Dubosity's Thread: Lost in Cloudiness/Mustard Algae Hell

[Dubosity]

Once again, you've come to the rescue. Thank you sooo much! I now feel I have all the info I need to come to a mutually agreeable solution.

P.S. I did purchase the K2006 kit...just waiting for it to get here. And we don't cover the pool in winter so I'll be maintaining the chlorine even then...just perhaps so high.

[aylad]

You still will need to maintain the chlorine at the higher level with the higher CYA--but you'll find that as the water temp drops, so will the rate at which your chlorine does. I keep my pool open year round but during the summer I add the large jug of WalMart bleach 3-4 times a week, but once the water temp gets below 60 or so, I only have to add it 1-2 times a week to keep the chlorine in the recommended range.

Janet

[Dubosity]

After much discussion, we've decided to exchange water. We drained almost 1/2 the pool and are now refilling. We just didn't want to stay in the high-CYA/high-chlorine cycle! Hopefully, this will be enough to bring the CYA down to an acceptable level.
Any wisdom you can share about the steps I need to be thinking about while it's filling and/or just after it's done? Or, shall I look at some of the threads dealing with having a "brand new pool"?

[Watermom]

Test after you refill and post numbers. It doesn't hurt to look at some of the threads with "brand new pools" but remember, yours is going to be a different situation. Brand new fills have NO cya in them, so the procedure to get them up and running is going to be different than for you. When you post with your numbers, we'll advise you on next steps.

[Dubosity]

Gotchya. :-). Thanks!

[Dubosity]

Finally! Refill is done. :-)
New numbers (still waiting for my K2006 test to be delivered so I don't have CH yet):
OTO CL~4 (darker yellow than 3, but definitely not orange)
pH = 8
TA = 80
CYA = 50 (yea!)

I added 1.5 qt of muriatic acid to bring the pH down a bit.
I've also removed the pucks and bought plenty of bleach (Sam's Club @ a bit less than $2.25 per 182oz bottle) :-)

The pool looks VERY clear!

So...shall I just be diligent about keeping the chlorine between 3 and 6? What would be a good starting point in terms of how much bleach to add (and how often)?

[Watermom]

In a 30K pool, each quart of 6% bleach will add 0.5ppm of chlorine. Test in the evening when the sun is off the pool. Add enough bleach to take it back up to 6ppm. Each evening, do the same. If you find that you have less than 3ppm when you test in the evening, take it to 7ppm with your doses of bleach. You don't want it to ever drop below 3ppm or you risk an algae bloom.

Keep adding muriatic acid to work to get the pH down. Good job! Keep us posted how things are going! Enjoy the pool.