Trying to learn to adjust chemicals

[onemsmom]

I'm still trying to learn to adjust my chemicals myself. Here's what I tested this a.m.

I'm a 24'round above ground (13,000gals)

4.4 FC
no CC
7.8 pH
1 drop acid demand
150 TA
225 Ch
49/50 CYA

Also, FYI, I just fought off another algae bloom & pool is quite cloudy - never even cleared up from last time.

I think I need to do the following:

1/2 gal chlorine
1c muriatic acid
8.36 lb sodium bisulfate ???? (should I do this?)

Also - should I try a clarifier for cloudiness? Not sure how I can clear this up. Pump is running continuously - is not clearing up. I was reading about having too strong of a pump for the filter (blowing right back into water) - could this be the problem? My pump is 1.5 hp. Filter is a Hayward C-900.

Thanks very much,

Jennifer

[aylad]

Congratulations on taking control of your own pool. Looks like you've done a good bit of the homework and almost have it down!!

There are lots of reasons why your water could be cloudy. One of them is that the dead algae from the last outbreak never got cleared up, and with a 1/5 hp pump on a 13K gallon pool, I'd say that you very well may have too much pump. In that case, using a clarifier isn't going to help much, because it'll still just blow back into the pool. I'm assuming the filter is a cartridge? Might want to consider carefully inspecting it to see if there's any evidence of rips, tears, etc. that might be letting stuff through. Also, dirty filters tend to clean better than clean ones--are you possibly cleaning it too often? If the problem is oversized pump, then your better bet might be to shut the pump off and let all the stuff settle to the bottom, then vac it out, especially if you can do so to waste and bypass the filter.

Another possiblity for cloudy water may be your calcium, which is a little high, combined with high pH and TA. Those two levels being high can make the calcium precipitate out of the water. I would use the muriatic, but only enough to drop your pH to 7.0-7.2. That will drop your TA at the same time. Then aerate the pool by pointing your returns up or attaching a fountain (or filling it with splashing kids) to bring your pH back up a little while leaving your alk down. If the problem is due to higher calcium, that might help to clear it up some. (I wouldn't use any cal-hypo products for chlorination). Don't use the muriatic AND the sodium bisulfate, because they will both bring pH down. If you're more comfortable with the dry acid, you could use that instead of the muriatic, but it takes much more to get the job done, and adding dry powder to an already cloudy pool is going to make it difficult to determine if the problem is better or worse.''

I would leave the clarifier alone for now, use what you know you need, and see how that does first.

Janet

[onemsmom]

Thanks very much, those were a lot of great ideas - we will get started on them.

Jennifer

[onemsmom]

Two more questions....

How long should I have it at 7.0/7.2 before I start aerating it (I have a fountain I can turn on) and

Is it safe for the kids/us to swim in it when the pH is that low, or should I wait to swim until it comes back up?

Thanks,

Jenn

[Watermom]

As soon as you get it down to 7.0-7.2 you can go ahead and start aerating. Also, there is no problem swimming with pH at that level.

[CarlD]

I don't think that even with that TA and CH level your cloudiness is coming from them. That's more likely to happen when CH is at or above 400 and TA is approaching 200.

However, I'm not convinced your algae is all gone unless your FC is at 4.4 after having kept the pool at a shocking level of 15 for a few days. If you haven't done that, then you'll need to push it to 15 to kill the last of the algae.

Definitely too much pump for the pool, and probably the cart filter. A 3/4 hp is MORE than enough, generally, for 13,000 gallons. You can fix it by replacing the filter with a larger one capable of handling the pump's gal per min output.

[onemsmom]

Can I just put a new FILTER in, or would I replace the whole filter unit?

[onemsmom]

Also,

Today, the #'s are:

2.5 FC
7.8 pH, 2 drops acid demand to 2.4
TA 130
Ca 300

After the aerating thing, it did get completely clear, but is now just slightly cloudy. The water is not green, but I have a little green sediment on the bottom after the filter/pump were off overnight.

I notcied the TA went down, but the Ca went up.

I am going to add the bleach & MA right now.

FYI - The tri-chlor puck has NOT been in the pool.

Do you think I need to do the "keep it up to 15 for several days" thing again? Or just keep on with the normal Chlorine/pH adjustments?

Jennifer
24' round above ground, 13,000 gal

[aylad]

After the aerating thing, it did get completely clear, but is now just slightly cloudy. The water is not green, but I have a little green sediment on the bottom after the filter/pump were off overnight.

I notcied the TA went down, but the Ca went up.

I am going to add the bleach & MA right now.

FYI - The tri-chlor puck has NOT been in the pool.

Do you think I need to do the "keep it up to 15 for several days" thing again? Or just keep on with the normal Chlorine/pH adjustments?

Jennifer
24' round above ground, 13,000 gal

You have to have a little patience when clearing up an algae bloom. If you shock the pool and don't keep it at shock level long enough to kill all the algae, then you're just wasting time and money. You need to shock it to 15 ppm and hold it there until 1) all the green is gone, 2) your combined chlorine is zero, AND 3) the water is clear. Only after all three indicators are met, should you let the chlorine come back down. And even then, you don't want it to ever get below 3 ppm. Letting it get below 3 ppm with a CYA of 50 is an invitation for the algae to come right back in. "The aeration thing" is not to clear the water up, but rather to raise your pH back up after you've added acid to lower TA. You can try turning the pump off overnight to let the stuff settle and then vacuum it to waste, or keep the filter running to try to filter out the dead algae, but only after you have killed all the algae and removed it from the water through vaccing or filtering will you have clear water.

Janet

[onemsmom]

I've been doing well for a while now & pool has been clear and blue. I thought of two questions that will help me understand more......

Should the CC ALWAYS be zero? If you get a little pink on the CC test even though FC ppm are 3-6, does that mean you have to do the whole "push the ppm up to 15 until the three indicators are met" thing again?

and

Now that it's cold & we are not swimming, do I still need to mainain the ph and other levels besides chlorine, or is that just for when we are swimming? We do not "close down" or cover the pool (we live in FL) - we just aren't swimming because it's to chilly.

Thanks!

Jennifer