Pool Opening Problems.

[TheGoose]

My pool got swampy on me over the end of the winter because the motor on my 1-HP Whisper-Flo crapped out and I didn't have time to fix it. I was right in the middle of a major remodel on my house when this happened.

Summary:

Pool - Approx 18K gallons 17x33 oval/rectangular 5.5' middle 4.5' ends. 2 Skimmers and main-drain connected to pump by 3-way valve.
Location -SE Texas near Houston
Pumps - 1-HP Pentair whisperflo with newly installed dual-speed motor and 3/4 HP booster for polaris 280. Dual speed not yet activated so running on high for now.
Filter - Tagelus 60D 325# Sand Filter
SWCG - Hayward Swimpure with over-sized cell for up to 40,000 gallons.

Got the new motor installed about a week ago-been running the pool almost non-stop on high speed ever since and backwashing when necessary.

Opening #'s- FC 0 pH = 8
TA = 120 CH-not tested all tested with the Taylor DPD and OTO for quick readings. I am getting low on the powder but just ordered some today.
salt = 3600 but SWCG reading 2200 when started but after adding 2 bags it's up to 3600.

I started by buying 10 gallons of 6% bleach and running the filter pump non-stop. Water changed from swampy green to blueish green in about a day or so. Added acid to adjust pH.....added 12 more gallons of 6% bleach (first reading was still low). Finally started showing chlorine, which has been up and down since.

Added acid again due to still high pH but overshot....now pH = 6.8. Added 20 mule team and 4 bottles of 10% bleach from Lowe's.

Yesterday I started the SWCG now that it is showing enough salt. Noticed immediately that the pool started foaming up.....it also made a good amount of bubbles last year...enough to make the water look cloudy at times.

Today when I checked the FC/CC and pH the reading was 0 FC and pH= 6.8 so I added the mule team.

Will re-test tonight and see where I am on pH. I was good on Alk a few days ago but I don't know what the acid did to the TA...I am told it lowers it but I'm not sure by how much. I didn't check for CC since after adding 2 dippers the solution did not turn pink. Testing with OTO shows no FC but after a few minutes it does turn pale yellow which I am also told is the CC.

I kinda know what I have to do so this thread is more about tracking my progress....but I welcome all advice/comments.

[aylad]

If your water is still bluish-green, then you need to get it back up to shock level (12-15 ppm if CYA is 0) and hold it there. You'd do your self a favor by not trying to use the SWCG to maingain shock--it will decrease your cell life substantially. It would be better to just get it there and maintain it with bleach, or possibly cal-hypo, then use the SWCG when you get it cleared up and can let the Cl drift back down again. Keep the pump and filter running, and go from there.

Honestly, if I were you I would get the pH back to the 7.2-7.6 range and then leave it alone--it's pretty easily fixed after you get the pool clear.

Let us know how it's going!

[TheGoose]

I'm running the cell on low power to supplement the shock. Sorry for the confusion. I oversized my cell by 2x so it is capable of "shocking" the pool.

Unfortunately I'm short on time and long on work. I'm gone about 14-16 hours per day and right now my schedule is about 7 days a week so I'm just unable to physically check on the pool every 2-3 hours like I should while starting it up.

Just checked the chemistry.
FC = .5
CC = 1.6-1.8 ( is that right?)
--That is the last of the powder until my new batch arrives this week. Should have sent away for it earlier. Doh!!
Still have the OTO, which seem to work "OK" for my immediate needs.

TA = 60. Figured it would be low after the acid over-dose.
pH = 7.0, maybe slightly more.
CH = 200

I know my FC is way low, but I'm out of all chlorine. I just dumped my last two jugs of 10% in the pool. That's the trouble with BBB-lugging the danged jugs and storing them. Do you think I can use chlorinated granules? Much easier to transport and store for the mean-time.

I'm also out of the CYA reagent, so no numbers there but fortunately we are rainy right now and there is very little sunlight.

==================================================

Had a lot of rain yesterday, at least a couple of inches. Mother Nature sure isn't making things easy on me.

[PoolDoc]

Do you have any idea what your CYA is? Zero? High?

You can use granular . . . but what kind you can used, depends on the CYA level.

By the way . . . right now I'm encountering one of the reasons I don't like it when folks try to be anonymous when they register. You're connecting via work, so I can tell what company you probably work for, but I can't geo-locate your IP address. And, telling me you're in Texas doesn't help much. As you Texans are fond of noting, it's a BIG state. You could be in Houston, and have everything in the world available to you, or you could be west of Killeen, in the middle of nowhere, with nothing nearby. So, I don't know what to tell you do do.

Except: if you let the chlorine get low, you'll not only stop making progress, you'll quickly revert to where you were, and essentially waste all the chemicals you've added so far.

Anyhow, if you can get one of these kits:
www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-6-Way-Test-Kit/17043668
they are a Taylor private label kit, compatible with your K-2006. Some are available in the Houston area.

Other things:

1. Turn your SWCG off, till you get the pool cleaned up. You're using up SWCG life for something they aren't very good at. You need to add LARGE amounts of chlorine by hand.
2. If you can't get anything else, get some 'guess-strips' so we can get an idea of where your CYA levels are.
3. Let me know if you have access to a Sams club
4. Go to this page -- http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?14994 -- and use it to order what you need, tonight. You don't have to use my links, but get the stuff.
5. If you have any calcium hypochlorite granular on hand, let me know.
6. When you are out of bleach, go ahead and use ANY form of chlorine you have, at the rate of 2# per day, till you get some test results. Adding too much stabilizer is MUCH better than not adding enough chlorine!
7. While you're at it, order borate test strips, and go ahead and plan to dose your pool to 50+ ppm borate. It will make the pool more forgiving and algae resistant.

IF you have access to Sams and IF you are willing to wait to swim, there's another option, to take the load off, without loosing ground when you can't attend to the pool.

[TheGoose]

Hey Ben thanks for the detailed answer.

I'm near Houston, but in the sticks. I do have lots and lots of trees around the pool, which are a nightmare for me, but I also enjoy the shade so it's a catch-22. They are not my trees but my neighbors. I do trim the leaves FWIW.

I already own the Taylor 2006 kit, but I'm out of the DPD powder. I already ordered it, should be here in a few days. I'm using another Taylor kit for chlorine plus a back-up OTO. The taylor kit uses two reagents for chlorine, the oto just uses one. I like the OTO better.

I'm also out of the CYA reagent, but also have some on order. We have had a lot of rain the past few days so I'm not sure if sunlight is much of a problem now. We had two inches of rain today, I actually had to drain about 2-3 inches out of the pool, it was close to overflowing!!

No Sams club, but Wal-Mart is about 15-20 minutes one-way. No big deal really, but I am already short on time. I've got about 30 empty bottles of bleach laying around the pool so that's why I'm asking about the cal hypo. I've been careful to only get the pure cal hypo and stay away from the one sold at lowes which has copper and other things in it. I also bought some 10% bleach from lowe's last week for $4.27/gallon IIRC.

Today I sent the wife for a big bag of baking soda, two lbs of stabilizer, and some regular powder cal hypo. Today my pH is back up in the 7's range, and my last TA was about 60. I need to re-test the pH again to get a better #. I have been backwashing the filter at about 28-32 lbs about every 2 days or so.

Today I really scrubbed the pool sides and floor and got everything a good rub down so the water is stirred back up.

Added some cal hypo (2 lbs) to the pool to supplement the chlorine. The level was at 5+ ppm when I got home from work at 4:30 after not adding any since last night. I really need my taylor kit refills so I can see what the exact level is.

Thanks for your advice, I have my fingers crossed that we will be able to swim by this weekend. I'm really not much for the pool in April, still too cold for my blood, even in TX.

[TheGoose]

Today's #'s.

FC = ~5+using the OTO kit. Taylor reagents not here yet.
pH = 7.2

Brought the chlorine level up before I left again with 2 lbs. of cal hypo. It is staying overnight this time also. Water is not green, but a milky white color. I scrubbed the walls again and floor.

[TheGoose]

Today's #'s

FC = 5+ (OTO kit max = 5 ppm). Best guess is between 8-10. It's not orange like I've seen in the past. Taylor DPD powder not here yet.
pH = 7.2
TA = 80-90
CH = 200

No CYA reagents yet either, should be here with the DPD powder. Seems like I'm holding chlorine OK. CYA on hand in case I need to add some.

Added 2 lbs of cal hypo for good measure. Filter pressure is medium, probably will have to back wash tomorrow. I still have about ~5 or so gallons of bleach on hand.

Added 1 bag of salt with one in reserve-salt cell was reading 2700 ppm but the last taylor test read 3600. I'm not sure how high chlorine levels affect the test. Last year the cell reading and Taylor test were dead even. We also had at least 2-5 inches of rain since my last test, one place near me reported 10" on Monday.

Waiting to see how much salt cell level comes up.

Waiting for the water to start getting clear.

Water is still very milky, visibility no more than 1 ft.

I still feel like I'm getting very low performance from my sand filter. I tried the DE powder trick and it almost immediately plugged with just a vey small amount of DE.

Scrubbing the walls daily and the floor as best I can with 0 visibility.

[TheGoose]

Measured with Taylor kit today:
FC = 6.5
CC = 1.0-1.5
As measured with .5 accuracy

pH = 7.2

For the fist time this season I was able to measue CYA. Unfortunately I ran out of column before the dot disappeared. Needless to say, CYA was added. Estimate current level at just under 30 ppm.

Suprisingly I have not had a lot of trouble keeping the FC levels up. We are starting to see lots of sun lately though after a few weeks of clouds and rain.

BTW the water is looking fairly decent now. It has a blueish tone fairly even now and seems to be getting clearer, but it is still somewhat murky.

Filter pressure was runing ~28 psi last night but I shut the pump off for a little while this morning and today the pressure is runing slightly lower at ~25. Water pressure at the jets seems pretty good so I'm gonna let it stay there for awhile.

[Watermom]

If you have a CC reading of 1.0-1.5, then you need to shock the pool back up to around 10-12. You want the CC reading to be 0.

[TheGoose]

I did shock it back up. I have been shocking at least twice a day everyday. The OTO test actually got me pretty close on FC.

Water looking much better but still murky.