Hi all, thanks for all the support you've given to pool owners. I'm amazed by the quality and amount of information here.

I had a small 8000 gal vinyl liner pool at my last home and have just purchased a home with a considerably larger pool. It's been about a month and now that the weather is warming here in Northern California, the water temperature has risen to 80 degrees, which seems to be enough to make a good environment for the algae bloom that started on my walls about a week ago. I had the levels balanced out (PH 7.4) but probably did let the chlorine get a little low (busy with moving ). I know by the best practices chart I can shock at 25ppm+ to clear the algae, but another problem I have is the CYA level reads about 200 (off the chart of my Taylor k-2006 test kit, I'm extrapolating).

My FC is about 20.5 (CC .5) and I'm afraid at my CYA level, I haven't shocked it to a high enough level. Problem is, I have so much stabilizer that

1) Not much chlorine is available to fight algae
2) It will take forever for levels to come down, during which time I can't gauge PH (test doesn't work with high chlorine levels, right?)

I guess my only option at this point is to partially drain the pool to lower stabilizer levels. I was hoping to fully drain the pool in a couple months after checking the function of the anti-static valve (if I even have one).

Am I on the right track? Is there anything I can do without draining to help? I should mention that the water is clear and at current chlorine levels seem to have stopped algae growth from progressing, but there's noticeable algae covering about 30% of the pool walls.


Phil