Frustrated with algae and chlorine

[mnhwinn]

Yes, great, was able to get to it that way....

One more question - should I wait for the kit to arrive before starting to dump in the bleach? Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to moniter a chlorine leverl over 3ppm with my kit.

[Watermom]

No, don't wait. You can use your cheap kit in the meantime and force it to go higher with a dilution method until your kit arrives. Read more about it in this thread:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...5545#post65545

[mnhwinn]

Ok, will start dumping my massive amounts of bleach in tonight. Will keep you posted.... thanks so much for your help!

[mnhwinn]

sorry! One more question: do I take out the chlorine floater with the tabs in it?

[Watermom]

It is fine to keep it in. Your CYA is low so that tab will also be adding CYA as well as chlorine. Just make sure it is away from where the bleach is being poured in. You will not want to use the tabs indefinitely, however. Once your CYA gets to around 40, I wouldn't use any more trichlor tabs. Probably run your CYA test again in a couple of weeks and see where it is. Don't want the CYA to get too high or that starts a whole different set of problems.

[mnhwinn]

Ok, added 4 gallons of bleach last night, left the pump running all night and day and is still currently on. Was unable to test the water until this evening when I got home from work. CL level test this evening is 0.3!!! Where do I go from here? Should I add another 4 gallons, and test every 4 hours? Problem is, I'm at work for a majority of the day - including tomorrow.

[Watermom]

As often as you possibly can, add enough bleach to get back to shock level. There is no such thing as doing it too often. The more often, the faster it will clear up.

[mnhwinn]

Ok, looks like I'm on my way to getting this resolved! Thanks so much! I have been able to moniter the pool for the last 24 hours checking frequently, and it seems that it is getting better. Is is at least holding chlorine for several hours at a time now. My question now is, I am leaving for vacation in a week and am wondering what I will need to do to keep it clear. I plan to clean the filters when the pool is holding the chlorine at 15 ppm from sun up to sun down (hoping that will be within the next 4 days), and then after that, what are your recommendations before I leave on vacation?

[CarlD]

If it's not clear before you leave then it will be tough and I'm not sure what to tell you other than keep the pump running and have someone add chlorine everyday. If you can keep it covered as well that should help.

If it is clear then I suggest the following steps.
1) Make sure you test values are where you want them.
2) Add 1 quart of Polyquat 60% and wait 48 hours.
3) boost your FC to shock level and cover the pool
4) have someone add a gallon of bleach every other day

That should hold....and that's what I do.