Virginia Swamp!

[gremlin]

My pool has been unused for 2 years and uncovered and is a swamp in progress.

Pool is a FOXX vinyl liner pool, 25000 gallons approx, Fox rebranded Pentair Ultraflow pump - I just retro fitted a AO Smith 2 speed B2982 motor SF 1.65hp, rebuilt pump with new seals, basket etc, running at high speed 24/7 at the moment. Watermaid brand Saltwater chlorinator is turned off. FOXX Sand filter, 3.5 sq ft. filter rate 20GPM per sq ft (70 GPM).

About a week ago, (before finding this forum), added 22.5 lbs trichlor all at once which caused a lot of leaf debris came to surface which was removed. Tested pool water using strips, could not get meaningful results. Ordered a Taylor Complete FAS-DPD Pool Water Test Kit K-2006 by following the Amazon link on this forum - kit will be here today. Meantime picked up an OTO kit locally.

Measured pH at 6.0 (or below) using OTO kit
Added 20 Mule Team BORAX 4 boxes at a time until pH raised to 7.6 (took 16 boxes).
Pump running 24/7 high speed
Daily adding 6 gallons 6% bleach, plus additional box of Borax if/when pH drops to 7.2
Continuing to remove leaves by 'feel'
Pool is uniform 'army' green, cannot see more than 1 foot depth into pool so far.
Backwashing as needed, using least water I can get away with - I am on a well so water usage is an issue.
Retested water using strips I have lying around (now that pH is where it should be) - getting readings for ALK, CYA that are (surprisingly) within normal ranges - CYA could be totally due to the triclor I added a week ago, but will retest with Taylor kit when it arrives today.

That's it so far...

(Stuff I happen to have on hand:
15 lbs HTH Cal Hypo shock (45% Chlorine)
24 Lbs Baking Soda
24 lbs Aqua Chem Shock+
Bleach
BORAX
DE powder)

[aylad]

You need to know what your CYA level is--and then raise your chlorine to the "shock" level for that CYA reading....see the "best guess chlorine chart" linked in my sig for explanation and the chart (you may have to log out to read it until Ben finishes upgrading your registration). Hold the pool at shock level until it clears and you are no longer losing chlorine at night. Continue to dip out all the solid stuff that you can in the meantime.

Welcome to the forum!!

[gremlin]

Thanks Janet!

My strips indicate 30-50 ppm CYA, but I will test with the Taylor kit to be sure when it arrives later today.

[Watermom]

Good idea. We don't put too much faith in 'guess strips!' Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[gremlin]

My Taylor kit arrived:

pH: 7.2
CYA: 50ppm
ALK: 60ppm
Calcium: 70ppm

I'm currently adding 6 gallons grocery store bleach each evening.

[PoolDoc]

What does your pool look like, now? Is the filter having to be cleaned regularly? (it should be!)

[gremlin]

Hi Ben,

Pool *looks* much the same - opaque green. Can still see about 1 (murky) foot into it.

I have been kind of letting it run at a higher back pressure that I normally would in the hope it will filter more junk out. (Also, being on a well, I can't afford to let too much water go to waste).

Back pressure on the filter rises from 11psi to approx 20-25psi and backwashing twice per day approx puts it back to 11psi. Sand in the filter is relatively new - used one season.

I pulled out a fair amount of leaf debris in the last couple of days, probably not *too* much left in there now, but reality is there is probably still a fair amount of oganic goo in there.

My pump pulls from two places - 1 skimmer and the main drain - originally I had it pulling from the skimmer only, but after a few days I set the valve so it mostly pulls from the skimmer, but some from the drain too. Initially I was afraid the main drain would block with leaves, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

I guess its a case of keeping on keeping on...

Cheers,

Malcolm.

[TheGoose]

I was doing the same thing you are. Adding just enough bleach to not do any good.

I'm betting if you increase your bleach dose to 10-15 gallons instead of your normal 6 you'll see an immediate improvement. Right now you are just spinning your wheels.

I had to add TEN of the large jugs of Wal Mart brand Bleach before I turned the worm in my favor. After that it was pretty simple. I measured my FC at 50+ on the first day, but by day 2 it had fallen to 15 ppm. So the bleach was being used up.

[gremlin]

Goose - good idea - I'l kick it up a bit today

[Watermom]

Goose has a gunite pool. You can take a gunite pool up to high chlorine levels without much problem but it is not the same for a vinyl pool. I would not add 15 gallons of bleach to your pool. That would add about 36ppm of chlorine. Too high for a liner pool with a CYA of 50. Every gallon you add is going to add about 2.4ppm of chlorine. Use that as a reference. Also, read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.

[TheGoose]

Thanks for the clarification WM. I learn new stuff everyday.

I'm still betting that he needs to get the FC level up, he just may not be able to do it like I did. Might have to split the dosages up so you don't harm the pool.

[gremlin]

Well, I added 'more' bleach last evening than previously - a couple of hours after adding the bleach last night I was getting :

pH=7.6, FC=27ppm

this AM testing gave:

pH=7.2, FC=15ppm

Question! The best guess chart gives a 'SHOCK" level of 15ppm and a '+SHOCK+' level of 30ppm for CYA=30-50 (my CYA=50), so is a FC level between 15 and 30ppm OK as a target under 'swamp' conditions?

Pic of the pool this AM:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/gremlin556/swamppool.jpg

Thanks!

[Watermom]

If it were my vinyl pool, I probably wouldn't take the chlorine to 30ppm although it isn't gonna stay that high for long with all the gunk in the pool. Although your liner would probably be fine, I'd probably aim no higher than 20-25ppm.

Is it possible for you to test multiple times per day? If so, do that and each time, add enough bleach to take it back up. The more often you test and dose and the more consistently you keep the chlorine high, the faster the pool will clear.

Keep us posted how things are going.

[gremlin]

Ok, now testing more often...

9:00am FC=15ppm
11:00 am, I added 2.8 gallons 6% bleach

5:30pm FC=18.5ppm
added another 2 gallons 6% bleach

[Watermom]

Always test before adding bleach so you can see how much chlorine you are losing between doses.

Can you create a signature line, please, and in it put your type of pool, volume, type of filter and size of pump and what kind of kit you are using so we don't have to scroll up to find it when we are responding to your posts? See the link in my signature to use to make your signature. Thanks.

By the way, I like you avatar!

[PoolDoc]

You really, really need to clean the gook off the bottom. As long as that stuff is there, you aren't going to be able to clean it up -- especially given a CYA = 50 ppm.

[gremlin]

@PoolDoc

Yes - I really think I have most of it out of there now... tho not being able to see the bottom isn't helping...

[gremlin]

OK, where we are...

Pool 'looks' approx the same (literally NO clearer than when I started) probably a little lighter in color than it was, opaque light green, cannot see more than 12" into the water. Pool is being backwashed 3-4 times a day. I have scoured the pool for leaves and debris etc, and cannot find any significant quantities in there anymore.

Latest readings:

pH = 7.4
Alk = 140
FC = 18
CC = 3.5
CYA = 50ppm
salt @ 5200ppm

(running low on the Taylor 0871 cl test reagent!!)

at this point I've added (in total) 22.5 lbs trichlor, 15 lbs HTH Cal hypo shock, approx 80 gallons of 6% bleach, 12 lbs baking soda, and ~20 boxes 20 mule team borax.

Our well here (that I use for topping up the pool) contains IRON (clear water iron). I have recently (couple of months ago) plumbed in a new iron filter (birm media) with an 'oxygen chamber' aka a venturi (which oxidizes the iron and precipitates it into the iron filter) and a new water softener. The hose/pool water goes through the iron filter but not the softener. I am confident that this treatment system is working properly, BUT it is likely that the pool contains some iron from before when our old iron filter was not working right.

The (fiberglass molded) pool steps in the shallow end are stained orange/brown (tea colored) below the water line. This is almost certainly an iron compound (dishwasher used to get like this too). I sprinkled some 'super iron out' on the top step which has about 1/2" water covering it, and the discoloration immediately disappeared and step turned white.

At this stage I am wondering if at least some of the color in the pool is perhaps due to residual iron compounds???? It seems odd that its really no clearer that it was 2 weeks ago. (Having said that, SOMETHING is being caught in the filter).

Any thoughts?

Thanks


Malcolm.
PS WM - my cute avatar is a Google Android from squishable.c*m (no affiliation)...

[Watermom]

Cloudy green usually means algae and you also have a significant CC reading that suggests the same thing. Having said that, it could be metals as well but either way, you've got to kill the algae.

Go ahead and reorder some reagents instead of waiting until you run out. Also, quit using the trichlor. It adds CYA and your CYA is high enough.