Pool a disaster after vacation

[cbuchin]

Yes, vacuumed to waste. I thought I was going very slowly.....just stirred it up with the slightest movement. My vac has bristles all around the edge, could that be the problem? If I try again do I need to add more floc? It's been filtering for several days now since I tried the vacuuming. Pool filter pressure doesn't go up at all. Water still blue/white and opaque.


How do you make a skimmer sock? I have lots of old stockings

[PoolDoc]

Eclipse sand filter? Is that the little round one? There's a fair chance you've lost quite a bit of your sand. If it's a side mount filter, it shouldn't be too hard to open the filter at the top, and check. If you are missing a lot of sand, the algae particles will go right on through the filter (and a skimmer sock won't help either!).

If you want to test your filter BEFORE opening, it, you can add some DE powder -- a couple of quarts -- via the skimmer. If the DE shoots back into the pool, your filter needs work!

[cbuchin]

hmmmm...never thought of that. How would it lose sand? But, we've had it 10 years and never added. Foxx pool manual said it would never need more sand. It is the little round one. I'll try the DE test you suggest - I get that at the pool store? I put on a stocking skimmer sock earlier today....figured it wouldn't hurt.

[cbuchin]

Ok, just looking at your Pool Solutions FAQ about Alkalinity and read:

"My calcium hardness (CH) level is also too low. Can I raise my ALK or TA level and raise my CH level at the same time? Not unless you want to have a pool that looks like it's filled with milk! When you try to add baking soda and calcium chloride (AKA calcium hardness increaser), you almost always end up with a zone where both the ALK and the CH are too HIGH, at least temporarily. And during that brief period the ALK and CH combine to firm fine particles of calcium carbonate (limestone) that cloud your pool."

As I said before, my pool dealer said to wait 6-8 hrs between the 20 lb of each additions (and each of those increments) but I was overzealous and didn't wait more than an hour or two between additions. Based on what I just read, I'm wondering if I have a "limestone cloud". If so, does that change any of your advice?

[cbuchin]

Still waiting on the test kit from Amazon. I haven't been able to get to the store for DE, but had a question on that....if the DE does blow through showing I need to replace sand, what kind of additional problems will the blown through DE cause?

Thanks a bunch.

Chantel

[Watermom]

DE blowing through may mean your filter is damaged, not just that you need to change your sand. If it does blow through, let it settle on the pool floor and then vacuum to waste to get it out of the pool.

[cbuchin]

Finally got my test kit - the Taylor K-2006 purchased at Amazon through your link.

Results:
TA: 200
PH: 7.3
CH: 260
FC: 7.4
CC: .6

Water is still cloudy. I'm going to check the sand this weekend when I have help to remove the filter cover.
Any suggestions?

[Watermom]

Your TA is too high. Directions for lowering it: Lowering Alkalinity Step-by-Step

Also, please read: Using Muriatic Acid Safely

I wouldn't use any cal-hypo in your pool as your source of chlorine. Stick with bleach.

You didn't post a CYA reading above. Did you run that test?

[cbuchin]

Sorry - I forgot to list the CYA. It is high - about 100 - we've been using the 3" tabs from Costco all season (Aqua-chem brand).

We replaced the sand yesterday (it was 11 yr old). I used three 1.42 jugs of bleach (Great Value) to shock it last night...FC this morning was 10.5 and CC between .5 & 1.

I don't have a way to aerate....am I better off getting alk decreaser from pool store or using the posted method without aerating?

[PoolDoc]

As long as your pool is uncovered, it's aerating . . . slowly.

With CYA=100, you definitely need to follow the Best Guess table (link in my blue signature bar) and you pretty much have to have the K2006 testkit, to do it right. Kit links below.

Ben

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+ Having a good test kit makes pool care easier for EVERYONE, but is an ESSENTIAL tool for pools with problems. A good test kit means a kit that can test chlorine from 0 - 25 ppm, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer with reasonable accuracy. Test strips (AKA 'guess-strips' ) do NOT meet this standard. Some pool store testing is accurate; most is not. The ONLY way you'll know whether your pool store is accurate or bogus, is by testing accurately your own self. On the other hand, pool store 'computer' dosing recommendations are NEVER trustworthy -- ignore them. They are designed to sell more chemicals than you need, and WILL cause many pool problems.

+ We recommend the Taylor K-2006 test kit, which meets the requirements above, for many reasons. The HTH 6-way drops kit is a great starter kit, and is compatible with the K2006 (it's made by Taylor). There are a few alternatives; for example Lamotte makes an FAS-DPD kit that's OK -- but it costs 3x as much. But, we're not aware of any test that is better, and since we are all familiar with the K-2006 (and can help you with it) we recommend it exclusively ( Test kit info page )

One caution for the 2012 season: Amazon does not stock the kits directly. So when buying at Amazon, Amato is our current preferred seller. However, they often don't list enough stock to last the whole day, so try order mid-morning. You should expect a delivered cost under $60 for the K2006A and under $95 for the K2006C. If you can't find that, wait a day.

+ Here are links to the kits we recommend (you can check local availability on the HTH kit, using the Walmart link):

HTH 6-Way Test Kit @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) @ Amazon