Going to Switch to BBB method.. just posting my current numbers for recommendation

Hello all,

I have read many of the posts in this form for over a year now. Just reading what others have gone through and how they fixed them has been invaluable. Last year I had an issue with an algae bloom when we were gone on vacation. I followed the directions from the sales person at a local pool store. It was quite the nightmare and the pool was un-swimmable during the hottest week of the year. So I have pretty much sworn off using the pool stores for help. It looks like the BBB method is a proven and effective choice. I am just looking for some recommendations and directions to start. We just opened the pool about 48hrs ago. Had to add quite a bit of water so I am having a little issue with iron oxidizing but that has filtered out quite a bit in last 24 hrs water is still a little yellow but much better. Any suggestions would be great. Pool numbers listed below.

Currently have a 24ft above ground.
Total Chlorine 5
Free Chlorine 5
PH 7.6
CYA 144 ...not happy with this, seems a little high..used the tri-clor tabs last year.
Total Alk 211
Total Hardness 310
Iron .5 (we have well water high in iron and had to add quite a bit of water this spring water)

Thanks
Jeff

Hi, and welcome!!

One thing that you'll have to deal with is the iron--you can either add metal sequestrant to keep it from falling out of suspension and staining your pool, or you can filter it out by running it through a high chlorine area just before it hits your filter--so that it falls out and stains the filter instead. If you'll take a look at some of the threads in the"metals" section ( you may have to log out to view them for a short time), there are several threads that address removing/dealing with the metals.

Metals aside, I definitely would NOT use the stabilized tabs this year. Rather, I would switch to bleach. Your CYA is very high--but can be dealt with by running higher chlorine levels to compensate. For a CYA over 100, that means keeping your chlorine ine the 8-10 ppm range to keep the algae away. Note that the metals will have to be dealt with first, though, because at chlorine levels that high, you may end up with staining if you don't. The alk is a little high, but can be lowered via the method stickied in the "alkalinity and calcium" forum, using muriatic or dry acid.

Hope this helps--at least should point you in the right direction!!

Janet