as the FC level dropped too low. For reference this week, midday Monday my FC was 28. by Tuesday evening that had dropped to 19.5.

Thanks for all the input. My plan is to drain water on Friday to get my CYA in order. I plan to drain between 1/3 and 1/2 the water and then top back off. After refill I'll do a slam since even though the pool is clear at the moment, I'm not confident all the algae is eradicated.

I currently have 8 gallons of liquid chlorine (10%), some borax, baking soda, and Calcium Chloride as well.
With a drain and refill like this anything else I should have here on hand? Am I likely to need Muriatic Acid? My PH seems to be drifting down not up currently, but I don't know what it's likely to do with so much new water.

Thanks all!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Robert,

I would hold off on adding Borax, Baking soda, or Calcium for a while.

Let's get your CYA right and then do the SLAM first.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You'll probably need Muriatic Acid before needing Borax or Baking Soda.

 

[CamiS]

Man you guys are far too convincing…
I hadn’t thought of a SWCG. Thanks for sharing that idea. I’ll look into automation.

If I got rid of the company next week. Drained water and started over on my own…is there another option for being gone for a full 7-8 days? Maybe I could get a neighborhood kid to come by mid week and add some chlorine? SWCG sounds like a good plan for the future. But I can’t make that change myself before August and I have at least 3 week long trips between now and then.

I think I’m seeing all the things you’re saying I would see. I’ve been concerned that the pebble surface is breaking down because of the companies management of my water. That definitely stinks. He does throw ash in the water. But not every treatment. Maybe once a month, maybe even less often.

I’ve wondered if it could be mustard algae, but I don’t know how to tell for sure. So far it’s definitely only been on the walls. The water is always clear till I brush.

It is sad when looking at the work ahead of me. So I guess next step is to make the hard decision about which pain to take on. It’d sure be nice if I could just tell these guys you caused the problem so fix it. Sadly I think you’re right that they won’t be able to give me a good solution. Ever heard of a chemical company having to cover the damage they caused to a pool surface with poor water management?

Once I took over our pool from the maintenance company, drained more than half of the pool and started taking care of it myself using liquid chlorine , pool care takes me 5 minutes every evening. I still measure because 1) I'm a newby 2) my phosphates are through the roof so if I get any algae it will be a very nasty business - but most of the evenings I add exactly the same quantity of chlorine . The plan when we travel is to use pucks in the in-line chlorinator (through draining I got our CYA from 130ish to 50-60 ; a month later, because we kept adding fresh water to compensate for splashes (cannonball is the name of the game ...) and evaporation, plus rain , CYA is somewhere between 30 & 40, I can accomodate a week of trichlor tabs.

 

[Jrobertp]

So I’ve been working on the pool for several days. Drained lots of water. Added lots of fresh. Tried to keep the chlorine very high as I did so since I had had the algae problem. Drain and refill was last weekend. Here are my numbers today.

FC 8.0
CC 8.5 (edit - Actually 0.5)
PH 7.8
TA 80
CH 325
CYA 70
CSI 0.20

Any feedback on those? I know the CYA needs to come down more. But I’d like to see if it comes down natural as we go for the next few weeks. Also my UV is extreme currently. We’re having 105 degree days and my pool is in full sun for most of the day. Would that call for keeping a little higher CYA?

I need to do an overnight chlorine loss test for sure. It feels like I’m using a lot of liquid chlorine. I’ve added 3 gallons (10%) in the last 4 days and the trend would say I’ll need more chlorine tonight when I test again.

For informative purposes: I do have to add water daily right now for evaporation. I’m using a fountain to help keep water temp down in this heat and it creates a lot of evaporation. Current water temp is 93.

 

[Bperry]

So I’ve been working on the pool for several days. Drained lots of water. Added lots of fresh. Tried to keep the chlorine very high as I did so since I had had the algae problem. Drain and refill was last weekend. Here are my numbers today.

FC 8.0
CC 8.5
PH 7.8
TA 80
CH 325
CYA 70
CSI 0.20

Any feedback on those? I know the CYA need to come down more. But I’d like to see if it comes down natural as we go for the next few weeks. Also my UV is extreme currently. We’re having 105 degree days and my pool is in full son for most of the day. Would that call for keeping a little higher CYA?

I need to do an overnight chlorine loss test for sure. it feels like I’m using a lot of liquid chlorine. I’ve added 3 gallons in the last 4 days and the trend would say I’ll need more chlorine tonight when I test again.

For informative purposes: I do have to add water daily right now for evaporation. I’m using a fountain to help keep water temp down in this heat and it creates a lot of evaporation. Current water temp is 93.

Your CC number is not correct.

 

[SoDel]

I always like to do interpret the numbers. I’m looking at TC 8.5 and CC 0.5. Like when I say left and mean right. I’m old enough where I get the need to interpret sometimes

 

[Jrobertp]

Your CC number is not correct.

Ok thanks.

I think the correct number would actually be 0.5.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Good job getting numbers down!

How do you plan to chlorinate the pool?

You reported algae last month. I assume you're planning a SLAM?

 

[IceShadow]

If your OCLT passes 70 might be just fine for your climate. You do have to keep the FC higher but it’s not crazy.

If needed you can SLAM at 70 CYA too but it does take more chlorine.

 

[Bperry]

Ok thanks.

I think the correct number would actually be 0.5.

Ok, that one makes more sense. Some kits measure the total chlorine with is FC and CC combined so it can get confusing.

 

[HermanTX]

If I got rid of the company next week. Drained water and started over on my own…is there another option for being gone for a full 7-8 days? Maybe I could get a neighborhood kid to come by mid week and add some chlorine? SWCG sounds like a good plan for the future. But I can’t make that change myself before August and I have at least 3 week long trips between now and then.

Over the 4th of July, I was away for 8 days. I use LC full time. I did a dose to SLAM level before I left, add 3 pucks to a floater in the pool. I had a neighbor come by mid-week who checked my water level (I do not have an automatic water leveler) and added more LC. I came back to a perfect pool, my CYA is 50 and FC was at 9.5 ( a little high - but no algae).

 

[Jrobertp]

Good job getting numbers down!

How do you plan to chlorinate the pool?

You reported algae last month. I assume you're planning a SLAM?

So far I’ve used 10% liquid chlorine…

I expect to need a real slam. When I drained my water I took the chlorine up to 35 and kept it pretty high as I added water. But once it was full I let it come down to see where all my numbers were.

If I don’t pass the OCLT tonight I’ll slam.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Copy. The reason I asked is because your CYA is in a good range for SWG FC recommendations. It's a bit high for a liquid chlorine pool, but it can be done.

 

[IceShadow]

Might not even be too high for normal operation in TX in July.

SLAM level is 28, though.