URGENT...Need help.. grad party 7 days...cloudy foamy pool not holding chlorine level

[PoolDoc]

I'm going to try to phone you -- it may be possible, but not in time frame you have, if the normal forum back-n-forth takes place. These are the numbers I've found:

[ removed - Ben ]

[PoolDoc]

Well, I haven't heard from you - and the window to get stuff from Amazon to you by Monday is closing.

If we are handling the problems you have, here, online . . . odds are not great that you pool will look good next Friday. It all depends on how bad the water is now, and how big your filter is.

Don't worry about the alkalinity; do keep chlorine in there. Try to get up the the very dark yellow or orange-ish yellow level.

You'd probably better off using bleach right now, than any other form of chlorine, and you probably should pick up a couple of gallons of muriatic acid, since your high alkalinity will tend to cause your pH to rise.

Otherwise:

1. Backwash as needed (6 -8 psi increase over 'clean' pressure)
2. Maintain chlorine levels 'dark yellow' or above with bleach.
3. Use muriatic acid to hold pH levels below 7.8 -- see acid page in my signature
4. Do NOT mess around with other chemical levels
5. Run pump 24/7
6. You can start the heater whenever you like.
7. Vacuum manually -- an autosweep can stir things up, instead of putting the gook directly on the filter.

Good luck!

[PoolDoc]

Hey;

Go to Columbia Pool and Spa, 573-874-6972 and ask "Chris" for "Pool Season Liquid Floc Plus"

To bucket test: put 4 gallons in a bucket and add 1/8 teaspoon, and mix. Cover & wait 24 hours. If it does not settle, do not use in pool.

Before putting into pool, put filter on RECIRCULATE! Circulate as recommended on label, then turn pump off. All 48 hours to settle. Add bleach as needed directly to the pool to maintain chlorine levels.

[PoolDoc]

Here are your photos (you need to set your camera's clock!):

Equipment layout:




Equipment details: TR60 filter label, SP2715x20 pump label




More details: filter gauge, pump motor, motor label (partial)



Pool with algaecide foam

[poolprobe]

This afternoon around 6pm will be 48 hrs since we added the floc. I'm sending pics of what it looked like this morning (haven't figured out yet if I can post them directly to the forum). We are now able to at least see the bottom quite a bit more. I hope the green is dead algae (since it wasn't there before) that will be swept up when we vacuum. Still concerned about the film on the water. Can't imagine any living algae with the amount of bleach we've added and chlorine levels of +5.10 for the past 3.5 days.

I wonder if we should have used more floc than was indicated...the bottle said something about more that indicated for quicker results? Figured it was hype but just wondering.
So once it's 48 hours do we follow the directions on the bottle about vacuuming to waste and then filtering as normal? Backwash...valve at 19? I can't imagine just vacuuming will make it clearer and useable. What about brushing the sides /steps?
Chlorine this morning was still 5.10. As per your instructions we've not added anything since we put the floc in 2 days ago as chlorine is holding.




Please give detailed instructions of what to do from here.
Look forward to your reply.


EDIT by moderator: Send the pics to poolforum@gmail.com. Thanks!

[poolprobe]

Close yet so far away definitely describes how we feel at this point. The patience part is getting more difficult as we watch this water. It's clearer but again foamy. Can we still have a live algae bloom after all of that bleach?? can algaecide added almost 2 weeks ago still be the cause?? It truly is frustrating and all consuming.

So, after the 48 hours of pump off and waiting for floc to do its thing, we vacuumed to waste and refilled. Chlorine dropped to 1.5 after re filling so we added 3 gallons of bleach last night and let the pump run normally. This morning we woke to foam on top of the water again
Water test results this morning: Chlorine=5.10, Ph= 7.3, CYA= 40 (these are still from Walmart 6 in 1 test kit...still waiting for the one ordered off Amazon)
As of this writing we are planning to vacuum regularly and then backwash because of 19 pressure gauge reading. Then we'll refill and check chemicals.
After that we're unsure what to do to get rid of the foam.
Note: when water cleared there were leaves and debris on the bottom that we couldn't see before and didn't get cleaned up with prior vacuumings. Those have been removed for the most part.

My husband wonders what would happen if we just double or triple shocked...add 6 gallons of bleach to try to get rid of the foam and then deal with other chemicals later?

Would appreciate instructions from here...graduation is Friday/party is Saturday.

[PoolDoc]

I'm afraid the foam is from the algaecide you added -- and those algaecides are blended to be chlorine stable, for obvious reasons. Keeping the chlorine high may accelerate the breakdown, but I wouldn't expect it to disappear rapidly.

You can get a silicone based defoamer at pool store, however, those break down faster than the algaecide will. So, if you get some, apply it maybe 6 hours before the party.

It *will* come out on the filter, as you vacuum dirt. So backwashing frequently may help.