little bit of green

[vinper]

I keep adding bleach every few days but I still getting some green algea drive my wife crazy . gonna add 3 bags chlor bright tonight over 24hrs period . here my readings from leslies FAC .5 TAC .5 CH 220 CYA 20 TA 100 PH 7.8 COPPER 0 TDS 1500 PHO 200 . They trying to sell me green to clean, and phos product.... 17,000 gln, plaster, DA filter2hp

[kelemvor]

In order to kill the algae that's turning things green, you need to dose to "shock" level based on your CYA. Fortunately, there's a chart for that. (http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/best-guess-swimming-pool-chlorine-chart.html#a). At 20cya you only need to get (and keep) your FC level above 12ppm until you can go from sundown one day until sunup the next day without losing more than 1ppm FC.

To do that, you need to be able to test your own water - you'll need a k-2006 or similar test kit. You can find links to buy them from amazon (or any other site you like will do) here: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?14994-How-to-Get-the-Right-Testkits-for-your-Pool

You also don't necessarily need to be using dichlor powder (chlor bright is dichlor). You can use liquid chlorine or plain unscented household bleach (e.g. clorox) and save a lot of money on chemicals.

I would NOT put green to clean or phos-free or any other products in the pool. If you maintain proper chlorine levels, then phosphates become completely irrelevant.


So, while cleaning up, run your pump 24x7 - clean the filter when it gets 10psi over the "clean" pressure. Dose chlorine as often as you can to keep it consistently over 12ppm. you'll have a clean pool pretty quickly, and for less money than you would if you put other stuff like phosphate removers in there.

Once you get it cleaned up, you need to keep your chlorine level above 2ppm in order to prevent algae in the future - that's also based on the chart I linked above.

[CarlD]

kelemvor is correct but you do have other options if you cannot get hold of the K-2006 or equiv quickly. However, you DO need to raise your FC significantly. As you have a hard-sided pool, you don't have to worry about liner bleaching so 12ppm is the MINIMUM shock level...you can go to 20 or 30 without a problem. Since CYA is a bit low, you CAN use Di-chlor powder to shock, but LC/Bleach is faster.

Meanwhile, you CAN test your TC level right now. Somewhere on Forum, Ben has a color guide for OTO that takes you far beyond the 3 or 5ppm. If your water is yellow pushing orange, your FC is probably high enough, close to 20. Very, VERY dark yellow may be higher than 12.

Or you can use the "Patented" CarlD ShotGlass method. For this you'll need a clear pyrex measuring cup, a CLEAN shot glass, and a bottle of steam distilled water, available at grocery and chain drug stores. Put one shot glass of pool water in the mixing cup. Add two shots of distilled water. NOW triple the scale on the OTO cell. So if it reads 3, it's actually 9. If it reads 5, it's really 15. If you use 3 shots of distilled water again, a measure of 3 means 12 ppm.

But you WILL need to check your FC 2 or 3 times a day to kill your algae bloom.

[vinper]

Im BBB ,I have been using bleach only but been putting in alot lately and it doesnt stay , I have a test kit. last year my CYA was over 100 . so I am carefull not to add stuff with stabilizer. I used some pucks last week and my CYA is up to 20 was 0.. I have3 bags of dichlor and 1.5 gallon of 8.25% bleach at the house

[vinper]

I guess I need to get this FC up up up

[CarlD]

It will take a gallon of 12% Liquid Chlorine just to raise your FC by 7ppm. A gallon of 8.25% will only raise FC 4.8/4.9ppm---not nearly enough. You'll need three, just for one dose!

[BigDave]

How'd you measure a CYA of 20? If that's right - the Texas sun might be contributing to your FC loss.

[vinper]

with the little black dot kit... I cant keep up with all this bleach handling , looking at the liquidator

[Watermom]

With a CYA of 20, it is hard for any pool to keep a chlorine reading through a hot sunny day. You will want to take your CYA on up. We usually suggest about 50 for most pools but some people in really hot climates deliberately keep their CYA at around 80. One of the other mods, Aylad, lives in Louisiana and probably has about the same temps as you. She runs her CYA at about 80, otherwise she finds that she can't keep chlorine in the pool. By running it little high, she also finds that she doesn't have to add bleach every day. Something to consider.