Algae Problem with Cloudy Water

[bmlocal175]

Alright I will wait until evening to check chlorine again. I have the HTH 6 from walmart so that is TC . Your saying if it shows higher than what the kit can show I'm good through the night? Should I leave the filter running all night with the salt system running? I have the purifier running now at about 60% on level 2 just to maintain really what I have. The water does look better but I did have to vacuum up what looked like brown stuff scattered all over the floor of the pool this afternoon.

[aylad]

The brown stuff on the pool bottom is probably dead algae, which indicates that you're making progress. Keep your filter running but turn the SWCG off so you're not wearing it out. Use the bleach/liquid chlorine to keep your chlorine up, and follow Pooldoc's directions...
"You can test with an cheap OTO kit -- you can skip the evening dose, IF your OTO reading in the EVENING is DARK yellow with an orange tint. Otherwise, 8 gallons of 6% bleach EVERY evening till there's no trace of algae left. After the 2nd dose, BRUSH the pool carefully.".

That's a beautiful pool!

[bmlocal175]

Just checked and we were at the top of the walmart kit for TC which was 5. So I just dumped in 8 gallons of bleach and ill let it run overnight and check it when I get up.

Now the kit I have only shows TC up to 5 so in the morning am I looking for the DARK yellow with a little orange look? If it is low do I add more in the morning or another 8 tomorrow night? Do I leave the salt system off all day? Do I check the TC during the day or just again tomorrow night?

[Watermom]

You can force your OTO kit to read higher with a dilution method. You do lose accuracy with each dilution, but it is better than nothing until your K-2006 arrives.

Testing Without a Good Kit

If your CYA is around 50, you'll want to keep your chlorine level around 15ppm. Go ahead and test it again in the morning and add more bleach to bring it back up to 15. Each gallon will add approximately 2ppm. You can use that as a reference to help you figure out how much to add when you test. You can test as often as you have time for but at least twice per day and each time, take the chlorine back up to 15.

Run your pump 24/7 while you are working to clear this up but leave your SWCG off.

Hopefully, you'll see a big improvement in the morning.

[bmlocal175]

Water looks a lot better this morning. Have some vacuuming to do of the dead algae. If this is alright to do? I do not have any distilled water to test with the kit I have to get a higher reading. I did the test the normal way and it was medium orange. So I'm not sure where this puts me on my way to 15. I did a test strip which has FC but doing 2 gave 2 different readings but both were under 10 (not very accurate). If I don't hear from someone soon I will dump 3 gallons in which should be close.

I'm also confused on the FC and TC. My Walmart kit shows TC. Don't I want to know my FC, and how do I convert what the test is showing to FC?

[Watermom]

Interpreting colors of OTO testing: dark yellow (~10 ppm), orangey-yellow (~15) to orange (~30 ppm) to brown (> 60 ppm).

OTO kits only show TC. Your Taylor K-2006 will let you show FC and CC. FC + CC = TC.

[BigDave]

You won't know FC and CC (FC+CC=TC) until you get the FAS-DPD test (in the K-2006).
Stick with the OTO, keep it in the Dark Yellow - Orange range. Ignore the Guess-strips.
You've got the green on the run but you won't know your endpoint until you get the K-2006.

[bmlocal175]

Alright its 2:20 pm on Sat and just got done vacuuming. Pool looks a lot better than yesterday. Checked TC again and was very Orange. I did add 3 gallons this morning just to be safe so I think its holding somewhat. I will check this evening and if still orange I will not add any but if it dropped into the yellow again I will dump another 8 gallons in for the night and check in the morning.

I emailed the company who made my pool to ask them the gallons it holds so hopefully hear back. I called the local pool store who installed the pool to see and he checked a book and told me it was 24,400. Its a 22x44 Mountain lake, picture on previous page. So I hope the higher estimates of 35,000 gallons by PoolDoc won't throw this whole project off to bad.

[bmlocal175]

Quick question.. Can we swim in the pool today or is the chlorine just to high? I'm not even sure the exact number but I'm guessing 15 or higher.

[Watermom]

It won't hurt people to swim in a pool with chlorine level of 15 and a CYA of 50 but you might want to wear old swimsuits. Also, if it is cloudy, keep a constant head count. Don't want any tragedies from someone having a problem in the pool and not being able to be seen due to the cloudiness of the water.