What should I do during and after a storm?

[Swampwoman]

I just wanted to add that I see you have the k2006 kit, which I assume you're testing with, but reported reading to the decimal point. When slamming, and anytime really, you only need to use the 10 mil sample size, not 25 mil. This will save you on reagents

 

[roguegeek]

There is nothing wrong with using dichlor in maintenance mode, if you realise the effects that adding it will have on your pool. If you added 53oz of dichlor to your pool, it would raise your FC by 10 but also raise your CYA by 9 and at the moment we do not what to raise your CYA. Your CYA would get unmanagable very quickly using dichlor for a slam

Bleach just adds FC and a trace amount of salt, nothing else to the pool.

Makes sense. I'll be sticking with the bleach.

 

[roguegeek]

I just wanted to add that I see you have the k2006 kit, which I assume you're testing with, but reported reading to the decimal point. When slamming, and anytime really, you only need to use the 10 mil sample size, not 25 mil. This will save you on reagents

Ooo. Good catch there. Thank you!

 

[roguegeek]

I'm going to use this thread to document the progress just in case anyone is interested and so I have something to reference back to later. Hope you guys don't mind too much. I'll try not to be very spammy.

Starting with this:

Test	1/12/17 11:45 AM
Free Chlorine	4.5 ppm
Combined Chlorine	0.5 ppm
pH	7.0
Total Alkalinity	50 ppm
Calcium Hardness	230 ppm
Cyanuric Acid	65 ppm
Sodium Chloride (Salt)	2600 ppm
SWG Instant Salt	2600 ppm
Temperature	52 ˚F

Just cleared all the debris and washed the filter. Added in 5 gallons of 10% bleach to start the SLAM process.

 

[Caco]

Well, it looks better already. You must've put a lot of hard work into cleaning the pool

Post as many updates and questions as you want. We dont consider that 'spammy' at all

 

[roguegeek]

So first update and oh my! I screwed up somewhere. Before the start of the SLAM, my FC was at 4.5 ppm. I needed to raise it to 28 ppm and PoolMath said to put in 5 gallons 1 quart of 10% liquid chlorine. I put in 5 gallons. Testing it three hours later and FC is at 38.5 ppm. Much more than the targeted shock value. I tested it several time to make sure, went back to PoolMath to make sure I had the right values everywhere, and double-checked the liquid chlorine I bought was 10%. No idea where I went wrong, but it's high now.

Do I just wait for it to drop to 28 ppm and continue the process? Something else?

Test	1/12/17 3:00 PM
Free Chlorine	38.5 ppm
Combined Chlorine	0 ppm

 

[cowboycasey]

no issue just test and let fall to 28 and keep it close to 28.. it will fluctuate but the closer you keep it the faster the SLAM will go.. keep up the great work...

 

[Caco]

I would just let it drop, it probably will drop pretty rapidly anyway

Not sure why you went over by 10ppm? That is high
Could your water volume be less than you think?
Have you got it circulating through the spa as well?
What sizes are the bottles the chlorine came in? If they were 182oz instead of 128oz that would make a difference

 

[roguegeek]

A lot of the green has left and the water is just really cloudy now. I'm guessing that's from the abundant amount of chlorine. There's practically no debris to be picked up at this point. All of that is looking pretty good. What hasn't happened is the FC hasn't dropped as much as I thought it would. I haven't had to add any additional chlorine in as it hasn't come down to the shock level of 28 ppm. It was 32.5 ppm last night around 8pm and here's where it is right now...

Test	1/14/17 12:00 PM
Free Chlorine	32.0 ppm
Combined Chlorine	0.5 ppm

So I feel like it's somewhat stabilizing here. From the SLAM documentation, looks like I'll just keep monitoring it, keep cleaning debris, keep waiting for it to turn clear, and keep maintaining the FC of 28 ppm (if it ever actually gets down that low, at this point). Then I'll perform the OCLT when it's time.

This sound like the right path to take? Any additional thoughts?

 

[needsajet]

Good to hear

The cloudiness is mostly dead algae "carcasses" floating in the water. Chlorine in the water is entirely clear. As long as you brush the pools walls and floor regularly and seek out any algae hiding spots, it will all get killed. Watch the filter pressure as the suspended stuff is filtered out. Running the Polaris every now and then will help keep the water and "dust" mixed and heading to the filter.

Your plan is perfect. You got this!

 

[roguegeek]

FC is at 30 ppm. Still high, but dropping slowly. CC is at 0.5. The pool is starting to get that clarity back. Maybe tomorrow night is when I'll be able to do the OCLT.

So with this upcoming storm, since the pool is over-chlorinated right now, that should be enough to prevent this from happening again? Obviously, being very active in cleaning up debris as well. Anything else I should do to make sure algae doesn't take over again?

 

[needsajet]

Weekly brushing comes to mind, including all the plaster surfaces and waterline tile. Brushing is sort of like vacuuming a room. Be sure to cover it all even though you don't see anything. Your minimum FC will be 7.5% of CYA or 5 ppm FC, and think of this as a bare minimum. Something around 8 ppm FC would be a good, reliable level.

For 65 ppm CYA (call it 70), 30 ppm FC for the Slam is a good level. Avoid falling below 28 ppm FC until the SLAM is finished.

Good to hear about the progress

 

[triptyx]

FC is at 30 ppm. Still high, but dropping slowly. CC is at 0.5. The pool is starting to get that clarity back. Maybe tomorrow night is when I'll be able to do the OCLT.

So with this upcoming storm, since the pool is over-chlorinated right now, that should be enough to prevent this from happening again? Obviously, being very active in cleaning up debris as well. Anything else I should do to make sure algae doesn't take over again?

When there is a lot of stuff blowing around, I tend to run the filter to skim and let the kreepy take care of the debris. The less time debris is laying around in the pool, the less chlorine it's going to consume. If the pool is still getting clarity back (it's not crystal clear to the point you can see the type of screw heads in the main drain if you have one), your SLAM isn't done. Don't stop until the water is totally, completely clear - THEN you can do the OCLT.

 

[roguegeek]

The water is crystal right now. I've started the OCLT. Here's where we're at:

Free Chlorine (ppm)	28.0
Combined Chlorine (ppm)	0.0

I'll check tomorrow right as the sun is coming up. If it passes and the SLAM is then complete, does that just mean I let the chlorine drop to standard levels and go back to rebalancing as normal?

 

[triptyx]

Great! Looks like you've got all of the criteria handled and if the OCLT is good, you're done.

Awesome looking pool!

 

[roguegeek]

So here's the results of the OCLT:

Free Chlorine (ppm)	27.0
Combined Chlorine (ppm)	0.5

The FC loss is 1.0 and the CC is 0.5, so that passes. Yay! Alright, time to let levels drift back down and then I'll rebalance as normal. Thanks everyone for getting me back to where it needed to be.

So a couple of follow-up questions. To remind everyone, I have another storm starting tomorrow, Wednesday, and lasting through next Monday or Tuesday. I don't think it will be anywhere as bad as it was before, but I will be gone, out of town, during most of that time, Friday through Wednesday. The FC is currently at 27.0 and I will make sure to clean up as much new debris while I'm here and before I leave. What else can I do to ensure I do not have to SLAM again when I get back?

 

[needsajet]

Having the FC at SLAM shock level before you go is good defense. I would brush it just before I leave. Your plan to remove debris is also good.

It won't skim if it gets too full, so if there's a way to have water level kept within the height of the skimmer opening, that's helpful.

 

[roguegeek]

Having the FC at SLAM shock level before you go is good defense. I would brush it just before I leave. Your plan to remove debris is also good.

It won't skim if it gets too full, so if there's a way to have water level kept within the height of the skimmer opening, that's helpful.

Alright. I'll have FC around 28.0 ppm before I take off for the week and have it debris free. Thanks!

 

[roguegeek]

The cloudiness is mostly dead algae "carcasses" floating in the water. Chlorine in the water is entirely clear.

Followup question to this. I've read numerous times that if you have too much chlorine in a pool, the water will turn cloudy. But that's misleading, right? The pool isn't cloudy because of the chlorine directly. It's due to the dead algae? So you could potentially have a ton of chlorine in a pool and it could still be crystal? Just wondering.

Just FYI, my pool is entirely crystal now, even through this last new storm. The FC is still high, but dropping to normal levels.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Followup question to this. I've read numerous times that if you have too much chlorine in a pool, the water will turn cloudy. But that's misleading, right? The pool isn't cloudy because of the chlorine directly. It's due to the dead algae? So you could potentially have a ton of chlorine in a pool and it could still be crystal? Just wondering.

Just FYI, my pool is entirely crystal now, even through this last new storm. The FC is still high, but dropping to normal levels.

Where did you read that? Certainly not here

Chlorine has nothing to do with turbidity and it will not directly cause turbidity. Cloudy or opaque water is almost always the result of a nascent algae bloom and people typically complain about cloudy water returning after a shock because they follow pool store advice and think that a single shock treatment will rid them of algae....it won't. So they kill 99% of the algae the water clears for a bit and then the cloudiness returns because the algae is starting to grow again. Green swampy water is not the start of an algae bloom, it is the end of an algae explosion where the water is completely overrun with algae.