Green, green, green and running out of patience.

[marciastz]

Thnaks so much for following me on this difficult journey. This morning my FC was 21.5 (still lost 2.5 ppm overnight). I vacuumed to waste this morn and then added 2 more bottles of bleach. I didn't test again until after sundown and it was 23ppm, so I didn't add anymore bleach. My best guess would be that I lost 3.5 ppm during the daylight hours. My CC stayed consistent at .5 ppm last night, this morn, and this evening. My water is still green, but a lighter shade of green. Just when I really get down in the dumps about this, you say something encouraging and I become hopeful again. Thanks for the support, AnnaK and CarlD. I will keep up the good fight. I hope it won't be too much longer. My grandkids (I have 19 total, ranging in age from 19 to 1 yr old) are so dissapointed that they can't swim @ grandma's. Today I took 6 of them to the creek to play in the water and explore.

[AnnaK]

Lighter green is very encouraging. And creeks are a lot of fun. They'll swim in the pool soon, really!

[marciastz]

Ok, I'm back with great news! We were out of town for the weekend but my granddaughter came over and added 2 gallons of 6% each morning and evening. She doesn't know how to test but since that was pretty much what I'd been adding each day to keep my ppm at 20-25, I just had her add that amount and pray for good results. We came home today to a beautiful BLUE pool, very clear and I would even say "sparkly"!!!! My readings this evening look like this..FC-16 CC-0 CYA-50 ALK-90 PH- 7.5. I assume the CYA is lower because we did so much vac-to-waste and refilling last week. We put the auto vac in and it has been working for a few hours, the bottom is clean as a whistle, although when I was brooming, I stirred up a little something, not sure if it was brown or green!
The water is definitly not cloudy, I'm not sure what dead algae looks like, but I don't think there is any. I haven't added anything to it today as of yet. So I bet now would be a good time to add algecide??? And should I continue to keep my chlorine levels on the high side for safety's sake or let them gradually fall back down to a lower level? What level would you recommend? When is a safe level for swimmers? I have let them swim in the past when it was 10 ppm but not over that.Thank You, thank you for encouraging me through this!

[AnnaK]

That's fabulous! Your granddaughter deserves a little tip for being such a good pool girl

The pool chart indicates you're using a PS233 test kit so your results are believable. Your CYA is fine as are your other values. You can let the FC drift down and maintain it at between 3 and 5 as long as you have no CCs.

The stuff you broom up is probably just dust and dirt which falls in the pool just like it does on furniture and floor in the house. It gets stirred up when you brush and whn you swim and mostly gets filtered out. That's why I like the filter socks so much–they pick up that brown stuff.

You don't really need algaecide but if you feel you must have it, the only one we recommend is a product that says "polyquat-60" on the label. The active ingredient name is much longer but it will have 'polyquat-60' somewhere.

It's safe to swim now.

Congratulations on a job well done!

[marciastz]

Thanks! It is such a great relief to see blue water again. Maybe I'll be able to sleep better now! You have been a great help and a confidence booster for me. My granddaughter will be getting a nice tip, btw! Polyquat 60 is what I've always used, I genereally add 6 oz. a week as a preventative. I am planning on using my skimmer socks also. I hope this is my last post about this issue. But I will continue to read this forum periodically, because everything I do know about pool maintenance I have learned here over the last few years!! Just a quick comment, I went to Leslie's the other day to get another bottle of R=0871 (I was using so much of it, I thought I might run out) and they didn't have any. He asked me what it was used for and I told him you use it with the powder for a chlorine drop test. He says "Oh, the powder, well that's been discontinued because it is soooo very inaccurate! You need to stop using that!" I just said "I guess I don't have any business being here then." And I walked out! He must be an idiot, because how else would I measure these high FC levels?? Before I discovered Pool Solutions, I would have believed and trusted him. HA!

[AnnaK]

Inaccurate? Discontinued? Really?! I wonder if someone has told that to Taylor

I bought a 16 oz bottle of the reagent and a 125 g bottle of the DPD powder from amatoind.com. I keep them in the basement fridge and have not noticed any degradation. Every once in a while I test a known sample to make sure the reagents are still good. You can get refills from amazon as well, just be sure the vendor is Amato.

Knowledge is power. It's great that you found useful information here on the forum!

[marciastz]

Yes, after the Leslie's experience, I just ordered another bottle from Amato. In fact I ordered all my regeants this year from them. Shipping isn't bad when you order a bunch but when you just need one 2 oz bottle.... it cost as much to ship as the regeant cost. But that's OK, its worth it when you can trust them and know what you're getting.