Going. Insane. Need help, please

[USAMariner]

Thank you for your help everyone. Sorry I was not back on sooner, but work and other commitments kept me away.

All that I have done the last couple of days is give the pool some vigorous brushing etc and have notice the shade of algae start to lighten which is giving me some hope.

I will get the water tested ASAP (by tomorrow at the latest), but in the meantime since my FC is so low and based on the above post where I should bring it up to around 10, I will go ahead and add some bleach to the pool. Since it is so low (less than 4) I think that around 2 gallons will be safe (should bring the ppm up by about 5.8)

I will also pick up some Borax and add that to the skimmer line and retest every couple of hours until I achieve the correct reading of approx 7.4.

And of course I have the Alkalinity Up already which I will add to help steady those pH swings.

[madwil]

I wouldn't worry about the alkalinity right now...
just adjust the pH up, and keep the chlorine up, as the algae clears
The more often you can test and add chlorine, the quicker it clears!

[Watermom]

I would go ahead and raise the alk a little as I suggested above. It will help with your pH swings. Since you already have it, go ahead and use up the alkalinity up. But, in the future, don't buy any more. You can just use baking soda to raise the alk and it is cheaper.

[USAMariner]

OK, so I was finally able to get my water tested at the local pool company and here's what I got:

Free Chlorine: 5
pH: 7.4
Total Alkalinity: 70 (the pool place advised I add 10lbs on Alkalinity)
CYA: 50
Calcium Hardness: 150ppm
Total Dissolved Solids: 400
Phosphates: 300

What should my next steps be? I am still continuing to brush and vacuum as best I can.

I have no chlorine tabs in the skimmer line and I have not added any shock in 4 days.

I am off tomorrow and plan on spending as much time as possible out by the pool to make this right,

I have read in other threads about advising people to take their FC up to 20, but my test vials only go as high as 5. Is the figure of '20' figured by adding bleach into the pool and multiplying by a certain number?

I bought 2 4lb boxes of Borax and also 2 bottles of Clorox bleach (1.42 gal.) Should I add either or both? I know the borax will go into the skimmer basket, and I'm assuming that the bleach I add directly to the pool.

The Borox is what I am using as the Alk Up, correct? If not, what little I added the other night so I may to get more - regular Arm & Hammer baking soda? and how much?

oh, and should I space out when I add the chemicals, or is adding Borax and bleach at the same time safe?

[Watermom]

With a CYA of 50, you need to be shocking your pool up to 15ppm and try and hold it there as best you can. (Chlorine levels are based on CYA levels. Take a look at the Best Guess Table" in my signature below.) Test as many times a day as you can and each time add enough bleach to get the cl back up to 15. There is no such thing as testing and adding bleach too often when you are trying to clear a pool. In a 22K pool, each gallon (4 quarts) of bleach will add 2.7ppm of cl to your pool. Use that as a reference to help you determine how much bleach to add each time you test. When you get to the point where you can go from sundown one day to within 2 hours of sunrise the next day without losing more than 1ppm of cl, I'd suggest holding the cl at the shock level one more day and then you can let it drift down and keep it between 3-6 ALL the time. If you let it drop lower than 3, you'll risk another algae bloom. The key to killing algae is to sustain the high cl reading, so tomorrow test and dose every hour or two if you can. You can either pour the bleach slowly into your skimmer or slowly in front of a return jet. Both ways are fine.

Your pH is fine. Don't add any Borax at this point. Borax is used to raise pH. Baking soda is used to raise alk. It will take 3 lbs.of baking soda to raise the alk 10ppm. You can add it slowly through the skimmer while the pump is running. After several hours, retest and you can add more as needed to get to 80-120. Having said that, let chlorine be your main priority tomorrow.

Run the pump 24/7 and backwash any time your filter pressure increases 5-10 psi over clean filter pressure.

By the way -- it is ok to add bleach and Borax or bleach and baking soda one right after the other.

I would not use any more trichlor pucks or dichlor shock in this pool this year. Your CYA is already at 50 which is great, but you don't want it any higher.

Try and get the good kit I told you about in the post above. It will allow you to test higher chlorine levels and you won't have to depend on the pool store for your testing. In the meantime, you can use a dilution method to force your kit to go higher. You'll need to do this tomorrow to measure up to 15ppm of chlorine. More info at this link:

http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/how-...d-testkit.html

Keep us posted how things are going tomorrow!

[USAMariner]

Thank you for all your help, and I have a couple more questions.

Since my FC s at 5 and I need to get it up to 15, then adding 4 gallons will bring it right up to the 15 mark.

I will obviously have to use the method you mentioned in your sig since I have a cheaper test kit. Mix 1 part pool water and 1 part distilled water and multiplying by 2. I guess I can mix this in just a regular container/jug as long as they are measured equal, and from that water I can dip the test vial and get a reading.

I will get the pool kit you mentioned ordered by the weekend. Good to know that I won't have to use any more shock or tabs.

Basically, with the combination of the above method and continuous brushing and vacuuming I should start to see the algae disappear?

I don't know what the correct pressure is for "clean filter pressure", but when I backwashed earlier it was reading 13psi. Is that normal? Also, I have a main drain which is off due to the fact the handle broke and I am having difficulty finding a replacement, although I believe that shouldn't be a problem. I hope it isn't slowing down the process.

Also, the yellow ring I have around the water level and on my steps, is that part of the algae too? It's not metal? Can you tell by my results posted that metal is not an issue?

Sorry for so many question and if I'm repeating myself, but I've never had this much trouble before with the pool and I really am getting frustrated. We're due to have our regular pool party 4th July and I want it to be up and running.

One other thing, out of curiousity, even though the pool doesn't look inviting, with the levels I have, is it safe to swim in?

[Watermom]

4 gallons would be the right dose for now. Hit it hard tomorrow as often as possible. If you keep the chlorine up to shock level consistently, it will clear your pool.

You are right that as long as you mix equal parts of pool water and distilled water, it works for the dilution method. You don't need too big of a sample so as not to waste all the distilled water on a few tests. A shot glass or a cup of any size is fine.

If you just backwashed and the pressure is 13psi, then that is your clean pressure and sounds about right.

The yellow ring may be part of the algae. There is no way to tell if it is metal unless you test for metals.

I wouldn't swim just yet if you still have algae. Give it a few days. If you devote tomorrow to this pool and test and add more bleach every hour or two, I'm hoping that it will clear up soon. Brush, run the pump and lots of bleach.

Keep us posted. Hope by this time tomorrow evening, you can see a huge difference.

Don't worry about all the questions. That is why we are here!

[USAMariner]

Ended up with about 3 gallons of bleach so went ahead and poured half directly into the skimmer line and the other half I poured into the pool where the jet is in the deep end. I let it circulate for 30-45 minutes and then spent another 45 minutes to an hour brushing and vacuuming.

I am starting to notice a little bit of difference and have some hope that this will be all worth it.

However, the basket that I used broke, so when I was vacuuming I noticed there wasn't much pressure. I checked the skimmer line and sure enough the basket had fallen through and was blocking the actual skimmer line/return.

I do have another question (and sorry for the lack of proper terms)

The way I vacuum is I set it to waste, place one end of the hose over a jet to "blow out" the hose and then I connect that end of the hose to the disc I have and then place that in the skimmer line over the basket.

Would I better off just connecting the hose directly through the skimmer line into the hole in the bottom? I'm thinking not since the basket would catch any debris such as leaves and prevent the skimmer line getting clogged.

Heading out now for more bleach and distilled water so I can spend the afternoon fighting this beast. Hoping that I can pick up a better kit while I am out, but may have to wait until the weekend.

Will post results later.

Oh, and just to set my wife's mind at rest, all of this bleach I am adding will not do any damage to the vinyl liner or the pipes right?

[PoolDoc]

Bleach won't hurt the pipes.

It won't hurt the liner itself either, but we can't guarantee it won't bleach the liner color or print. Some liners are NOT chlorine resistant. It's a long story, but there is no way any of us have found for you to discover in advance whether you have a problem liner or not. I have some indication that most of Plastimayd's liners are properly resistant, but I don't know that for sure.

However, adding bleach -- which mixes instantly -- you are much less likely to have problems than with solid forms of chlorine.

Ben

[Watermom]

And, just so you know, bleach is 6% sodium hypochlorite. Many pool stores sell liquid chlorine which is 12.5% sodium hypochlorite. People don't worry about liquid pool store chlorine damaging their liner, but when they hear the word "bleach" they get concerned.