MarineCorpsMom had apparent algae or pollen/dirt

[MarineCorpsMom]

I have been having the same problem as many of the post I have read have dealt with. I am new and this i my 1st post but I have been reading and taking your advice the last week. For the last 2 years I have a tanish color dust that appears on the floor of my pool in pivots and they come back within 12 hours of vaccuuming. The pool place kept saying it was pollen/dirt but i couldn't even collect any, it was dust. So maybe it was yellow algae or mustard algae, not reall sure but my water was a bluish green cloud that I could no longer see through. After reading on here I decided I would tr the bleach so I put 10 gallons and to my suprise the next morning the green was gone but still cloudy. There is only 1 dealer around here and she said I cannot us DE without a DE filter so I bought a dry clarifier that I added to my skimmer. We have not had any rain so I'm having a hard time getting my TA down. I have added 4 gallons of acid so far and it reads 200 now. The pool place makes me turn pump off when adding the acid to drop TA but we are having so much wind its impossible to maintain a calm pool.

Ok, so from here I'm trying my patience but I don't want it to get worse. Can someone advise me if I'm on the right track or what I need to do to get my water clear and drop TA??? Help greatly appreciated.

28 round vinyl
18503 volume
above ground

SI 0.31 is balanced now but was scaling before
FC 10.0
TC 10.0
pH 7.6
CYA 50
TA 200
ATA 183
CH 200
Temp 75

I might also add that I had crystal clear water until they made me add 25 lbs of calcium that I think I didn't need from what I have been reeding. Help...

[PoolDoc]

"I might also add that I had crystal clear water until they made me add 25 lbs of calcium that I think I didn't need . . . "

Ahh, yes. The misery of being "pool-stored"!

OK. Sounds like your filter may be working, but not super well, and some fine dust (like DE) is getting back into the pool. A clarifier might help (or it might not) but do NOT overdose.

On the other hand "bluish green color" you can't see through pretty much equals algae. However, if you're keeping your chlorine above 10ppm, that should take care of it.

I give: what is "ATA"?

Anyhow, given your pool store's propensity to sell you stuff you don't need, I'd be wary of trusting their test results. You would probably be well served to get a K2006 or K2006C -- it will allow you to get your chlorine high, without getting too high.

Leave all those water balance issues ALONE, except for pH. Keep it (pH) between 7.0 and 7.8. However, your pH will tend to keep drifting up with TA that high, so you'll need to keep adding acid for awhile.

Do this:

1) Go back to the store and buy the smallest package of DE they have. If they ask you why you want it, just put on your best respectful but determined Marine Corps attitude, and ask politely whether they want to sell it to you, or if they'd rather someone else do so. (If you need to do so, order from Leslies.)

2) Add a couple of cups of DE to the skimmer with the pump running. If white powder shoots back into the pool . . . your filter needs work. If not, you can add 2 - 4 cups after each backwash, to help you remove your brown powder, whatever it is.

3) Go to Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hard. or wherever and buy a gallon of muriatic acid. Take a garbage bag with you, and carry the acid home INSIDE the bag. While wearing gloves and glasses, add about a quart to your pool. The fumes ARE bad, so note the wind direction, and position yourself upwind. To pour, take the lid off, kneel by the pool side, submerge the bottle 2/3 and pour into the pool with the bottle close to the water. This minimizes both splashing and fumes. Do this as needed to push your pH down to 7.0 - 7.2 after it rises to 7.6 - 7.8. Your TA will slowly (weeks) decrease. If you want to lower it faster, add acid to take the pH below 7.0, and redose when it reaches 7.4. When adding acid, make sure your pump is on, and leave it on for at least an hour after.

4) While at Lowes, etc. get a cheap OTO (turns yellow)/ phenol red test kit. Keep your chlorine in the DARK yellow / light orange range, till your water is blue. Go ahead and get a K2006 or 2006C, if that fits your budget. (Amazon links below.)

5) Do NOT let the pool store sell you any Super-Duper Magical Pool Cleaner-Upper stuff: what those products mostly clean out is wallets!

Hope this helps,

Ben


Do this:

[MarineCorpsMom]

Thank You Ben...

ATA- adjusted total alkalinity

I have always been told to turn pump off before adding acid but what you say is to leave on for at least an hour. Do I have to turn it off after that?

I looked at both the test kits you mention and not sure of the differences. Which one do you suggest I get, please?

They do not have the DE so I put Pro Team dry clarifier. Is that ok or should I not add anymore when I backwash?

I just changed the sand in my tank last week. I saw on a post talk about motor/pump size for filter. I just downsized from a 2 hp motor to a 1 1/2 hp motor and pump with a sand dollar 40 tank which holds 150 lbs of sand. Is this the proper equipment to run together?

I greatly appreciate this forum and have founds some great information.

Thank you,
MarineCorpsMom

[aylad]

You want to have the pump on when adding acid so that it disperses throughout the pool. You don't necessarily have to turn it off after that, but definitely have it running when you add the acid and for at least an hour or two afterward.

The test kits Ben mentioned are the same kit, except that the "C" version has larger quantities of reagents in them. HOwever, there are multiple places you can order reagent refills if you need them.

Sounds to me like your pump is still too big for your filter, but I'll let the equipment experts comment on that. I have a 1 HP pump on my 29K gallon pool with a 300# filter.

Happy Memorial Day...early!! :)

Janet

[MarineCorpsMom]

I just found out that my husband did not backwash first when the sand was changed. I'm sure this is part of the cloudy blue water I now have. Shoul I floc then vac to waste are just wait for it to be filtered on its own/vaccuuming?

Thank you for the help.

[CarlD]

OK,

You are getting confused about things.
1) they tell you turn the pump off when adding acid because they are basing it on the false "Acid Column" theory of lowering alkalinity. It is wrong, doesn't work and can do SERIOUS damage to you liner.
2) To clarify T/A lowering: T/A moves up and down with pH, so you lower it by lowering the pH. The trick is to raise pH without raising T/A, and you do that by aeration--which means making the water splash. It can be as simple as leaving the pool uncovered, or you can point the returns at the surface, or, you can get a return-based fountain. I have one that costs about $20. You unscrew the eyeball and screw this in. This raises pH faster than any other aeration (unless you have a waterfall).
3) You don't want to add any calcium to your pool again.
4) If, after you test your filter with Ben's DE test, and your filter is good, and you add one or two cups of DE, if your flow rate at the return drops and your gauge pressure shoots up, then it's too much DE. Then backwash, and start again, this time adding about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of DE. In 20-30 minutes, if your gauge pressure goes up about 1 lb, you are good.

It's not that hard but the pool store's stock in trade is scaring you and convincing you to buy lots and lots of chemicals you don't need....next they'll try to tell you your phosphate level is too high and try to sell you phosphate remover. 99.99% of the time it's a waste of time and money, won't clear your algae, and distracts you from REAL methods to clear it.

Carl

[aylad]

I just found out that my husband did not backwash first when the sand was changed. I'm sure this is part of the cloudy blue water I now have. Shoul I floc then vac to waste are just wait for it to be filtered on its own/vaccuuming?

Thank you for the help.

Add the DE that Ben recommended. No, you can't fill a sand filter with DE, but you can (and many people on this forum do) add a small amount to their sand filters to help trap smaller particles.

Give it some time to filter out before you go the floc route. Flocs have their place in the scheme of things, but I would absolutely add it only as a last resort.

Janet