water problems

[tshirt25]

being a pool owner for only a few years it takes a new trick each year for various problems, this year was a cover that was never put on I know I know terribly wrong and im paying for it now pool was a swamp with 15-20 big batches of leaves in it water was green thoughht about draining and starteing over but i thought i would use chemicals first. i drained about 3000 gallons of my 12000 pool (above ground ) filled with water and began to shock my still green water . had water tested to see where to go first needed calcium needed stabilizer needed PLENTY of shock 4 or 5 bags clcium hypo 4 or 5 bags shock now my green water is just milky/ cloudy pool store said to keep shoking doubling and doubling till its clear how long should this take, filter is runnig constantly backwash daily

[dallas]

I am having the same problem. I have shocked my pool several times over the weekend to kill off the algae and now my pool is milky/cloudy. The pool store recommend I use a product called Pool First Aid. I looked at the bottle but it does not list the active ingredients. Has anybody heard of this product or have any advise on how to clear up this milky mess?

[Watermom]

First let me say, welcome to the forum to both of you!

dallas -- probably best to start your own thread for replies rather than combining with this one. It is hard to help two separate problems within the same thread. Start a new thread and then I'll delete your post in this one. (Anybody who wants to reply to dallas, please do so in his new thread instead of here.)

tshirt25 -- We really need a current set of water testing results taken with a drops-based kit (no teststrips)to be able to better advise you. Repost with your numbers and somebody here can help you get this cleared up.

[tshirt25]

thanx and i appreciate the help, i look at the drop test kits and they look like chemistry sets chlorine ,bromine,hardness, alkalinity ,ph,i have only used strips but i will pick up a drop kit and test for a better reply

[Watermom]

The kit we usually recommend is the Taylor K-2006. You many find it cheaper online than in your pool store. I think in a recent thread someone bought it for under $50. If it is much past that at your local store, make do with test strips for a couple of days and buy it online.

[polyvue]

The kit we usually recommend is the Taylor K-2006. You many find it cheaper online than in your pool store. I think in a recent thread someone bought it for under $50. If it is much past that at your local store, make do with test strips for a couple of days and buy it online.
I think I would have purchased the K-2006 at one of my local pool stores (even at an inflated price!) but none of them even carried it. The best I could find was an equivalent to K-2005 (DPD) at Leslie's. Later bought the standalone FAS/DPD chlorine test (through an on-line source) to complete it.

To the member who asked about Pool First Aid, be sure the algae is dead first, since this product is just enzymes and floc (clarifier) and not designed to kill it. MSDS and information (abstract) on paper discussing properties of constituent compounds can be found here:

http://www.lesliesmsds.com/DocumentCenter.aspx?did=9388f493-fcdf-4098-9384-5e14eca292d8

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/90011286/abstract

[tshirt25]

thanx for the help and support!! well i went in search of a drop test kit ,and before plunging into 40 or 50 $ kits i went with a basic 4 test kit by poolmaster $20 bucks but i gotta tell you english and romance were my specialties in school so all this talk of cl fc cc ph is very intimidating .so im not going to lie 16x32 above ground Gibraltar pool with a 5' deep end . tested water at the 'pool store' then given 'THE LIST' calciun hardener 20 lbs, algecide ,stabilizer, 20 bags 1 lb bags of shock 68% ava. chlorine, 4 bags of shock pool goes from green to milky blue, eight bags of shock no change, dont think my jacuzzi pump and filter has a vacuum to waste feature ,but none the less i would be vaccin blind not knowing what i was picking up .... long stupid story short cl was off the chart almost a burnt orange color bought bleach !!! i know the ph reading is not going to be accurate but..hardness was at 200..,,is there such a thing as TOO much chlorine i put in three gallons earlier and im ready to put not yet just ready to put in four more gallons if i run the filter all night doesnt that defeat the purpose of dead algea settling to the bottom to be vac ?????

[aylad]

Ok, take a deep breath and relax...I know this seems complicated but you'll get it, just don't give up!!

First things first--you can take the calcium hardener back. You don't need it in a vinyl pool and with the amount of cal-hypo they have you adding, you certainly don't need to increase your calcium any more. You can also take back the algaecide--the only algaecide we recommend here is Polyquat 60%, and even then only as a preventative, because it's not as effective when there's an actual algae bloom. If it's anything other than Polyquat it's likely to either cause foaming or add copper, both of which will increase your problems, not solve them.

Keep your filter running 24/7 and brush the pool daily while you're trying to clear up the problem. Backwash your filter as the pressure rises. The chlorine is killing the algae, which is why your water turned blue--but the cloudiness is the dead algae that has to be removed by the filter. If you turn the filter off, it won't settle to the bottom, it'll just stay cloudy. In the meantime, post the numbers here that the pool store gave you for Cl, pH, TA, CYA (same thing as stabilizer). You already said your calcium hardness is 200. After we get those readings we can help you further from there.

I will say that you need to stop chorinating with cal-hypo (check your ingredient list for the packaged shock--I bet that's what it is) because it is further raising your calcium. Switch to bleach instead.

If you'll post your numbers we can help you clear it--but throwing lots of things in all at the same time isn't going to get you anywhere.

Janet

[CarlD]

Poor Guy! You've been colossally "POOL-STORED"!

That's why we exist--to make sure you NEVER get pool-stored again. They take advantage of pool owners who lack good knowledge and are scared they have "ruined" their pool and will have to drain and refill.

First: You do not and will never need to add calcium to your pool again, unless you line it with concrete and plaster! Calcium's ONLY function is to prevent the water from leeching calcium out of the concrete or plaster--and you have a vinyl-lined pool. That's why it's cloudy. And that's why you don't need calcium.

2nd: All these gazillion bags of "shock" have probably unbalanced your pH and over-added stabilizer--unless they were Cal-Hypo which adds.....calcium. You now should stick with bleach or liquid chlorine (same thing, only stronger).

3rd: We WILL need a set of numbers. The pool store should give them to you since you've just put their kids through half a semester at a private college--least they can do. We will need:

Chlorine measures
FC (Free Chlorine--the good stuff)
CC (Combined Chlorine or Chloramines--the used up stuff) OR
TC (Total Chlorine--either CC or TC is enough because TC=FC+CC and if we have 2 of the 3 we know the third)

Acidity measure:
pH: This tells us how acid, alkaline or neutral the pool is

Chlorine measures how you are sanitizing. pH measures acidity. They are the most important measures.

But the others, while ancillary, are needed, too.

T/A (Total Alkalinity--mis-named but tells us how well your water maintains pH)
CYA (Cyanuric Acid, aka, Stabilizer, aka, Conditioner. A 2-edged sword. Too little and you cannot keep FC up. Too much and you have troubles fighting algae)
CH (Calcium Hardness, or Hardness. Usually you don't care about this in a vinyl pool--unless it's too high from too much calcium flakes and/or Cal-Hypo)

That's it! Acid demand, base demand, phosphates--all those tests are USELESS

Finally: when you next go to the pool store, they will try to tell you that your phosphate level is too high and you need phosphate remover. It's expensive and you do NOT need it--but it's the latest scam to scare people and separate them from their money.

They will also try to scare you with talk of "Total Dissolved Solids" especially if they find out you are using bleach. Ignore them. Politely decline and don't waste time arguing. It's nonsense. If your TDS is too high, it's because THEY told you to put in too darned much calcium that you don't need!

Good luck!

PS: Don't feel too bad--we have ALL been pool-stored at one time or another. We've all learned from the experience. Funny thing, the pool stores NEVER figure out that if they give good guidance, people will pick out THEIR shop to buy parts, toys, pumps, and those chemicals they cannot get at the grocery store or Home Depot/Lowes.