Would you shock here?

[gboulton]

Situation:

Unexpected "pool party" cropped up last night. Wound up with 4 kids and 2 adults in the pool for over an hour. Much splashing, yelling, and fun occurred.

This morning, the pool is still clear, I don't see any cloudiness in a sample tube or the pool. Pulled 2 fairly large clumps of hair out with the brush, another from the skimmer basket, and had to vacuum a fair amount of dirt off the bottom, despite running the vacuum just 2 days ago. (Normally, we can go a week between vacuums)

FC : 3.0 (I dose to 6-7 every morning, and did yesterday morning...never seen it below 4 the next morning, usually it's 5)
CC : .5
pH Steady at 7.5, despite the splashing.
CYA is 40, last tested on Sunday.

My thinking here is that all of these things are explainable and make good sense. The heavy load, especially of kids, has almost certainly produced all manner of biologics I don't care to name here. Obviously some hair was left behind. The extra bathers would also have introduced more dirt to the pool.

So, I'm going to simply pull the FC back up to around 7-8ppm, and keep an eye on things for any developing cloudiness. I'd expect CC to be back to 0 again tomorrow morning.

If the FC seems to have fallen more than expected tomorrow, or CC remains at .5 or higher, then I'm planning on shocking.

This plan make sense, or would you guys suggest shocking today?

 

[Kirsten]

The problem is that once you get cloudiness, if it's algae, you're already behind. I have noticed in my pool that the FC drops when lots of people have been swimming. Since that doesn't happen often (it's usually just me and my husband) I shock my pool after a heavier bather load. Kids may have peed, etc etc. And I notice you live in Nashville. I'm in SW Virginia - we have warm weather already, so I can imagine it's much warmer by you. Just to be safe, I'd shock the pool. I'm very much a newbie, so any pros out there feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Good luck!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I'd bring the FC to high normal and just watch it today. You most likely won't need to shock. If there were very much ammonia (read that how you may ) added to the pool you would have had zero FC. Since you didn't, I think the FC has already taken care of the additional load.

 

[gboulton]

Appreciate the input, gang.

Kirsten, you're right...pretty warm here (90 yesterday). I do disagree with you on one point, however...there's no "may" about it. Kids peed! :lol:

I think, however, Dave makes a good point. Had the load been "critical", FC should have dropped below 3...and, 3 IS the "minimum" on the CYA/FC chart, so I really ought to be safe I think.

Just poured a gallon of 6% in, which should put us between 7 and 8 this morning. I'll check here in about an hour or so, make sure we're somewhere close to 7, and then go from there.

Thanks again, guys...I'll post updates if necessary.

 

[gboulton]

Waited half an hour, checked again. FC is 8.5 (a bit higher than I'd expected...maybe I missed a drop on the initial test?) CC is back to 0, so I suspect all is well.

 

[Kirsten]

Good deal!!

 

[Richard320]

I would do (and have done) exactly what you did - run the FC up to the high end of normal and let it run.

I've also been known to add a couple ppm to the pool just before guests arrive.

 

[gboulton]

I've also been known to add a couple ppm to the pool just before guests arrive.

I generally do the same, when I'm expecting it. :lol:

Oh well..I guess what we just did here was proved the value of BBB. Despite no warning, and no preparation, the pool hosted 6 active swimmers for an extended period of time, who we know left behind some bio mass...and yet woke up to a manageable situation with no problems.

 

[gboulton]

Just checked FC and CC again, to be sure. FC is at 6, CC 0, and the pool looks like :

I'm a happy camper!

 

[Suziqzer]

Beautiful! You did the same as I would have done. I often find myself dosing with a little extra chlorine or running my swg a little longer than normal after a large bather load. I'd rather play it safe!

If people come unexpectedly and there is lots of time for swimming, I generally add a small dose of chlorine prior to them getting in and have them wait awhile before getting in. Usually it takes some time for everyone to get changed and "USE THE BATHROOM PLEASE!" and then I go over any rules if they've not been in my pool before, etc. I can often kill some time if I need to, and most are none the wiser. No one needs to know you take any effort in managing your pool.

 

[linen]

I tend to be at work when these "impromptu" swim parties spring up (actually I think this is more than a coincidence ), so I am retrospectively dosing to the top of my normal range for bleach use (even though I have a swg). I think my insurance might be that my FC level is maintained correctly at the start of the party and my swg is usually running. It has not caused a problem yet. I do have to be a detective when I get home at night, since no one tell's me that the "party" happened unless I ask or figure it out from the mess

 

[Suziqzer]

linen... How dare they party w/o u!! :lol:

 

[gboulton]

Thanks for the comments, guys!

In our case, the "pool party" started as the daughter having a couple friends over. Fine, no problem...our rule is 2 guests at a time. (That's more of a rowdy neighborhood kid behaviour thing than a pool thing, to be honest :lol: )

Then the son came home and wanted to swim, of course. Ok, still no problem.

Then one of our friends came over for dinner, and dinner was burgers grilled out on the deck. This, of course, made the pool and splashing look pretty inviting.

About that time, one of the better behaved neighbor kids showed up, looking hungry and hot. :lol:

Next thing you know, 5 kids, 2 adults, and a couple hours later....

But, as said before...the fact it's been regularly maintained at an adequate FC level, and I got right on it this morning, meant even that sudden unexpected load didn't cause problems.