Virginia Swamp!

My pool has been unused for 2 years and uncovered and is a swamp in progress.

Pool is a FOXX vinyl liner pool, 25000 gallons approx, Fox rebranded Pentair Ultraflow pump - I just retro fitted a AO Smith 2 speed B2982 motor SF 1.65hp, rebuilt pump with new seals, basket etc, running at high speed 24/7 at the moment. Watermaid brand Saltwater chlorinator is turned off. FOXX Sand filter, 3.5 sq ft. filter rate 20GPM per sq ft (70 GPM).

About a week ago, (before finding this forum), added 22.5 lbs trichlor all at once which caused a lot of leaf debris came to surface which was removed. Tested pool water using strips, could not get meaningful results. Ordered a Taylor Complete FAS-DPD Pool Water Test Kit K-2006 by following the Amazon link on this forum - kit will be here today. Meantime picked up an OTO kit locally.

Measured pH at 6.0 (or below) using OTO kit
Added 20 Mule Team BORAX 4 boxes at a time until pH raised to 7.6 (took 16 boxes).
Pump running 24/7 high speed
Daily adding 6 gallons 6% bleach, plus additional box of Borax if/when pH drops to 7.2
Continuing to remove leaves by 'feel'
Pool is uniform 'army' green, cannot see more than 1 foot depth into pool so far.
Backwashing as needed, using least water I can get away with - I am on a well so water usage is an issue.
Retested water using strips I have lying around (now that pH is where it should be) - getting readings for ALK, CYA that are (surprisingly) within normal ranges - CYA could be totally due to the triclor I added a week ago, but will retest with Taylor kit when it arrives today.

That's it so far...

(Stuff I happen to have on hand:
15 lbs HTH Cal Hypo shock (45% Chlorine)
24 Lbs Baking Soda
24 lbs Aqua Chem Shock+
Bleach
BORAX
DE powder)

You need to know what your CYA level is--and then raise your chlorine to the "shock" level for that CYA reading....see the "best guess chlorine chart" linked in my sig for explanation and the chart (you may have to log out to read it until Ben finishes upgrading your registration). Hold the pool at shock level until it clears and you are no longer losing chlorine at night. Continue to dip out all the solid stuff that you can in the meantime.

Welcome to the forum!!

Thanks Janet!

My strips indicate 30-50 ppm CYA, but I will test with the Taylor kit to be sure when it arrives later today.

Good idea. We don't put too much faith in 'guess strips!' Welcome to the Pool Forum!

My Taylor kit arrived:

pH: 7.2
CYA: 50ppm
ALK: 60ppm
Calcium: 70ppm

I'm currently adding 6 gallons grocery store bleach each evening.

What does your pool look like, now? Is the filter having to be cleaned regularly? (it should be!)

Hi Ben,

Pool *looks* much the same - opaque green. Can still see about 1 (murky) foot into it.

I have been kind of letting it run at a higher back pressure that I normally would in the hope it will filter more junk out. (Also, being on a well, I can't afford to let too much water go to waste).

Back pressure on the filter rises from 11psi to approx 20-25psi and backwashing twice per day approx puts it back to 11psi. Sand in the filter is relatively new - used one season.

I pulled out a fair amount of leaf debris in the last couple of days, probably not *too* much left in there now, but reality is there is probably still a fair amount of oganic goo in there.

My pump pulls from two places - 1 skimmer and the main drain - originally I had it pulling from the skimmer only, but after a few days I set the valve so it mostly pulls from the skimmer, but some from the drain too. Initially I was afraid the main drain would block with leaves, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

I guess its a case of keeping on keeping on...

Cheers,

Malcolm.

I was doing the same thing you are. Adding just enough bleach to not do any good.

I'm betting if you increase your bleach dose to 10-15 gallons instead of your normal 6 you'll see an immediate improvement. Right now you are just spinning your wheels.

I had to add TEN of the large jugs of Wal Mart brand Bleach before I turned the worm in my favor. After that it was pretty simple. I measured my FC at 50+ on the first day, but by day 2 it had fallen to 15 ppm. So the bleach was being used up.

Goose - good idea - I'l kick it up a bit today

Goose has a gunite pool. You can take a gunite pool up to high chlorine levels without much problem but it is not the same for a vinyl pool. I would not add 15 gallons of bleach to your pool. That would add about 36ppm of chlorine. Too high for a liner pool with a CYA of 50. Every gallon you add is going to add about 2.4ppm of chlorine. Use that as a reference. Also, read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.