Algae loves my pool

[PoolDoc]

Mix your bleach -- 1 gallon to a couple of gallons of water -- and add it NOW! Do NOT wait for the pump to be installed. You can pour bleach into the pool, walking it around the edges, and get pretty fair distribution. But do not let it turn into a slime pit while you're working on the pump. It's much, much easier to maintain it, now, than it will be to clean it up once it becomes a swamp.

Ben

[Watermom]

It is your pool and certainly your decision but 1-1/2 hp is too big for this small of a pool. It isn't energy efficient and just overkill. I think you would find here on our forum that most of our pump experts would agree that you don't need that big of a pump. On pool pumps, it is definitely not a case of bigger is better. Like I mentioned, my pool is the same size as yours and 1/2 hp has been just fine. At any rate, it is your decision. Just offering an opinion for you.

[mrsbusymomee]

How much did u pay for it? On my way to pool place now. What kind/brand is yours? What type filter do you have? Mine is a sand filter and takes 150lbs of sand. Hate to change when it has worked so well.

[mrsbusymomee]

Here are my results.
FC 7
TC 7
pH 7.6
Hard 200
Alkalinity 200
CYA is still 80!!
I'm going to buy cal hypo to eliminate prob a little quicker then use bleach. What should I do about CYA still high?
I'm at store now.
Thanks.

[Watermom]

It has been several years since I bought it and I can't remember how much I paid for it but it is a Hayward Super Pump 1/2 hp full-rated inground pump, single speed.. Probably paid around $200 or so I think but not sure. I have a 200 lb. sand filter. The problem with oversized pumps is they are so powerful that they force stuff right through the filter and don't do as well as they should at filtering the water. This is especially true if your filter isn't that big. Do what you feel comfortable with but you really can get by with a smaller pump. It will most likely help your filter to work better (and yours isn't that big) and it will save you on your electric bill. We often have people on here with algae problems who finally get the algae cleared up but can't get it to filter out and typically we find that they have pumps that are way too big and thus it is just forcing stuff through the filter back into the pool without filtering it.

[Watermom]

The only thing to do to lower cya is to do a partial drain and refill. Or you can just run higher than normal chlorine levels. See the best guess chart (which is actually factual and not a guess) in my signature line below. Also, cal-hypo isn't going to clear the pool any faster than bleach will. But, it will raise your calcium hardness reading. You are still ok at 200 but calcium is not needed in a vinyl pool --- no matter what the pool store tells you.

[mrsbusymomee]

I should of said cal hype u don't need quite as much as bleach. I'm still going to buy bleach as well. I've already drained my pool 2/3 and refilled. My water bill is going to b outrageous already. I'm so frustrated. So drain again? Or just deal with higher chlorine for now?

Thanks.

[aylad]

You can easily just maintain higher chlorine levels...in fact, given your geographical location, that might be the smarter choice. I'm near Shreveport, LA, and I intentionally keep my CYA levels at 80-90 because I actually use less chlorine in the long run, and don't have to add it daily.

Be careful with the cal-hypo, though--like Watermom said, your hardness is already at 200, and when it gets too high (somewhere in the 300-400 range), you're going to start having problems with milky water that won't clear due to the high calcium, and the answer to that issue is more drain/refill. So I encourage you to switch to bleach (or liquid chlorine if you can get it) as soon as you can to avoid having to dump more water.

Janet

[chem geek]

You can live with 80 ppm, but need to keep the Free Chlorine (FC) level at 6 ppm or higher for a manually dosed pool. Some people in hot sunny climates keep their CYA levels this high and many saltwater chlorine generator pools do this as well so its certainly manageable. The main downside is that IF you end up getting algae or unusually high chlorine demand (i.e. nascent algae bloom), then the shock level is very high so would take a lot of chlorine. So long as you manage your pool properly, you should be OK. Your chlorine loss rate will be lower at this high CYA level -- probably around 1.2-1.5 ppm FC so you could start at 8 ppm and end up above 6 ppm each day, for example (assuming you are adding chlorine every day). I'm assuming your pool is open to sunlight -- if you have a pool cover, the chlorine loss would be lower.

[CarlD]

If you pour in 3 gallons of 6% bleach when your FC is 7, your FC should go to 20ppm, which is the recommended shock level for CYA=80. Cal-Hypo won't get into your water nearly as fast.

If your pump MOTOR is seized up, you can replace the motor. If the pump is seized up, it may be repairable.

But your pump's capacity MUST always be lower than your filter's capacity or you will ruin your filter.

My Dad ran a 13,000 gal AG with a 3/4hp uprated pump and DE filter combo for something like 15 years. A bigger pump uses more electricity, too.

Carl