New to this Forum from SoCal

[DirtRider67]

Hi, I am new here but have had a pool for about 8 years but because of a divorce, i had to leave my pool home for 2 1/2 years. Well, after a long court battle, i finaly got my house back and the pool is a swamp! i started off by giving a sample to my local pool store and they just keep feeding me tons of chemicles. I finaly have my water in balance and the water is a minty blue with the dead algae at the bottom. I can only see approximately 3 feet down but when i turn the creeper on, green water starts filtering back into the pool. I have a saly sytem that seems to not be functioning correctly so i have been dumping liquid chlorine in it at 3.50 a gal from Lowes. I have cleaned my filters once a day for a week now.

So, my question is, how do i get the dead algae out of the pool because from everything i've read on here, it won't go clear until it's out.

Pool Specs:
25k gallons
pebble tech
aquarite salt system
hayward cartridge filter


Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Watermom]

Hi DirtRider and welcome to the Pool Forum! Can you please post a current set of water testing results taken with a drops-based kit for us to look at? If your still seeing green, then your algae is apparently not dead. Give us some numbers and also tell us exactly what all you have put into the pool, meaning ingredients and not just product names or "shock." You should be brushing the floors and walls of the pool every day to help get things into suspension so your filter can catch it. Also, run the pump 24/7 right now while you are trying to clear the pool.

[DirtRider67]

Thanks for the greeting and advice Watermom.

right now, i am using a test strip and it all checks out good. These r the chemicles that i have put in so far and keep in mind that i did this prior to finding this forum:

10 gallons of chlorine
8 pounds of stabilizer
5 pounds of ph up
4 pounds of alkalinity booster
and i tried the swamp to swim

i have been cleaning the filters everyday for a week and running the pump non stop. I have not been running the creeper though. should i start?
Thanks

[Watermom]

You'll need a better test kit to make it easier to keep this pool clear. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (same kit, larger bottle of some reagents). If you buy it through the Amazon link in my signature, the Pool Forum makes a little money on the sale which helps us keep this form online. Only buy if the seller is Amato Industries, however. Some other sellers are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want. If Amato isn't listed, wait a day or two and try again. They seem to restock pretty quickly when they sell out.

In the meantime, can you take a water sample to a reputable pool store and ask them to test for you and report your numbers here? Make sure that two of the readings they give you are CC and CYA in addition to FC, TC, pH, TA. But, don't let them talk you into buying a bunch of stuff. They'll try!

Repost with some good numbers and somebody here can help. I would wait on the creeper since you say it is throwing green water back out. Lets work on killing the algae first.

[DirtRider67]

OK. i just had the water tested at the pool store.

TA=110
PH=7.2
CYA=30
TH=340
TC=7.7
FC=7.7
CC=??? they didn't have a test for this but said it was 0
salt=3800

The pool store didn't try to sell me anything and said to just keep cleaning the filters and run the creeper. But, i will wait on the creeper because this forum seems to have more knowlege.
Thanks

[Watermom]

A question --- when you say 10lbs. chlorine, is this liquid or granular, and what is the ingredient? I'm suspecting cal-hypo because of your calcium hardness reading of 340.

[DirtRider67]

sorry, i meant 10 gallons of chlorine from Lowes. Lable reads: 10% sodium hypochlorite, 90% inert ingrediants, available chlorine 10%.

[Watermom]

Let's try shocking the pool up to about 12ppm this evening when the sun is off the pool. Then, test it again in the morning within 2 hours of sunrise and let's see how much chlorine you are losing overnight. If you lose more than 1ppm of cl overnight, that will tell us that the algae is not dead. Report back here tomorrow with your results. Run your pump 24/7 and clean the filter as necessary.

Until you can get a good kit like I suggested above (you need one!!) go to Walmart and pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit. (The one with the yellow and red drops.) That will be better than the strips. The OTO kit will only measure chlorine up to 5, but you can force it to go higher with a dilution method described here: Testing Without a Good Kit

Your TA is good, pH is ok at 7.2 but don't let it drop any lower. If it does, you'll need to bump it up a little with some 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at Walmart.) In fact, while you are buying the OTO kit, go ahead and pick up a couple boxes of Borax while you're there to have on hand. Your TH is ok but you don't really want it any higher, so no cal-hypo for this pool.

Report back tomorrow with the results of the overnight test.

Hope this helps.

[DirtRider67]

Great. thanks for the advice. is there a specific brand of shock that you could recommend or is it all the same? How much would you think i need?

I will order the good kit as you stated.

Thanks again.

[Watermom]

Sorry I didn't get back to you after you posted again. I spent the evening in my own pool.

It isn't necessary to buy "shock." Shocking the pool just means giving it a hefty dose of chlorine. Just use the 10% sodium hypochlorite that you already have on hand. In your pool, each quart of the 10% chlorine will add 1ppm. When you test, add enough to get back to 12ppm. Do this for a day or so and see if you are losing any overnight.

Keep us posted!