Howdy PoolDoc and Watermom!

[ScubaSteve]

Hello all,

Just got a lake house that came with a chlorine sanitized pool. I know almost nothing, but am learning - have ordered a Taylor test kit, and wanted to go ahead and register for the inevitable questions I'll have in the near future. Until then, thanks for creating this forum, and all the great information I've already found here.

Some basic info on my situation (may be revised as the pool volume is an estimate from the previous owner):

-25,000 gal in-ground vinyl lined pool (3 foot shallow end, 9 foot deep end), rectangular
-2 inflow jets near water surface, 1 outflow through skimmer basket (not the best configuration for such a deep pool, but nothing I can do about that now)
-Hayward S220T sand filter, not sure about the pump

I've already messed up spectacularly by letting the chlorine drop out, which resulted in a green (algae?) and cloudy appearance, so I went to the pool store the previous owner had an account at, brought them a sample and followed their recommendations to increase alkalinity (baking soda) and shock + black algetrine. This resulted in a superchlorinated, but cloudy mess that my filter is having trouble resolving, so followed up with clarifier (didn't work, of course). Then I found this forum, and I've read enough to realize the mistakes I've already made, but I'd say the chief one was trusting the pool store's water analysis and subsequent recommendations.

So, I'm waiting on my test kit to arrive, and in the meantime vacuuming my big blue milkbowl :). I imagine I'll primarily be lurking for a while, just wanted to say hi.

[Watermom]

Hi back at ya!

Good decision to order the Taylor kit. But, in the meantime, go to Walmart and see if they have the HTH 6-Way drops-based kit (no test strips!) and get that. If they don't, get an OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) instead. Use it to test and then post your numbers. Also while you are at WallyWorld, get a bunch of jugs of their generic 8.25% bleach and a couple of boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle).

Post some good numbers for us to look at (and tell us what kit you used) and then someone here will try and help.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[ScubaSteve]

Got my Taylor 2006 Test kit today, went to the lake house and did some upkeep:

1. The water is still cloudy, with what I presume to be dead algae scattered across the vinyl (bleached out looking grey particulate). A few areas had accumulated more than others, vacuumed as much of it as I could. The pump and filter have been and still are running continuously 24/7. Filter is a Hayward S220T, starting pressure when I arrived this morning was 16 psi, and as I've only owned house a few weeks will have to assume that is my baseline pressure. I had to stop and backwash/rinse 3 times while vacuuming because the suction and water jet outflow would drop off, and during these times the gauge read ~24 psi. As cloudy as the water is/was, I could still barely see the bottom of the deep end (~9 ft), and the accumulations of debris on the bottom did not seem that great to me; is it normal to have to backwash that often?

2. The results of the Taylor 2006 Tests are listed below:
-Free Chlorine: 14 ppm
-Combined Chlorine: 1 ppm
-pH: 7.8
-Acid Demand(to 7.4): 4
-Total Alkalinity: 185 ppm
-CYA: 60 ppm

Put two "3 Chlorine Tablets in the skimmer basket before I left, as I will likely not be able to return until Friday. This weekend lake house is 45 minutes away, and while I understand responsible pool ownership requires attentiveness, I am hoping I can strike a middle ground between best practices and neglect that will allow me to enjoy the pool without making 3 trips out there per week.

Based on the above, if there is any information/advice you can give, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks

[Watermom]

Unfortunately, three trichlor pucks aren't going to do anything for you as far as clearing this pool. Once it is clear, we can help you maintain it without daily trips out there, but to clear it up, it's gonna be tough.

To clear the pool, you need to be keeping your chlorine at shock level until you can satisfy two requirements.
1) You can go from sundown to within one hour of sunrise without losing more than 1ppm or chlorine

AND

2) You have no more than 0.5ppm of CC.

With algae, as Ben likes to say, "If you aren't winning, you're losing." I hate to say it, but when you return on Friday, you may be right back where you were.

Any way you can bite the bullet for a few days and make that trip daily until the pool clears up?

[ScubaSteve]

I'll definitely take the necessary trips out there to do what's needed.

1. For a CC of 1, are we talking "shock" level, or "shock+" level?
2. Is there reason to be concerned with the high levels of CYA or Alkalinity?

Thanks

[Watermom]

Shock level is what you want. Every evening, test your chlorine readings. Add enough bleach to take your chlorine back to shock level which for a CYA of 60 is 20ppm. Ideally, you want to also test it in the morning within one hour of sunrise and when you get to the point where you are losing no more than 1ppm of chlorine overnight and have no more than 0.5ppm then we usually advise one additional day of shock level. Then, let it drift down and keep it in range per the Best Guess Chart. http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

For reference and to help you figure out how big of a bleach dose you need to get back to shock level, in a 25K gallon pool, each 121-oz jug of 8.25% bleach will add about 3ppm of chlorine.

(Since this is not at your home, I realize that you may not be able to do the morning testing or maybe you can. ??)

Hopefully, it won't take more than a couple of days.

A CYA reading of 60 is not too high. In fact, after you get this all cleared up, you may want to consider taking your CYA higher since you are not there to do daily checks. Having a higher CYA level allows you to run higher chlorine levels which ultimately will allow you to dose less often than a lower CYA pool. That may work in your situation but first get this current problem cleared up.

Don't worry about the alk right now.

[ScubaSteve]

Sounds like a plan. Thanks very much for your help!

[Watermom]

Keep us posted how things are going. If you need any further help, we'll be here! :)

[ScubaSteve]

Will do, and thanks again.

[PoolDoc]

. . . membership updated.