Virginia Swamp!

[gremlin]

My pool has been unused for 2 years and uncovered and is a swamp in progress.

Pool is a FOXX vinyl liner pool, 25000 gallons approx, Fox rebranded Pentair Ultraflow pump - I just retro fitted a AO Smith 2 speed B2982 motor SF 1.65hp, rebuilt pump with new seals, basket etc, running at high speed 24/7 at the moment. Watermaid brand Saltwater chlorinator is turned off. FOXX Sand filter, 3.5 sq ft. filter rate 20GPM per sq ft (70 GPM).

About a week ago, (before finding this forum), added 22.5 lbs trichlor all at once which caused a lot of leaf debris came to surface which was removed. Tested pool water using strips, could not get meaningful results. Ordered a Taylor Complete FAS-DPD Pool Water Test Kit K-2006 by following the Amazon link on this forum - kit will be here today. Meantime picked up an OTO kit locally.

Measured pH at 6.0 (or below) using OTO kit
Added 20 Mule Team BORAX 4 boxes at a time until pH raised to 7.6 (took 16 boxes).
Pump running 24/7 high speed
Daily adding 6 gallons 6% bleach, plus additional box of Borax if/when pH drops to 7.2
Continuing to remove leaves by 'feel'
Pool is uniform 'army' green, cannot see more than 1 foot depth into pool so far.
Backwashing as needed, using least water I can get away with - I am on a well so water usage is an issue.
Retested water using strips I have lying around (now that pH is where it should be) - getting readings for ALK, CYA that are (surprisingly) within normal ranges - CYA could be totally due to the triclor I added a week ago, but will retest with Taylor kit when it arrives today.

That's it so far...

(Stuff I happen to have on hand:
15 lbs HTH Cal Hypo shock (45% Chlorine)
24 Lbs Baking Soda
24 lbs Aqua Chem Shock+
Bleach
BORAX
DE powder)

[aylad]

You need to know what your CYA level is--and then raise your chlorine to the "shock" level for that CYA reading....see the "best guess chlorine chart" linked in my sig for explanation and the chart (you may have to log out to read it until Ben finishes upgrading your registration). Hold the pool at shock level until it clears and you are no longer losing chlorine at night. Continue to dip out all the solid stuff that you can in the meantime.

Welcome to the forum!!

[gremlin]

Thanks Janet!

My strips indicate 30-50 ppm CYA, but I will test with the Taylor kit to be sure when it arrives later today.

[Watermom]

Good idea. We don't put too much faith in 'guess strips!' Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[gremlin]

My Taylor kit arrived:

pH: 7.2
CYA: 50ppm
ALK: 60ppm
Calcium: 70ppm

I'm currently adding 6 gallons grocery store bleach each evening.

[PoolDoc]

What does your pool look like, now? Is the filter having to be cleaned regularly? (it should be!)