Green Hair Problem After Using Bioguard Smart Shock

[SnoopysGirl]

I re-ran the test twice more, once diluting by half, then diluting using 1/3 pool water and 2/3 RO water. The last test indicates that the CYA is 270.

We live in the upper-midwest, and when the pool was opened in May, I had the water tested and I see that the reading at that time was 60. Is it possible for it to raise that much in less than two months? Also, I used the pucks all last season, so why was the CYA low when we opened in May? I will see if I can figure out how to just use bleach. If I have questions, I will do my best to look for the answer first.

Thank you in advance for the advice and help.

[SnoopysGirl]

I readjusted my total alkalinity using Table K on page 63 in the Taylor booklet. I see that carbonate alkalinity is 109, not sure if that makes a difference.

I did some reading (okay, a lot of reading), and I see that adding liquid chlorine instead of using the bioguard tabs would be recommended.

As I understand it, I am to add liquid bleach every evening, after testing the FC level in the pool. I have a few questions:

1. What water chemistry tests do I need to check daily besides FC? All of them? I used up a full bottle of the CYA reagent already and I'm working on my 2nd :\
2. Should I remove the pucks from the chlorinator, or just keep them and let them dissolve?
3. Will my CYA level go down as I continue to use bleach?
4. Do you think the CYA levels have really risen that much since May?
5. Do you think that my water chemistry (that I listed above) is at all to blame for our green hair, or is it probably just the copper (as I suspected in the beginning).

I apologize for asking so many questions, and possibly being repetitive. Since I am new, my last post hasn't been approved and isn't visible yet. I also apologize for getting a bit off topic, but again, as I am new, I don't have privileges in all areas of the forum - thanks again!!

[BigDave]

Can you tell us how much of the trichlor tabs you've used this summer.
Do you know what test method was used when you had the water tested in May? We might be suspicious of that 60ppm CYA number.

[SnoopysGirl]

Can you tell us how much of the trichlor tabs you've used this summer.
Do you know what test method was used when you had the water tested in May? We might be suspicious of that 60ppm CYA number.

I would say a rough estimate would be 25-30 tabs. I was using In The Swim tabs from the previous owner, then switched over to the BioGuard tabs just recently, and have used about 12 of those. I believe it is the same product - trichlor - in each of those tabs.

[BigDave]

If those tabs are about a half pound each and pure trichlor then that only accounts for about 33ppm of CYA so I'd say that 60ppm number was bad.

As you determined, you'll need to switch to an unstabilized form of chlorine. Bleach or Liquid Chlorine (high strength bleach from pool store) is most popular around here.

1)Test for FC, CC, and pH daily, TA weekly (less if you find it doesn't change), CYA a few days after those pucks are all dissolved and then maybe monthly, CH a couple times a season - in your vinyl lined pool, CH is not critical, you just don't want it to get too high as that can cause cloudiness.

2)You might as well let them dissolve, they'll only add a little more to alot of CYA.

3)CYA will drop very slowly as your replace water lost to splash-out and backwash.

4)No, I think your test in May was bad and you've building CYA for years.

5)Copper.

Perhaps Ben will advise you regarding running a pool with CYA at 270ppm.

[SnoopysGirl]

Thank you, BigDave.

I am going to test the pool again and get started with the liquid chlorine. Is it okay for me to post my chemistry findings here and receive advice, or should I start a new post on it as I have questions? Thanks again.

[PoolDoc]

No, I think your test in May was bad and you've building CYA for years.

Cold water + inadequate wait time may cause false low readings. 'Guess strips' are ALWAYS subject to false readings, especially with CYA testing.

Perhaps Ben will advise you regarding running a pool with CYA at 270ppm.

I can -- but you'll have to decide. Do you want to run a pool with some odd adaptive chemistry? The POOL will be fine, and SWIMMERS won't notice, but it will mess with YOUR mind some.

Your alternative is to have it professionally drained, and even then, if the liner is more than 2 - 3 years old, you may lose the liner.

There *IS* another way to drain it in place, but you'd need to buy a 35 x 55 winter cover, in order to do so.

[SnoopysGirl]

I can -- but you'll have to decide. Do you want to run a pool with some odd adaptive chemistry? The POOL will be fine, and SWIMMERS won't notice, but it will mess with YOUR mind some.

Your alternative is to have it professionally drained, and even then, if the liner is more than 2 - 3 years old, you may lose the liner.

There *IS* another way to drain it in place, but you'd need to buy a 35 x 55 winter cover, in order to do so.

I think that my "guess strips" are actually kind of right with the CYA - it indicates that the stabilizer is around 300 - it has been inching its way up, and I'm sorry to say, I didn't understand what it meant until recently. I've been naive :\

I won't be draining the pool anytime real soon, since we may be changing the liner in the near future due to the fact that we may have to replace the entire concrete pool deck, and that is a thread for a different day ... mostly for me to vent ... and I'm not sure anyone has time for that

I am intrigued now, and am wondering exactly how my mind will be messed with - if you have time and would like to dish about how I can run the pool with this high CYA, I'd love to learn.

[PoolDoc]

I am intrigued now, and am wondering exactly how my mind will be messed with - if you have time and would like to dish about how I can run the pool with this high CYA, I'd love to learn.

The reason it will mess with your mind, is that running with CYA this high is contrary to guidelines EVERYWHERE, and I do mean EVERYWHERE, including here. I've been cautiously inching toward offering this as a possible solution, as I've been able to collect bits and pieces of data. In fact I'm currently operating a large public pool at around 120 ppm CYA.

But, I haven't re-written everything here and on PoolSolutions to reflect that, and the fact is I'm not 100% sure that some problem won't crop up, that ends up with the conclusion that maybe this wasn't such a good idea ofter all. But so far, everything I've found suggests that it IS a perfectly valid option. It's definitely working well at the public pool.

There are two problems that do exist.

First, in order to reach effective shock levels, you'll have to take your chlorine level above 100 ppm. That's can be an issue. It's hard to test, and can rapidly consume your testing reagents. Of course, you won't have to test often, since it won't come down very fast. And, that's another problem: at 100 ppm, you can forget about wearing fancy swimwear, and you may -- I'm not sure -- have some eye irritation. But, once you're there, you may only drop at the rate of 10 - 15 ppm per week, so it could take 3 -4 weeks to get back to non-shock levels!

Second, pH testing may be screwed up. Actually, we're being to think that that is NOT a problem, IF you take your pH reading quickly. But, we're not 100% sure, and if it DOES screw up pH testing, you'll either have to use an adapted test (with distilled water) OR you'll have to to get a pH meter (~$75, with buffers and such.)

Nevertheless, if I were you, I'd go ahead with the HiC2 (high chlorine + high CYA) approach. Here's what I'd recommend for you, based on your current situation, with some copper problems.

1. Use up any remaining tabs (they are hard to dispose of otherwise, and at this point, won't change the problem much.)
2. Add polyquat to improve filtration AND prevent algae, before we start taking your chlorine really high.
3. Add HEDP to keep the copper from staining AND to make it available to the CuLater units.
4. Add CuLator units to REMOVE the copper completely from your pool water.
5. Convert your pool to a borate protected pool to reduce algae problems (60 ppm borates, from 20 Mule Team borax + muriatic acid)
6. After all this is complete, and the CuLator units have been in place for 3 weeks, switch to high chlorine levels, and stop using polyquat & HEDP.
7. Purchase -- but do not use -- sufficient sodium bromide to allow you to deal with an algae outbreak WITHOUT extremely high chlorine levels. (Sodium bromide is converted to bromine by the chlorine, but bromine is NOT affected by stabilizer. We're going to try to avoid needed it, since it will create a much higher chlorine loss rate for a week or two after it's used. However, if you need it, you don't want to have to wait, so you need it on hand.)
8. Once you make the switch to high chlorine, you'll pretty much need to ignore advice from anyone but me, since most of the support team here is still pretty inexperienced with this. Janet (aylad) runs her home pool in the 80 - 100 ppm CYA range, so she's less so. But, you'll need to NOT panic if you post, and someone here is like, "OMG, you've got to drain right away!!"

The basic strategy is to
(a) use up your existing chlorine AND get rid of the copper.
(b) avoid algae problems during this period.
(c) add borates to reduce the chance of algae problems
(d) keep bromide on hand as 'bail-out' solution, that doesn't require 100 ppm levels of chlorine.
(e) switch to NORMAL chlorine levels that range from 20 - 35 ppm. You'll want to pick 1 day per week to raise levels BACK to 30 - 35 ppm, and then let if fall for a week.

I'd guess you'll spend $250 or so to add the borax, get the HEDP and CuLator units, and get the sodium bromide. The borax is a good idea in any case, and you need the HEDP & Culator for clean up, regardless. So, the only additional expenses are for the sodium bromide, which will be maybe $30.

You will need to decide how you will chlorinate. You have 3 options: a SWCG, bleach, or calcium hypochlorite. With a 30k gal pool, adding a weekly 10 - 15 ppm dose of chlorine with 6% household bleach will take 5 - 8 gallons of bleach each week. If you can get an 50# container of calcium hypochlorite, that will work for you, but again, you'll have to follow some very particular directions about how to use it, to avoid excessive calcium build up. Currently (and that may change), it's available at Amazon

In The Swim Cal-Chlor Pool Chlorine Granules 50 lbs.

for about $145 delivered. You'd need about 3.5 - 5 lbs per week at ~$3/lb which would be cheaper than the bleach.

NOTE: your actual chlorine usage may be less than what I'm saying, but again, we just don't have the experience to be sure.

I'm going to go ahead and put all the links below, but if you get started, let me know, so we can tweak this.

Polyquat (3 quarts)
Using polyquat during metal clean up accomplishes two things: it helps kill or prevent algae, letting you run lower chlorine levels, and it is a very good clarifier, that helps you filter out any small metal particles that may form.(Probably available from pool stores, and possibly some big box stores -- but you MUST learn to ID it correctly. See the polyquat page for more info.)

Kem-Tek 60% polyquat @ Amazon
Nava 60% polyquat @ Amazon

HEDP (1 quart 60% or 2 quarts 20%)
HEDP is a liquid phosphonate that is pretty chlorine stable, and very good at keeping dissolved metals IN the water, instead of ON your pool surfaces. It can lift recent stains, OR it can be used along side of ascorbic acid, to keep the metals in the water, after the ascorbic acid is consumed by chlorine.

Jacks Magic The Pink Stuff 1qt (60% HEDP) @ Amazon
20% KemTek HEDP @ Amazon

Culator + skimmer sock
The CuLator product is a special patented plastic material, contained in a bag that goes into the skimmer, that can slowly take metals OUT of your pool water. We think it works, and have some evidence that it does, but not proof yet. (Not likely to be available locally.)

1 ppm Culator @ Amazon
1.5 ppm Culator sold by Amazon, shipped from Periodic
4 ppm Culator sold by Amazon, shipped from Periodic
Poolmaster 16242 Poolmaster Skimmer Basket Liner @ Amazon (to protect CuLator from being damaged by scum)

Borax (29 boxes of 20 Mule team + 8 gallons of muriatic acid)
Borax also can help control algae, but you have to add a LOT. It ends up costing around $50 per 10,000 gallons of pool water, for borax and muriatic acid, if you buy your borax at Walmart and your muriatic acid at Lowes. Soda ash is now frequently available at Walmart in the detergent section, at prices MUCH cheaper than the pool prices for the same chemical. If you ALSO need to raise your alkalinity, you can buy that instead. But if your alkalintiy is high enough, and you only need to raise your pH, it's better to use borax:

20 Mule Team Borax @ Walmart
Muriatic acid @ Lowes (do not get the 'safer' muriatic acid; do read the "Using Muriatic Acid" sticky)

Bromide (4 lbs)
+ Be VERY careful about bromide, if you try to buy it elsewhere. There are multiple version of granular "yellow algae" treatments. Some contain sodium bromide; some contain ammonium chlorine, which is completely different and not desirable; some contain bromide PLUS phosphates.

Nava Chemicals 652072097 Yellow Algae Remover, 2-Pound Bottle @ Amazon
Tropi Clear TC-4402-1 2-Pound Yellow Eliminator @ Amazon

Bleach or cal hypo
If you get ready to buy cal hypo, and the link I gave you is dead, let me find some more for you. Cal hypo, like all other chlorine products, is now being commonly blended with 'goop' and that's NOT what you want!

[SnoopysGirl]

Ben,

Thank you for taking the time to help with the copper & CYA problem. Based on the above, I have a couple of questions & comments:

1. Comment: I will be using liquid chlorine at 10% - that is what is available at my local hardware store for the best $$
2. Based on the above, how much should I be adding to the pool?
3. The HEDP & Culator products work together to remove the copper, is that correct?
4. Can copper cause a yellowish stain on the pool, or would it be greenish? I have some mild yellow staining on my liner and steps this year. I am thinking it is either from copper, calcium (since high hardness), or possibly some other chemical in the pool.
5. I have the BioGuard Algicide that is not polyquat - it is the other (I think it is termed as just quat?). What is the disadvantage with the product that I am currently using, other than foaming (which isn't really an issue in my pool)?
6. Can I just add a bunch of bleach to increase my chlorine level? There are a lot of other chemicals listed above, and I'm wondering what the benefit is to having them/using them. Specifically, the borates and the bromide are what I am wondering about.

Here are the stats for my pool this morning:

FC = 6 ppm
CC = 0 (not sure if I did the reading wrong the other day, or if it can correct itself that quickly on its own)
pH = 7.4
I am sure that my calcium hardness is still high at 420, and CYA hasn't changed, of course. Alkalinity I did not test for today, but I can go out and do that if you need that information.