Another newbie with a pool filled with limeade!

OK, so it is not limeade, but it sure looked that way - LOL.

I have been lurking here and have gotten quite a few tips and tricks. Thank you to all that post here.

I have been disabled due to injury for the past 6 months so therefore pool care was not an option. I am now getting around again but unfortunately, my pool demonstrates all the signs of my ignoring it by turning my once crystal blue water into, well, limeade. There was algae growing on the sides of the pool.

Here are the particulars - gunite in-ground pool, irregular shaped, approx 11,500 gallons, cartridge style water filter, chlorine tablet feeder.

I do not have a home test kit so I rely on the pool store for my numbers. So the first numbers I got were before I did anything so I could get a baseline:

FC - 0
TC - 0
PH - 7.4
TOT ALK - 100
CALCIUM HARDNESS 300
STABILIZER - 100
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS - 700

So, before reading about the downsides of the chlorine pucks here, I panicked and dropped four into the feeder to get some chlorine in the pool. I then regained my composure and started reading posts. I went to the local ALDI and bought 12 of their bottles of bleach ($1.09/ 3 quart container - Huge thanks to whoever mentioned ALDI on another thread, not alot of extra cash to be had on a disability check.) I added 4 bottles, or 3 gallons of bleach. Had the water tested the following day, and the numbers came out to this:

FC - 4.0
TC - 4.0
PH - 7.7
TOT ALK - 100
CALCIUM HARDNESS - 330
STABILIZER - 100
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS - 700

Of course, I was not satisfied so I added another 2 bottles (1..5 gallons) of bleach. I do not have new numbers yet, but will have them tested tomorrow when I can get to the pool store.

Needless to say I did clean the filter, brushed and vacuumed the pool.

So my concern is the creeping rise of the pH level. The pool store recommended a quart of muriatic acid (I know better from listening to you fine folks as to what to actually use - LOL). However, it has been my experience that if I start playing with pH levels to adjust it by a .1 or .2, I wind up going too far in one direction and then too far back the other way. Thoughts or suggestions?

Also, I assume my stabilizer levels are way in excess of the 100 since that is the max of the measurement, but I have learned my lesson regarding the chlorine tablets.

Thanks for putting up with my rambling post - am I on the right track, what should I do next? The water is clearing, significantly. I am still concerned about locking in the correct chemical balance though.

Hi and Welcome!

Your situation isn't unusual. And the solution isn't tough.

For the moment, concentrate on 3 things:

pH
Chlorine levels
Stabilizer.

What drives me crazy about pool stores is they will tell you to put in a quart of Muriatic Acid, but never even MENTION to you that your stabilizer levels are SO high you won't get your pool clear unless you raise chlorine levels much, MUCH higher.

Our normal recommendation for a CYA /Stabilizer level of 100 is to drain off half your water an refill, which will lower it to 50 and is much easier to manage.

But you CAN clear up a pool with CYA=100--it's just going to take a lot of bleach.

Meantime, put those chlorine tablets away! They are the culprit behind your high CYA levels. Don't use them again, and don't use Di-Chlor powdered chlorine either. And, with your levels of Calcium Hardness, the third dry chlorine option, Cal-Hypo (sold as packets of "shock") isn't a good option either. Only bleach or liquid chlorine will do.

So, here's what I recommend if you cannot drain half the water off and refill.
1) Add 1 CUP (not quart) of muriatic acid to bring down the pH--don't add more till you've re-tested.

2) Add lots of bleach. You need to get your Free Chlorine level to 25ppm! That's right--that's the correct shock level. To do that you'll need to 5 gallons of 6% bleach (if the pool store has 12.5% liquid chlorine add 2 of those instead--same stuff as bleach, stronger concentration.) Since you have a plaster pool, going over the 25 level by a little is no big deal--don't worry about it.

If you DO decide to drain half and refill, then don't add the acid. DO add 2 gallons of 6% bleach.

Retest the water after the refill and we'll go from there.

Meanwhile, we tell EVERYONE this: Go on line and get your own test kit and test your water. The BEST kit is the Taylor K-2006 or K-2006C (larger amounts of test chems) but the Leslies FAS-DPD Chlorine Service Test Kit is just as good as it's a clone of the Taylor kit.

You can get the Taylor kit from Taylortechnologies dot com or amatoind dot com (best pricing). The leslie's kit is available from Lesliespool dot com. You cannot find the K-2006 in stores, though sometimes they have the K-2005--DON'T BUY IT.

You'll pay between $50 and $70 for the kit and it will be the best investment in pool care you ever make. It will pay for itself year after year many times over.

Also remember that the cya could be much higher than 100 since that is as high as the tester can differentiate. If it is, draining half will not put your cya at 50, but you won't know that until you drain. Sometimes when it is way over 100, it takes a couple of drain/refill cycles to get it to a more manageable level. I'd probably drain 2/3 instead of 1/2. Like Carl said, you can run a high cya pool but it won't be as easy to manage as if you just go ahead and do a partial drain and refill.

Thanks for the replies so far --

OK, could not drain the pool and did not add muriatic acid because, well, I thought I had some and I didn't. Added another 2 gallons of chlorine yesterday. Got updated numbers today:

CC - 0.0
FC - 5.0
TC - 5.0
PH - 7.7
TOT ALK - 120
CALCIUM HARDNESS - 320
STABILIZER - 95
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS - 700

The differences are Total ALK is up to the top limit of the store's measurement limit, stabilizer has dropped.

The water is crystal clear and honestly, hasn't looked this good in awhile. The filter has been running 24/7 since last Friday. I know I still need to raise the chlorine levels according to the matrix listed elsewhere and also address the pH. I intend to only put a cup of muriatic acid in as recommended above. I just wanted to note that when my pH first hit 7.7 the store said ad a quart of muriatic acid, today, with the very sam pH level, they said to add 1.5 quarts?!?!

Just added 2 more gallons of chlorine. Do I need to worry about the Total ALK, I read elsewhere it can be a bear to bring down, or will it eventually adjust itself? I live in Central Florida, so between the heat/sun and the almost daily afternoon thunderstorms, the water is impacted by something - evaporation causing refill by hose from city supplied water or rain water adding inches to the pool water level over the course of a couple of weeks. So it seems the water readings are always in a state of flux, rarely stable unless I am on it every few days.

Ordered the Taylor kit as recommended - no cheap option, but will pay for itself over time I am sure.

Finally, my question is this, when can the pool be opened for people to use it? I have kept everyone out but now the water is so clear, the kids (ok, the wife - LOL) don't understand why they cannot jump in.

With a CC of 0 and clear water, no excessive chlorine demand, I'd go ahead and get in it. Up your chlorine just a bit first--with a CYA of 95, if you don't keep your chlorine at least 8 ppm, it won't be long before it looks like limeade again. But keep it between 8-15 ppm and you shouldn't have a problem.
Your pH and TA can be addressed at the same time, using the information from the sticky in the "Alkalinity and Calcium" forum--but for right now, there's no reason why you can't swim in it--neither of your readings are critical.

You won't be sorry about buying the test kit, I promise--I can't tell you how much money, time, frustration, and lost swim time you're saving yourself by being able to test and control your own pool!!

Janet

Added 2 gallons of chlorine and cup of muriatic acid, went to pool store and -sigh- here are my numbers:

CC - 0.0
FC - 5.0
TC - 5.0
PH - 7.8
TOT ALK - 90
CALCIUM HARDNESS - 275
STABILIZER - 100
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS - 900

I guess my question is how can I see numbers jump around like this AND pH go up? Is it just tester error at the pool store? I really cannot wait for the Taylor test kit to show up. Hopefully it just needs to settle down but I don't get why the chlorine stayed constant and the pH went UP by adding muriatic acid.

Regardless, pool water looks beautifully clear and blue. Thanks for all the help.

My guess would be tester error--it's amazing that you can take the same water sample to 3 different stores and get 3 different test results. Actually, your test numbers are closer to consistent than they usually are! That's why we always recommend that you do your own testing--so you know you can trust your numbers. And if you're going to test your own water, you may as well get a comprehensive kit that tests for everything you need--hence the recommendation for the Taylor kit.

Either way, I see nothing wrong with your numbers that would prevent me swimming in the water, except that your chlorine still needs to come up a little bit.

Janet

Hi MCO . ..

I'm not sure what you mean by your numbers jumping around. They look really stable to me.

7.4 7.8 7.7 7.7
100 90 120 100
300 275 320 330
100 100 95 100
700 900 700 700

That's very stable, and well within the limits of error for most GOOD test kits and pool test methods.

To put it another way, if you put a gallon jug of pool water in your fridge, kept it sealed, and then took a sample of the water to be tested 4 days in a row . . . you'd expect to see as much variability as you show, simply from intrinsic testing error.

Ben
"PoolDoc"