Virginia Swamp!

[PoolDoc]

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

[gremlin]

Hi Ben,

Pool *looks* much the same - opaque green. Can still see about 1 (murky) foot into it.

I have been kind of letting it run at a higher back pressure that I normally would in the hope it will filter more junk out. (Also, being on a well, I can't afford to let too much water go to waste).

Back pressure on the filter rises from 11psi to approx 20-25psi and backwashing twice per day approx puts it back to 11psi. Sand in the filter is relatively new - used one season.

I pulled out a fair amount of leaf debris in the last couple of days, probably not *too* much left in there now, but reality is there is probably still a fair amount of oganic goo in there.

My pump pulls from two places - 1 skimmer and the main drain - originally I had it pulling from the skimmer only, but after a few days I set the valve so it mostly pulls from the skimmer, but some from the drain too. Initially I was afraid the main drain would block with leaves, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

I guess its a case of keeping on keeping on...

Cheers,

Malcolm.

[TheGoose]

I was doing the same thing you are. Adding just enough bleach to not do any good.

I'm betting if you increase your bleach dose to 10-15 gallons instead of your normal 6 you'll see an immediate improvement. Right now you are just spinning your wheels.

I had to add TEN of the large jugs of Wal Mart brand Bleach before I turned the worm in my favor. After that it was pretty simple. I measured my FC at 50+ on the first day, but by day 2 it had fallen to 15 ppm. So the bleach was being used up.

[gremlin]

Goose - good idea - I'l kick it up a bit today

[Watermom]

Goose has a gunite pool. You can take a gunite pool up to high chlorine levels without much problem but it is not the same for a vinyl pool. I would not add 15 gallons of bleach to your pool. That would add about 36ppm of chlorine. Too high for a liner pool with a CYA of 50. Every gallon you add is going to add about 2.4ppm of chlorine. Use that as a reference. Also, read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.

[TheGoose]

Thanks for the clarification WM. I learn new stuff everyday.

I'm still betting that he needs to get the FC level up, he just may not be able to do it like I did. Might have to split the dosages up so you don't harm the pool.

[gremlin]

Well, I added 'more' bleach last evening than previously - a couple of hours after adding the bleach last night I was getting :

pH=7.6, FC=27ppm

this AM testing gave:

pH=7.2, FC=15ppm

Question! The best guess chart gives a 'SHOCK" level of 15ppm and a '+SHOCK+' level of 30ppm for CYA=30-50 (my CYA=50), so is a FC level between 15 and 30ppm OK as a target under 'swamp' conditions?

Pic of the pool this AM:



Thanks!