Time to Take My Pool Back from Leslie's

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Originally Posted by pentachris

; I added probably 15 little scoops of that powder and it barely gave the water a faint tinge of color.

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Don't do that; if it doesn't turn pink with 2 scoops, it's not going to turn pink. If you want to confirm a reading, use OTO drops, which are not super accurate but are extremely reliable.

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CH is ~700. Yes, really. I followed the instructions in the Taylor testing instructional video about avoiding interference in a CH test. A few weeks ago, Leslie's told me they couldn't accurately read my CH and sent me home with a bottle of "Metal Free." After doing some reading around here, I wonder if it's because of the insane amount of Power Powder Pro (calcium hypochlorite)

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Actually, with a sand filter, if you'll remove any chemicals or tabs from your skimmer, you can LOWER your CH by adding the cal hypo via the skimmer. You must be 100% certain that there are no OTHER chemicals the cal hypo will contact, before you do this! And do it cautiously -- small doses -- at first, to make sure the calcium doesn't blow through your filter.

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CYA was less than 30. Of course, it's hard to tell when it's outside of the range of your testing equipment, but if I had to guess based on level of opacity, I'd guess ~10. Maybe the trichlor tabs would be sufficient if my CYA were better??

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If you have access to a Sams Club, go get a box of their PoolBrand 1# dichlor bags. Otherwise, order dichlor from Amazon:Kem-Tek Dichlor 22 lbs. The dichlor can be dumped straight into your pool, and will raise both CYA and chlorine. Dichlor is cheaper than liquid CYA . . . even if you count ONLY the CYA content, and not the chlorine.

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My wife is having folks over this Saturday (5 days from now), so it's imperative that I keep it swimmable until then, or return it to swimmability by then.

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Use the cal hypo -- test the small doses and then work up to 5 ppm overnight skimmer doses as quickly as you can. Ironically dosing this way will actually INCREASE your pool's clarity, though you'll have to backwash more often.

If you like liquid CYA and you don't mind paying the price, it's fine to use.

An alternative is dichlor, it will chlorinate (you need chlorine!) and add CYA. Dichlor will tend to push pH down so if you use it, have some Borax on hand to return the pH. I would be very careful about raising pH above where it is now (7.4) with the CH you've got. One pound of dichlor will raise your FC by a little more than 3ppm and your CYA by 3ppm.

OOPS! PoolDoc was posting at the same time as me. His advice about dropping your CH by dosing cal-hypo in the skimmer sounds good.

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

Actually, with a sand filter, if you'll remove any chemicals or tabs from your skimmer, you can LOWER your CH by adding the cal hypo via the skimmer. You must be 100% certain that there are no OTHER chemicals the cal hypo will contact, before you do this! And do it cautiously -- small doses -- at first, to make sure the calcium doesn't blow through your filter.

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Other chemicals such as what? How would I tell?

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Originally Posted by pentachris

Other chemicals such as what? How would I tell?

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skimmer tabs

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. . . or ANYTHING else. Basically, your skimmer needs to be clean and empty of anything except pool water, when you add cal hypo. AND, you must NOT have a feeder of any kind between the skimmer and the filter. (Downstream of the filter is OK.)

Ah, I see. I thought you were referring to other chemicals dissolved in the pool water.

I'll keep it sanitized with the cal-hypo for now, going through the skimmer slowly and watching the outlets for blow-through. Maybe it will tell me on the pail, but does anyone know what the dosage rate is (X ounces will increase Y gallons of water by Z ppm free chlorine or whatever)? It's 73%.

My wife has a Sam's membership with her employer, so we'll make time soon to go get some dichlor.

I'll post back here with updates/questions.

Thanks again.

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Never mind my dosage question. I came home for lunch and found the answer on the bucket. X=1, Y=5000, Z=1.

I slowly added 12 oz through the skimmer closer to the filter and did not notice any blow-through.

I am starting to see a tinge of yellow around the edges.

I'll test, add more cal-hypo if necessary to get to 5 ppm and brush well this evening.

Sample taken at dusk (87.0 degrees F, just for grins and giggles), showed 1.2 ppm FC. I added 16 oz of cal-hypo, waited an hour, and tested to confirm that I'd raised it by the desired ~ 4 ppm. It came in at 5.4 ppm.

I also brushed it well at about 5:30.

You know, if I'd just gotten rid of the dead algae to begin with, paid attention to the instructions on the cal-hypo bucket, and used that to sanitize the whole time, I probably wouldn't be in this mess. Imagine that - read the instructions! :/

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Originally Posted by pentachris

You know, if I'd just gotten rid of the dead algae to begin with, paid attention to the instructions on the cal-hypo bucket, and used that to sanitize the whole time, I probably wouldn't be in this mess. Imagine that - read the instructions! :/

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Not quite.

If you follow the instructions on the bucket, you'll eventually end up with massive calcium levels over time. Adding via the skimmer will avoid that, but the companies aren't going to explain, because of the hazard if you put cal hypo in skimmer that has a trichlor tab or something else in it.

Tested this evening at 0.8 ppm FC, 0.2 ppm CC.

I added 16 oz of cal-hypo again, and this time I noticed that the water coming out of the outlet was cloudy. I'm guessing that's the blow-through, and I'll need to replace the filter sand. With the pipe cutting required, and the advantage of installing unions as was previously mentioned, I'm thinking I'll probably hire this job out.

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Originally Posted by pentachris

I'm guessing that's the blow-through

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Don't jump to that conclusion. Not all of the calcium in cal hypo is insolubles that can be filtered. To actually test your filter, get couple of pounds of DE powder, and put THAT in your skimmer (it won't react with cal hypo). If the DE blows through, it's a filter problem. Otherwise not.

Your CH level is so high, the soluble portion of cal hypo can still trigger some precipitation, visible as cloudiness.

ALSO, a sand filter will not grab the cal hypo insolubles well just after it's backwashed. When using cal hypo this way, you want to back wash as much as you have to -- 7 - 10 psi pressure rise, but no more than that.

Makes sense. Speaking of which...

Should I be seeing pressure rise as I'm removing CH from the water? My pressure has been pretty constant for several days. How does adding cal-hypo to the skimmer remove CH from the water?