Thank you pool doc!! Your the best.....

[Lawrosa]

Well I had some major issues last yr and pool doc helped me immensely. I also just read this sticky and believe that was my issue last year, and well every year I open.

http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/spri...-problems.html

So I lose CYA every year. Is this from fertilizing my lawn in the early spring? [No! PoolDoc] Well anyway I stopped using chemical based lawn fertilizers and use corn gluten and all organic stuff now. Don't know if it will make a difference. Anyway 90F + here in NJ and I opened the pool...Lol. I use a net/ leaf cover only and am green every yr. ( I know I sould probably cover properly. It will save me a lot of heart aches)

Here are my pics.





Pool is vacuumed and skimmed. I will run filter 24/7/ ( Hmmm I think I may run on low speed though to save electric. Possibly one day on high speed will not hurt)

I forgot to adjust the pH before I added chlorine, so the pH reads high now because of this.

So that's where I am at.

Chlorine = 12 ppm.
CYA = 0. ( Added 1 lb cyanuric acid)

That's where I am at today. And thanks again for the help last yr.

Mike NJ

[Lawrosa]

Oh geez!!! I re-read that link more clearly and several times through.

Uggg!! I added stabilizer. But only a small amount. 1 lb for a 6000g pool.

Anyway, yes, yes , yes pool smells after adding bleach. The first 1-1/2 gallon to bring the level to 10ppm got ate up quickly. Just tested again. Its evening and was 7.5 so added some to bring it up. Probably in the morning the the chlorine will be gone and I will adjust the PH then.

Hmm, all makes sense why my CYA kept getting ate up last yr and it took tons of bleach to clear. And a long time mind you. Could I ask is this all from letting the pool get green through the winter by not covering properly?

Anyway just here stating my status. It makes me feel better.

Mike NJ

[aylad]

The green is not necessarily from not covering properly--many of us never cover our pools. The green is from letting the chlorine get too low for too long, and then the bacteria in the outbreak can break all the CYA down, which is why it's gone over the winter. Unfortunately, one of the byproducts formed when this happens is ammonia, which then takes a whole LOT of chlorine to break down.

Do you shock your pool before closing in the fall? Have you tried adding polyquat (the only algaecide we really advocate here) during the closing process? Do you have a way to add bleach during the winter, even if you have to stir it around with a boat paddle or something? All of those things will help prevent the green. Also, you might want to consider opening a little earlier, before the water has a way to warm up and let algae start growing.

[Lawrosa]

I only use a leaf cover for the winter. I close the pool per instructions here pretty much. It always seems to turn green though. I would say I though the leaf cover lets the sun shine in all winter and thats why it turns green. I have not used the polyquat the past few yrs. Could that be it?

This yr I used some algae stuff from the pool store that was on sale. 1 gal for $10 bucks. It was light blue and you added 1/2 cup are so. I added it throughout the winter, but it did not work. Ok so I will either

a) need to get a solid cover for next yr, or
b) do what I am doing but make sure I add polyquat only. Add some periodically I would assume.

I will need to read some more here and refresh my self with pool closing. OK, well I need to think ahead for next yr and not let this happen again.

Ugg... This sounds like its going to be a carbon copy of last yrs nightmare...

Mike NJ

[Lawrosa]

OK day 1.

I went out before bed at midnight and raised the cl to 12. This morning it was at 2.5. Here is what the pool looks like. Gee almost no green and I can make out the bottom.






Ran the filter all night on low speed. So raising the cl back to 10-12 again.

I wonder if its best just to use bleach at night so not to waste it from the sun dissipating it?n [ Yes! PoolDoc ]

Mike NJ

[BigDave]

Keep you FC at shock level as much as you can. Letting it slip sets you back.
You may want to keep your pump on low speed as it seems to be pretty large for a 16" sand filter. You wouldn't want to push the junk through your filter.

[sunlove]

Hey you are exactly where I am at in the pool opening process. Except I cannot get my chlorine level up. How much bleach did you add and did you add it all at once or a little every night? I'll be following your thread closely as my pool is apparently in the 'ammonia eating the chlorine stage' also. And for what it's worth I used a solid cover, super shocked & super chlorinated it at closing, and still had green, so don't feel too bad!

[Lawrosa]

Sunlove,

What I am doing know is keeping my chlorine level at about 12ppm. I have a taylor 1515 kit so I am able to test the high shock levels.

Taylor K-1515 @ Amazon

I test every two hours or so. I lose about 4 ppm or so in that time. So I use the bleach calculator thats on this site somewhere to tell me how much to add to bring back to shock level. I add throughout the day every two hours. For my small pool it seems I have been adding about 3/4 of a gallon every two hours to get me back to 10-12 ppm.

That's what I have been doing. It cleared somewhat more today but still cloudy. The green is almost gone and looks white or blue somewhat. But last year I had the cloud for a month or so I believe.

I over shocked last year and the metals came out and stained my liner. Search my posts from last year and you will see what I am talking about. I even need to go back and re-read my old posts. Sitting here thinking about it I may think the pool doc had me raise the shock level to 15. But I cant be sure until I re read. I have a lot of patience so I am in no rush. If I do this methodically I think I will benefit better. Also my pump/filter has been running on low 24/7.

Mike NJ

[aylad]

Sunlove,

In a 7500 gallon pool, each 1 cup of 6% bleach will raise your FC by 1 ppm. Each gallon will raise it by 8 ppm. You can use these as a guide to figure out how much to add. The key is to add enough to get to shock level (dependent on your CYA--see the best guess chlorine chart linked in my sig) and then test and add more as needed to get back up to that level until the pool clears. The more consistent you are about maintaining the shock level, the faster it will happen.

[Lawrosa]

Well Looks like I am on the same path as last year. I guess I am doing correct by checking every 2 hours and adding bleach to keep my levels at or above shock. [ Not necessary -- 1 or 2x per day is enough - PoolDoc ]

I have the filter going on low 24/7. I vacuumed again today with the sand filter. I got very little. The pool is clean but cloudy. I then disconnected the sand filter and installed the cart, and am now running cart only on low.

I am know raising my shock level to 15ppm. No higher. Since this year I have the kit to test this high, I wont be guessing. Last year I shocked too high and cause the iron to stain the liner. Thanks to Ben/pool doc that pink stuff worked.

Anyway that's where I am at now. I guess this is day two. I started on the 16th in the pm. So tonight will be a whole 48 hours. Note: As I type this now I have currently used 10 gallons of bleach and nothing else. ( except that 1 lb of CYA)

Here are current pics:



Mike NJ