At My Wits End

[PoolDoc]

If you can drain and refill, it's VERY likely you can start up with no problems. And, if you are OTO-orange, with CYA=40, then draining might be the best idea.

Have you drained before? Do you understand the danger of the walls collapsing inwards?

Also, you need to understand you'll STILL have some chlorine resistant algae left in your pool -- you'll eliminate 90% or more of both the algae and the goop, but we'll need to make 100% that the remaining algae DIES as you refill.

You do realize you'll have to buy a number of additional chemicals? Probably your best bet for startup, if you can get access to a Sams Club, is their PoolBrand 24/pack of dichlor for about $50.

[Jeannie]

I've never used any start up chemicals? Maybe that's part of the issue? They gave me Jump Start and other stuff.. but I never put it in. I have a HUGE bucket of hockey pucks and a bucket of CYA and some Borax left. Oh.. and some soda ash. Plus the Jump start, the Black Algae Out and some bottles of winterizing chemicals they gave us with the pool.

What is DiChlor?

=======================

We bought the pool last year and there was a massive issue because the installers ripped the liner. After a year of back/forth they gave us a new liner this year.. but the pool was mostly empty from last autumn until May. I didn't have any collapse problems.. but now I'm worried. Maybe I should cover and then empty and refill when we get closer to swim season next year?

[PoolDoc]

1. List exactly what you've got -- brand name, % ingredients, product name, so we can see what you can use.

2. If it was empty all winter without problems, it's probably safe to drain.

3. Dichlor is sodium dichloro-isocyanurate -- equivalent to trichlor (probably the main ingredient in your pucks), but less chlorine and less acid. Both add chlorine and stabilizer and lower pH.

[Watermom]

Take a look at the ingredient list of your trichlor pucks. Make sure they do NOT have copper in them. If they do, you do NOT want to use them in your pool.

[Jeannie]

FANTASTIC NEWS!

There is some progress! The water is MUCH lighter now. It's almost a Carribean blue now. SOMETHING is working..

My numbers seem weird to me though:

Chlorine (using OTO) - bright orange-y yellow with one drop
Ph: 7.4
TA: 100
CYA: 50-60??

Is it normal for my CYA to go UP? I didn't add anything except the bleach.

Should I continue to shock the pool until it's crystal clear?

[PoolDoc]

Don't worry about testing other values for now -- you may not get accurate results.

But, I'd try to hold the chlorine high for a couple of days, before letting it drop.

[Jeannie]

Don't worry about testing other values for now -- you may not get accurate results.

But, I'd try to hold the chlorine high for a couple of days, before letting it drop.

Okay!

I got my drops today. My VC (right now) is at 20 and I have no CC.. is that bad?

[Jeannie]

I'm seeing improvement in the water.. but I need some help understanding a little better.

After testing yesterday afternoon, I added 5 gallons of bleach.

I tested last night before going to bed:

FC: 44
CC: None detected
TA: 100
Ph: 7.4

I added nothing.

This morning the number were exactly the same. Except the Ph had dipped a little to 7.2.

So it looks like.. I'm not losing any significant amount of chlorine overnight. Which is good and what we are looking for.. right? And I have no CC.. which (if I'm correct) is the by product created when the pool is 'fighting' something.

But I still have some green. I was in the pool yesterday morning and finally was able to see some green sediment which I wiped away with my scrubber. Rob went in last night and wiped it away again. I have vacuumed with my neighbors pool rover every.

I'm happy to see improvement (GENUINELY) but I want to stay on top of this so I don't see a change back to the nightmare bright green we had previously.

Any hints, advice?

[Watermom]

Stay on top of it and maintain the high chlorine. Don't try and test the pH when the chlorine is high or you won't get an accurate reading. Is your pressure rising on your filter? (You should be running the pump 24/7 right now.)

[Jeannie]

Stay on top of it and maintain the high chlorine. Don't try and test the pH when the chlorine is high or you won't get an accurate reading. Is your pressure rising on your filter? (You should be running the pump 24/7 right now.)

We are running it 24/7 (much to my husband's chagrin).. I don't see a change in the pressure though.. should we?