Ongoing issues

[jeremyweber]

Hope someone can help me. This season has so far been a bust And I am hoping to turn it around. Replaced de filter with hayward 244s model and am using 150 lbs of zeos sand. Filter replacement is done and be up and running for about 5 days. Pool was very dark green. Added a bottle of somethIng like swamp treatment as recommended by pool store. The next morning the pool surface was covered in an icky film. It's dissipated to some extent but its still really bad. I need to retreat the pool for algae but I don't want to cause any more foaming issues.

I have tried to scoop it out with my skimmer but it's more persistent than I am at this point. Any one have any ideas?

My ph is still too low it reads 6.8. On my test kit. Chlorine is in the 3-6 range

[CarlD]

Yeah, it's actually pretty simple.
I'm guessing that since you are using a 300# sand filter you have at least 15,000 gallons.

You need to get your pH to 7.0 at least. Start by adding 1 box of 20 Mule Team Borax and wait an hour and check pH.

I"m also guessing your CYA (stabilizer) is very low.

Your chlorine is 'way too low to clear your pool.

Start by adding 1.5 gallons of 6% bleach for every 10,000 gallons. That will raise FC (free chlorine) by about 9ppm...bringing you to between 12 and 15ppm. That will start killing algae. This is based on my knowing nothing about your pool yet.

Test your water and add bleach whenever your FC drops below 12.
Meanwhile either test for, or have a pool store test for:
FC
CC (Combined Chloramines)
TC (Total Chlorine)
pH
Alk or T/A (Total Alkalinity)
CYA (Stabilizer, Cyanuric Acid, Conditioner)
CH (Calcium Hardness)

And let us know if your pool is vinyl or hard-sided, and how big it is.

Carl

[jeremyweber]

Thanks for the quick reply. Will take water sample to store tomorrow and post results. Pool is vinyl inground and about 20k gallons.

AnythIng to do about the foam issue. Or should I get the chem right first?

[CarlD]

really, the only thing we'll have you address at first is chlorination and pH. Everything else can wait but we need to know what they are. Heavy chlorination should take care of the foaming, too.

Carl

[Watermom]

Do yourself a favor and buy a good test kit so you don't have to rely on the pool store. We recommend the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C. If you order it through the Amazon link in my signature, the Pool Forum makes a little money which helps keep this forum up and running. (Only buy from Amato Industries, however. Some of the other sellers through Amazon are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want.)

[jeremyweber]

Carl I have put at least. 4 gallons of 12% chlorine since saturday so I bet its the cya. Will get results tomorrow and post.

Watermom looking at the test kit now. What the difference between the two? And I don't see it available from amato

[aylad]

The kits are the same, except the "c" version has larger amounts of reagents in it.

Keeping your chlorine above 12 ppm can take LOTS more than 4 gallons. You just have to keep testing and adding more until the pool clears up and the foam dissipates. The "swamp treatment" likely has created even more of a chlorine demand, and if your CYA was high at the end of last season, it also can breakdown over the winter into ammonia and create huge chlorine demands. THey can be overcome, but you need to be diligent about it.

Janet

[Watermom]

I just looked at the Amazon links. Amato Industries must currently be sold out of the K-2006. Probably all the folks that we are sending from Pool Forum buying all their inventory! That has happened before, but usually in a few days, they again are showing up as having them available. But, they DO currently show the K-2006C as being in stock. That one is a better buy anyways.

[jeremyweber]

Pool kit ordered...

Water tested...

Free Available Chl 0.12 - yikes
Total Chlorine 1.17
Combined Chl 1.05
Total Alkalinity 107
pH 6.9
Calcium Hardness 104
Cyanuric Acid 21

Walmart was out of Borax so I picked up 5lbs ph increaser and 8 gallons of 12% liquid shock. Store clerk told me she would use 2lbs of the ph increaser and 4 gallons of the shock. Is that the right advice?

[madwil]

We still need to know a few pool details- especially size...
The pH increaser will work, just a lot more expensive than the borax. I would shoot for a pH of 7.5, add however much of the increaser it tells you to dose based on pool size to get there, then just work the chlorine to clear the pool. Don't worry about anything else right now- pH between 7.0 and 7.8, and chlorine- probably 10-15 ppm chlorine until pool is clear, then we can work on the right numbers from there.

[CarlD]

The pH increaser is almost certainly Sodium Carbonate, also called Soda Ash, but better known as Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (not baking soda).

It will increase your total alkalinity. If your pool is vinyl, it shouldn't be a problem. If it's concrete, tile, etc, I wouldn't add it. Instead, aerate your water to raise your pH without increasing total alkalinity. You can simply point the return at the surface so it bubbles.

The 12% liquid chlorine is good stuff. You'll get an increase in Free Chlorine of 12ppm/per gallon/per 10,000 gallons of water. So if your pool is 30,000 gallons, you need 3 gallons of the LC to increase FC by 12ppm. You want to get your pool to an FC level of 15ppm given a CYA level of 21ppm. So she MAY have told you the right thing...depending on the volume of the pool.

If your liner is vinyl, you want to stay at the recommended shock levels in Ben's Best Guess table. If you have a hard-sided pool, you can exceed it and speed up the algae killling.

Carl

Correction: You have 20,000 gallons, vinyl. 4 gallons of 12% will increase your FC by 24ppm--too much for a vinyl pool with a CYA of 21. It can bleach your liner. IF you don't care about that (like me, with an old liner) 4 gallons should work spectacularly well. (that's what I did a few weeks ago, but I don't care about my liner fading--it's faded already). However, if it's a newer liner, you'll want to add 2.5 gallons of LC. That should boost your FC to 15ppm, which is what you need.

[jeremyweber]

Yes the pool is vinyl and my best guess is around 20k - 22k in water volume. So if I use the 2.5 gallons, how much of the ph plus should I be using? And when ( before or after the chlorine ).

[CarlD]

Well, I'd use about 1/2 of it with the filter running, wait an hour and then test pH. If you are still low, add the rest. But if you are over 7.2 to 7.3, I wouldn't add more, at least not now. Just aerate.

Carl