Green Hair Problem After Using Bioguard Smart Shock

[BigDave]

Yes, I do know the pH of my pool, and also the alkalinity. pH is at 7.7 alkalinity 130. Seems good to me.

Agreed, if your pool's been around 7.7 pH and 130 TA your heater is not the source of the copper unless, maybe, the chlorinator is plumbed in wrong. It should be the after the heater in the water's trip back to the pool and have a means (check valve) of stopping the chlorinator from flowing back to the heater when the pump is off.

Where can I find the information about easy pool care?

The Pool Guides on poolsolutions.com are a great place to start along with the forums: Using Chlorine and Chlorinating Chemicals, Testing and Adjusting Pool Water Chemistry, and (for your copper) Dealing with 'Minerals', 'Ions', Metals & Stains. And, of course, you'll need information about your pool water itself and for that you'll need a Taylor K-2006.

[SnoopysGirl]

*UPDATE* I purchased the Taylor test kit (as above) and spent the afternoon running tests. Here is what I have come up with (some test I did more than once to make sure the readings were accurate:

FC = 5 ppm
CC = 0.4 ppm
pH 7.4
TA = 190 ppm CaCO3
Calcium Hardness = 420
CYA = was very high - actually could not get an accurate reading it was so high.

The water in the pool is crystal clear, so I hesitate to do anything to it, but I am very concerned about they CYA levels. I should add that I think there is a tear in the vinyl liner (near the deep end steps - needs to be repaired), so I have to add water to the pool about every 2 days, and after I backwash. The water in my area is very hard and very alkaline, which I am sure has contributed to the higher than normal readings. I see that it is recommended to use the BBB system, but I am not certain I understand how it works. Are chlorine pucks not used at all? If not, then what is used in their place? I'd hate to mess up the pool at this points, since it does look good. And other than turning our hair green (I also purchased the Culator product), the water SEEMS perfect.

Please help, as my kids spend a lot of time in the pool and it makes me nervous thinking that they are exposed to a dangerous environment. Thank you!!

[Watermom]

Those pucks are the reason your CYA is so high. Re-run the CYA test but use some dilution to help figure out what the reading actually is. Take one part pool water and one part distilled water, mix, then use this to do the CYA test. Multiply your test by 2. If you still get a reading of 100, use one part pool water and two parts distilled but multiply the result by 3.

In place of the pucks, you can just use bleach for your source of chlorine. That is what many of us here on the forum do. Take some time to read a lot of the posts on the forum, especially the stickies at the top of many of the sub-forums. Also, go on over to our sister website www.poolsolutions.com and do some reading there.

[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.