Re: Must be doing something major wrong
Karen , I too am new to the bbb method. recently I had a small problem with not being able to hold cl levels. I added gallons of bleach to my pool everyday, and my pool looked better than i've ever seen it. But I continued to get patches of green algae around my walls across from my return jets . I knew I was fighting something so I kept adding the bleach to shock levels. Then it came to me, I have not cleaned my filter in almost two weeks while trying to fight this thing.So I turned off my pump and gave the filter a good cleaning . Needless to say I have not seen algae in my pool in two weeks. My wife can't believe how crystal clear the water is. I know this post is hidden but I want to thank you guys and gals who provide so much info for some of us new people.
Re: Must be doing something major wrong
After 5 years of struggling with my pool and the pool store who built it for me, I discovered this web sight just this past June.
My most serious problems occured this year, starting with algae coated walls when it was opened in April, and lots of trips to and money spent at the pool store. My water was cloudy and green. Then I discovered the BBB method.
What I didn't understand about shocking to clarify a pool was that the shock levels have to be maintained until the water clears. I would add some of the granulated stuff from the pool store and wait for the water to clear. Each application of this stuff (known as dichloro) probably did something (besides bumping my CYA), but my chorine would drift back down, consumed by the nasty things that were in the water, and I didn't keep adding in a timely way to maintain the chlorine content at a shock level.
I've since learned. My pool has high CYA readings, so I had to maintain the chlorine level at 25 ppm and this took lots of Chlorox. (Sorry to keep harping on the word "maintain," but, like I said, its what I didn't understand.)
My pool cleared after several days of this regimen and it sparkles now. You'd think I had a DE filter (I don't).
Patience and persistence. Its worth it.
-Jim