What next????

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Teresab66

Teresab66

Active member
Jul 7, 2019
42
Elkhart Indiana
So I’ve come along way from coffee brown water to Clearwater by doing the revive, followed by vacuum to waste followed by polyquat 60, AA and Sequestrant. This am I added 1 gallon 10% liquid chlorine for FC 0 CC 0, Ph 6.8, TA 120. CYA 20 Remember I am still using the test kit that I have waiting for the new recommended kit to arrive. I’m going to retest the chlorine shortly to see if any held. I do have a white film covering the bottom of my pool wondering if this is related to these sorbic acid treatment and a lower pH. What do I do next?
 
Without your test kit (yet), I would take it slow and careful since you probably know an elevated FC and pH have the most significant impact on stains returning. You need those accuraet test results for sure. Increase the FC slowly and make sure to have a CYA of at least 30 to protect the FC. The CYA will also buffer the water form the chlorine. Your pH is low right now, but I suspect it will try to rise quickly since your TA is at 120. Keep an eye on it. If the pH doesn't get up to at least 7.0 by later today, I would increase it just a hair, then keep it between 7.2-7.4 for a few days until you can see if the staining will stay away. Remember that as you increase the FC level, it will also oxidize the Poly, so any insurance you had to keep algae away will be gone unless you chose to add more during your transition. Hopefully you have a good sequestrant on-hand and in there as well.

As for the white film, really not sure. After running a low pH for a while, I also wondered if it may be calcium dust that has settled. But you can verify everything once the new kit arrrives.
 
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Test Results 07-12-2019 @ 07:34 AM
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Free Chlorine: 1.0
pH: 7.2
Total Alkalinity: 110
CYA: 20

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Test Results 07-12-2019 @ 05:17 AM
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Free Chlorine: 0.0
pH: 6.8
Total Alkalinity: 120

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Results this am. After 1 gallon
 
The low CC is good. :goodjob: But I have a concern about your two test results listed above. Both appear to be from this monring a couple hours apart. The pH doesn't shift so quickly like that unless you add muriatic acid. So just make sure. If it's 7.2 now, that's fine. You can leave it alone.

For the chlorine ..... it's low, but you just came out of the AA treatment. But if it remained low for too long without enough Poly 60, the cloudiness could be early signs of algae. Poly 60 won't kill algae, it only tried to prevent it. If it is algae, that requires a SLAM Process which would start the staining process all over again. :hammer: But don't panic. For now, increase the FC slowly to at least 3 ppm and don't let it fall below 2. Once you get the stabilizer (CYA) to 30 ppm, keep the FC at about 4 ppm. Let's see how the water responds at that point.

Remember, without the proper test kit (yet), it's one of those "cart before the horse" scenarios. Some of your numbers may be slightly off, so I wouldn't do too much more right now until the kit arrives.
 
So far this morning based on Pool Math I added 1 gallon of 10% liquid chlorine waited two hours re-check the levels and then based on Pool Math added 2 quarts and 2 cups of 10% liquid chlorine and at this point I see no color change, I am concerned about the cloudy water and the potential for Algae but just coming off of the sorbic acid treatment it is my understanding I really can’t go into a slam process yet. I’m very frustrated Indiana has such a short pool life season and no one has been able to be in the pool for about two weeks now. Temps are going to be up I would love to be able to lay out in the sun by the pool and actually get in it to cool off. So the poly port will not kill algae but the only algae killer’s that are out there have copper so that defeats my purpose of getting rid of the minerals
 

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In a 33K pool, the PoolMath tool tells me that it takes about 114 ounces (3 quarts & 2 cups) of liquid to increase the CYA by 10 ppm.

Also, here's the AA page if you've never used it before or if you need it later ....

Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains

Here are the directions to use Ascorbic acid to rid your pool of metal stains: Here is the ascorbic treatment: Take your chlorine down to 0 and PH down to 7.2, if there is chlorine in the water it won't hurt, it will just eat up the ascorbic acid, so you will need more to get rid of the...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Teresab66 said:
So the poly port will not kill algae but the only algae killer’s that are out there have copper so that defeats my purpose of getting rid of the minerals
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I understand the frustration. Iron-filled water is a challange. But when you do use algaecides (i.e for an AA treatment or winter closing) always use the Poly 60 and nothing else. The others have copper, Poly 60 does not.

Let's see what happens in the next day or two with the quality of your water, past staining, and new test results when you kit arrives. That will help the most. Also remember that you can always continue to try and filter-out iron with some polyfill, towels, or old T-shirts placed in the skimmer. The more iron you remove the better.
 
I did a revive treatment twice which is a specific product that dropped the iron to the floor and I vacuum to waste several times previously I know that there is still going to be iron in my water and my fill water is being filtered prior to being added. However it’s my understanding that putting something in my filter is not going to pull the iron out unless it is precipitated out of the sequestrant, Am I wrong?
 
Teresab66 said:
However it’s my understanding that putting something in my filter is not going to pull the iron out unless it is precipitated out of the sequestrant, Am I wrong?
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You are correct. So if you ever see staining try to reappear, that's a good time to do it. For sure though, make sure to pre-filter anything from your fill water. Wells have diffferent mineral content (some high in iron others low), but it won't hurt to try. Lots of folks use that 5-gallon/polyfill method to get as much raw iron out of the water before it goes into the pool. Hopefully minimize any iron level increase.
 
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So I got my test kit today and checked it this afternoon my free chlorine was 0.4 my total CC 1.0 TA 60 I suspect by CYA a is zero because I could see the black dot constantly and the fluid really was not cloudy at all. I did have my water tested at the pool store today just out of curiosity and they said my CYa was five. Today I put in 2 gallons of chlorine and 1 gallon of liquid stabilizer based on Pool math I need at least two more gallons of liquid stabilizer and significant more Corine I’m going to add a gallon before I go to bed tonight unless you think I should wait until I get the stabilizer tomorrow My water looks decent but slightly cloudy.
 
Congrats on the test kit! :goodjob: The liquid gold conditioner should register fairly quickly. You can test your CYA again this evening to confirm if it changed before increasing again. Remember, CYA can always be added, but it can't be removed without changing water. Since we foresee a SLAM Process in your future, you want the CYA only to 30 for now. You didn't post your pH, but it needs to be about 7.2 in preparation for the SLAM. Once you stock-up on chlorine, you can begin the SLAM with an FC of "12" assuming your CYA is 30. See FC/CYA Levels. Let us know if you have questions.
 
Teresab66 said:
Since I just did AA treatment don’t I have to wait to do a slam
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I mentioned the SLAM Process based on your results in post #20. Cloudy water and an elevated CC level. Even if we assume the elevated CC is residual from the AA treatment, it doesn't explain the cloudy water. But that's why I mentioned to give it a day or two. Increase the CYA to 30 and keep the FC where it needs to be as noted on the FC/CYA Levels. If the cloudiness doesn't go away, gets worse, and/or you can't hold chlorine, you should consider doing an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. If you fail that, the SLAM Process process is warranted.

Your note about doing a SLAM after the AA is only because we know that during a SLAM, with an elevated FC level, it will almost certainly cause the iron to precipitate. That's why we always emphasis .... SLAM first to remove algae, then do the AA after. But give your water a day or two and monitor the levels. We'll go from there.
 
Just added 1 gallon of liquid chlorine this morning slowly and I am going to monitor and proceed to add some additional. It appears to have a slight green cast therefore I am guessing I’m going to need to think about adding some additional mineral out product sequestrant. However I’m going to give it some time to filter and see what it will do on its own there’s already Two bottles of sequestrant in there
 

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