Not at this point, but I could a few days ago. There were leaves from the storm but nothing else.
What happened to my water?
- Thread starter Drew80
- Start date
HDX - Home Depot's house brand. It's good stuff.
Edit: scratch that. My Home Depot is carrying Pool Essentials now.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,399
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Curious, what part of Austin are you in? That place has grown like crazy. Any new developments or local spraying that may explain something getting in your water? Do you have a neighbor nearby with a pool who is experiencing the same issue?
I'm central, so there's plenty of development close-ish but not close enough to be affecting my pool. And this has happened 3 times over almost 5 years, so I can't pin it on a recent change.
It only happens during a perfect storm (pun intended) of high rain and low chlorine because I screwed something up or wasn't watching for an extended period of time. It hasn't happened in years because I keep my FC higher than I used to. It seems to have happened this time because the SWG stopped generating chlorine.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,399
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Certainly is odd. 
A handful of us have thrown just about everything we could think of at you, and the common denominator seems to be low chlorine combined with local weather. I'm out in the country surrounded by corn fields and stuff. I get strong winds and junk in my pool all the time, but I've not had your scenario happen - yet. Keep that stuff up there. 
A handful of us have thrown just about everything we could think of at you, and the common denominator seems to be low chlorine combined with local weather. I'm out in the country surrounded by corn fields and stuff. I get strong winds and junk in my pool all the time, but I've not had your scenario happen - yet. Keep that stuff up there.
I've joked before that I could make a fortune bottling up whatever is eating my CYA. If you had high CYA, it would be a lot easier to use that stuff than to have to drain.Certainly is odd.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,399
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
You're on to something. Ha.How much are you adding?
How long are you waiting to test?
Go to 20 ppm and then test within 30 minutes.
How long are you waiting to test?
Go to 20 ppm and then test within 30 minutes.
I've added 3 gallons over a couple days. Whatever is in the water is immediately canceling out the chlorine. I can't get it to register FC at all. As I said above, I suspected ammonia, but my ammonia strips don't register either.
Ammonia - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Add enough to get to 20 ppm and test FC and CC within 10 minutes.
Make sure that the circulation is good.
Make sure that the circulation is good.
This has happened 3 times over the 5 years I've had the pool, so I do know how to fix it. It takes a crazy amount of chlorine (like 6 gallons) and eventually clears up. I'm really looking for the root cause, and that's why I posted it in the Deep End section. It seems to follow the description I've read of ammonia, but my ammonia test strips don't register anything. And if it is ammonia, how does it keep happening - that's what I'm trying to figure out.
Possibly? We have a lot of trees, but it doesn't seem like that should be enough. Not getting any groundwater or runoff in the pool as far as I can tell. Our house is pretty new and we did a lot of work with the drainage. It's a head scratcher.
DrewLG
Gold Supporter
You have an SWG, so you don't normally use bleach, right? Is it possible that the bottle of bleach you poured in had been stored for so long that it had lost its potency? Wouldn't explain the CYA, but maybe the FC.
Last edited:
CedarChuck
Silver Supporter
- Jun 19, 2022
- 25
- Pool Size
- 18000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Turbo Cell (T-CELL-5)
I heard multiple times that if you had CYA and it goes to 0 you probably have a leak.I've joked before that I could make a fortune bottling up whatever is eating my CYA. If you had high CYA, it would be a lot easier to use that stuff than to have to drain.
Add enough to get to 20 ppm and test FC and CC within 10 minutes.
The bleach I started with is only about a month old. I bought 4 more boxes today and have had the same experience. I must have ammonia in the water, I just don't know how it got there.
As in water leaking out or in? Leaking out doesn't seem like it would affect CYA at all. Leaking in might if it brought in bacteria, but I can't imagine any leak being enough to affect your chemistry by much.
Drew
Some pictures of the pool to the forum might spot something landscaping wise.....
Some pictures of the pool to the forum might spot something landscaping wise.....
- Jun 1, 2018
- 14,041
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
If you have a leak but have an autofill it can mask it. This would not only dilute your cya but your ch & salt as well. Turning the auto fill off & doing a bucket test can help determine if that’s an issue.
At any rate fc got low, something proliferated, & now it’s SLAM Process time. Priority #1 is fc.
At any rate fc got low, something proliferated, & now it’s SLAM Process time. Priority #1 is fc.