Opening with very high ph and mustard algae

[greenwich3]

I have a 52,000 gallon pool that came with my house that I bought 6 years ago. I did the store thing as everyone does and found your site while looking for answers to mustard algae and the fact my cover went bad. I decided to go without a cover with advice I got from this forum.

Closing in the fall was complicated with a hurricane, no power for 10 days follwed by a strange ice storm 60 days later. I starting opening today and am planning to use your BBB advice. My ph is pink and the water has that mustard look to it. My pool is almost filled but I need where to go from here. I have not put anything in yet.

Lastly, I can feel that the sides of the cement pool is now rough and used to be smooth.

Thanks!

[Watermom]

That is a big pool! The first order of business will be to order a good kit. The one we suggest is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C which you can get through the testkit link in my signature below. (Can't buy it locally.) Another kit that you might be able to get (not as good as the Taylor but OK) is the HTH 6-Way kit. Some Walmarts stock it, others don't. What are you currently using to test with? If pH is pink that is probably high but we need a value to know for sure. You need to get some chlorine in there. If you can supply us with a CYA reading, we can make better suggestions to help you.

If you can't find the 6-Way kit, you may be able to get a reliable pool store to test the CYA for you while you wait for your Taylor K-2006 to arrive. Just don't let them talk you into buying a bunch of stuff.

Report back with a CYA reading as soon as you get it. In the meantime, add some chlorine. It's gonna take a lot of bleach, but I would suggest adding 10 gallons of plain, unscented household bleach (generic is fine) to your pool this evening. Once we know your CYA reading, we may make a different suggestion. If you have none or little, dichlor may be a good option for you as it wouldn't be as much of a hassle as so many bleach bottles will be. If your pool store sells liquid chlorine (which is usually 12.5%) that might also be a good option for your pool.

Keep your pump running 24/7 and clean the filter as needed. What type of filter do you have, by the way?
Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[greenwich3]

I did by the kit kit over the winter as you suggested and the ph was so pink that it was over the 8.0 (I assume)

Shall I do the cya reading?

[Watermom]

Yes. Do a full set of readings and post all your numbers and then somebody can help you go from there.

[greenwich3]

cl. No reading
cya 35
ph. Past 8.0
Calcium Hardness. 150
TA. 80

Also, I have a sand filter.

[PoolDoc]

That's a big pool. Trying to handle it with 1 gallon jugs of 6% bleach will be a pain: 1 gallon would add only 1 ppm of chlorine!

• Do you have any chemicals on hand? If so, EXACTLY what are they?
• Is the pool covered? If it is, leave it covered, till you have chemicals AND a plan ready to go.
• Do you have access to commercial liquid bleach OR 100lb containers of granular calcium hypochlorite?
• What is the make / model of your filter & pump?

If your pool is NOT covered, and you have access to a Walmart and Lowes / Home Depot, I'd recommend adding 15 gallons of bleach in EACH evening. Add 2 gallons of muriatic acid (link to guide in my signature!) daily, but at least 30 minutes from when you add the bleach. Once we have more info, you can work out an alternative.

If possible re-test chlorine 1 hour after you add the bleach for the first time. If you had higher CYA last fall, you may now have ammonia in your pool. Dealing with that on a 52,000 gallon pool will take more than bottles of bleach, unless you want to go to multiple Walmarts and buy out each one's stock of plain bleach!