Strange test results, help!!

[aylad]

Here's Carl's stickied post about adding the DE..

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=3742

Janet

[lisak]

ok, here are this mornings test results:

FC 21
CC .5
pH 7.2
Alk 100
CYA 45

The color of the tests is back to normal so that's good. The FC was at 25 last night and dropped to 21 this morning (about 12 - 13 hours). The deep end is still cloudy but I can make out the bottom. I did add more water last night as the pool was low from all the vacuuming and waste. Do I need to add more chlorine at this point or will the cloudiness clear up if we keep scrubbing and vacuuming? I can see more of the dead algae and stuff on the bottom but significantly less than there has been. Thanks again for your help.

Also, my kids want to know if they can swim in it today. Any thoughts? Is the chlorine way to high for that?

[aylad]

If you had a 4 ppm chlorine loss while the sun was off the pool, then you're still fighting something in your water and need to keep it at your shock level for a little while longer. It needs to stay at shock level, as consistently as possible, until you're losing no more than 1 ppm overnight. Unfortunately, if you drop the chlorine level enough to let the kids swim, you're going to lose ground, because shocking to kill stuff in the water depends on SUSTAINED high chlorine levels. Besides, if your chlorine in the water is busy fighting something else, then it can't work on viruses and bacteria in the water, so it's really not clean enough for the kids to get in, anyway.

Keep the chlorine level up, the filter running and backwashed as needed, and it will clear up--it will just take a good-sized dose of POPP--pool owner patience and persistence!

Janet

[lisak]

That's what I thought. 21 is at or above shock level, correct? I don't need to add anything at this point? Thank you.

[Watermom]

Run your pump 24/7 and keep an eye on your filter pressure. Try the DE. It may just do the trick. Remember that it sometimes takes a little time for the pressure to rise so give it at least a half hour after you add it before deciding to add more. The first time I added DE to my filter, I didn't want wait long enough before adding more and then my pressure shot way up and I had to backwash it out and start over.

[aylad]

21 is at or above shock level, correct?

Yes, your shock level for a CYA of 45 is 15 ppm. See the "Best Guess Chart" here http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365 that we use as a guideline for shock/chlorine levels, based on your current CYA levels.

Janet

[lisak]

I want to thank you all for your help. The pool is looking much better. Still a little dead stuff on the bottom but I can clearly see the bottom of the deep end. Still not as clear as it normally is but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My numbers this morning didn't change.

FC 19
CC .5
pH 7.2
Alk 110
CYA 45
Cal 80

I am thinking that by the time the chlorine level gets down to the correct amount, the pool should be clear again. Added the DE last night. My giggle for yesterday came from the pool store down the street. They told me they don't stock DE because it is toxic but they stock a "pool store equivalent chemical". Didn't even ask what that cost, I'm sure it is at least triple the cost of DE. Called my dad the chemical engineer to ask if DE is really toxic as I hadn't heard that one before. After he got done laughing he said nope. Gotta love pool stores.

[Watermom]

Watch your filter pressure and backwash when it rises 8-10psi over clean filter pressure. Then, you'll need to reload the DE as it will backwash out. Also, run the pump 24/7 while you are trying to clear it. Glad it is looking better.

[lisak]

Pool looks great, thanks for your help! In wandering through the posts, I see numerous replies about how much bleach will raise the chlorine level 1ppm. Is there a chart for this? If not, what am I looking at for a 23000 gallon pool? I checked stickies and searched but maybe I missed it. I can't download the bleach calculator as I have a mac (i tried, it was interesting...). Thanks again.

Lisa

[lisak]

I tried that, it is a windows program and I have a mac. It didn't work.

Here are today's numbers:

FC 17
CC 1
pH 7.2
Alk 90
CYA 45

Pool looks great but chlorine is still too high to swim and dropping very slowly. Any idea how long it will take? Thanks again.