Very Green Pool

[marciastz]

We have a 25K , vinyl pool, sand filter. I years past we have almost totally used bleach for chlorination. We had a problem this year. It was losing water all winter because of a leak which turned out to be the main drain. The water is totally green now. Yesterday,we pushed some dichlor in (because that's all we had on hand)
and the top of the water turned a little foamy. Then we put in a quart of polyquat which made patches of green slime appear. I know we need to keep our shock level at about 15ppm. This morning my cya is 50, cl was 2, alk 90, ph was over 8.2 (that's as high as my test kit will go). Should I try to adjust the ph down before I continue to shock? or let it go and worry about keeping the chlorine up to 15? We are running our filter constantly and brushing often. Should I continue to use the dichlor until I get an order of liquid chlorine shipped in?

[Watermom]

Dichlor will continue to add more CYA which you really don't need since a CYA of 50ppm is a good level. However, if you have no liquid chlorine on hand and don't want to make a Walmart run to get some bleach, it is ok to use dichlor for a little while as long as you are aware that the CYA will continue to climb and are ok with that.

It is also ok to add some muriatic acid now to drop the pH a little but first please read the tab in my signature about using muriatic acid safely. Wait awhile after the addition of the acid before adding the bleach or dichlor and you will be fine.

[marciastz]

Thanks, Watermom. We were gone for the weekend so I am just now getting to read your post. Came home to a blue pool but very cloudy, still can't see the bottom. Is that possibly the dead algae? Should I get some of the flock stuff to get rid of it? or do I just need to be patient? After using dichlor to get to 15, I was happy that today's test for cl. was 12ppm, it didn't fall too much. but ph was 7.0. Don't know why the ph came down. I didn't add any acid. But today, I added about 4 or 5 cups of borax to bring it back up. Didn't do any other tests today. I realized my CYA was going to raise but hope to keep it to a minimum. If I have to I'll drain down and refill to lower Cya later. Hoping to get somewhere to get liquid chlorine tomorrow. We are in the country, 25 miles away from anywhere like walmart.

[Watermom]

Dichlor is very acidic and is probably what is pushing your pH down. Just keep an eye on it. I think you are much better off using some bleach instead of more dichlor so your CYA won't go up any further. Keep your pump running 24/7 while you are trying to clear it up. Don't be too quick to add flocs or other products. It takes time to filter out dead algae. Give it a chance.

[marciastz]

Thanks! I really appreciate the help I get on this forum! I always look here when I am not sure of myself, you do a great job for us pool owners. I will try to be patient, that's difficult for me! ha ha! I will go get some bleach today. I have only used 6% bleach in the past but I saw online that Manard's has a 12% product in a 2 gallon container for $7.48. Thought I might go that route if I can find it.

[Themadczar]

I thought ph testing was inaccurate when fc is over 10... That would explain the apparent dramatic shift in ph for no reason. Might want to let chlorine drop and retest ph...

Nevermind... Just read that the Taylor kit ph test is ok up to 15ppm chlorine.

[Watermom]

I thought ph testing was inaccurate when fc is over 10... That would explain the apparent dramatic shift in ph for no reason. Might want to let chlorine drop and retest ph...

Nevermind... Just read that the Taylor kit ph test is ok up to 15ppm chlorine.

Actually, Ben and I were discussing this very thing yesterday. In the past, there has been an inconsistency about whether it was accurate up to 10 or 15 but I think the final consensus of what we agreed to use is this:

The Taylor phenol red is good to FC=10. Above that, you can dilute 50:50 with distilled (not tap, spring, 'purified' etc. -- just distilled) water. That will allow accurate pH tests up to FC=20.

[marciastz]

Well, its been over 2 weeks since I started this thread. Our pool is looking a lot better, I can actually see the bottom in the 4-5 ft. deep water, but not in the deep end at all. It is blue but still Pretty cloudy looking. We are still running our sand filter 24/7. I kept the CL level at 15-20 for over a week but have let it go down to 7ppm now because my drop-count test shows I have NO combined chlorine. Ph is better now, 7.6, CYA is 70. My patience is running out. At walmart today I saw some hth clear power pods that say they will take the cloudy out of your water in one day. I am tempted to get some but I'm skeptical. Does anyone know if they would work or would just cause some other problem for me????

[marciastz]

Oh yea, I also put one of those filter socks in the skimmer basket. I was hoping it might help clear out the dead algae (if that is even what my problem is).

[Watermom]

What are your current TA and Ch readings?

[marciastz]

My readings today are FC-8ppm, CYA-70, PH 7.6, ALK-100, CH-140. This is the first time I have EVER tested for CH (because I was under the impression it was not necessary on vinyl pools), so I am not sure I knew what I was doing. When I added the R011L it turned a very light pink, not red, and when I started adding the R-0012 it took 10 drops to get clear and 14 drops to become a very light blue, so I called it 140. * FYI-My regeant is about 5 years old.

[Watermom]

I asked about your TA and CH because I was trying to see if they were very high and contributing to the cloudy water issue but they are fine. (You are right that calcium is not needed in a vinyl pool.)

Have you been shocking the pool and maintaining high chlorine the entire two weeks? For a CYA of 70, 8ppm is not shock level.

Have you been running your pump 24/7 and backwashing as needed?

[marciastz]

I kept the Chlorine level at 15-23ppm for the first week. Until it held its level overnight for 2 days in a row and my test showed 0 combined chlorine. Then it took several days of not adding any bleach for it to drop back down to 8ppm. Do you think I stopped too soon? Yes running pump 24/7 and backwashing when the pressure rises. Is there such as thing as backwashing too much?

[Watermom]

You should backwash whenever the pressure rises 8-10psi over clean filter pressure or you notice diminished flow from the return.

Lets do a test to make sure your sand filter is working properly. Buy the smallest bag of DE that you can find. While the pump is running, throw a handful in the skimmer and watch the return. If you see white powder shooting out of the return jet, we'll know your filter is not working. If you don't see it, it actually may help you filter out stuff a little better.


Read this for more info about that: http://pool9.net/de-test/