Old Pool to a New Owner

[TonyIsSocial]

Hello all,

I just bought a house in Clearwater, FL in January that was built in the '70s. I had a pool service change the pool from green to blue back in February and wanted to gradually get myself to maintain it.

I'm exploring the forums and first thing I've learned so far is I need a test kit. The 2 recommended on Amazon are $60 and $120. I'll start off with the $60 kit.

Some details I'm assuming are relevant:
The pool gets full sun all day.
There's an evergreen tree that drops needles in it.
Only chemicals I've been adding since I started taking full control (2-3 weeks ago) are chlorine (Shock Plus from Costco) and muriatic acid from Leslie's. Doses based on Leslie's recommendation.
Bought a new Zodiac MX-8 about a month ago.
New filter also about a month ago.

The problem that brings me here:
Lots of algae on filter clogging flow, increasing PSI to ~30
I spray the algae off the filter every 2 days or else the pool water isn't circulating and no pressure to move the vacuum around. I tried soaking the filter in a half bag of shock chlorine and it still went green within 24-48 hours. Here is a link to pictures and a video on Dropbox: http://db.tt/G3O5IvoV

I think my problem is chemically based and I'm completely ignorant.

Please help,
Tony

[PoolDoc]

Pics:

[PoolDoc]

You've got mustard algae growing. You need higher chlorine. Without a K2006's test results, I can't tell how high. Pool store results are PARTICULARLY inaccurate on CYA levels, which is critical in this case.

1. Order a K2006 ASAP

2. Get an OTO/phenol red (yellow / red) drops, and adjust your chlorine level to the orange-ish yellow level (not on scale)

3. Post your pump make / model AND your filter make / model. Your filter cartridge has collapsed pleats, and is probably too small for your pump, making your problems worse in multiple ways.

[TonyIsSocial]

I ordered K2006 and got the delivery notification already. I'm hoping your step 2 will make sense when I receive it...

I just went out and put another bag of Shock Plus in and turned the pump on for an hour.

All that is legible on the pump housing is WaterAce Listed 96R5. The rest is decayed and not legible.

On the cartridge housing is this label:


I took that to Leslie's and they sold me a Pleatco and I'm not sure the model but it has several number/measurements on it like PA175. I could probably dig up the receipt or call them.

I understand you're busy and extremely grateful for your time.

[PoolDoc]

http://www.waterace.com/manuals.html

Work your way through that page, and see if you can find your pump. If not, call them at "If you have a Water Ace product and are looking for assistance, please call 1-800-942-3343."

[TonyIsSocial]

Ok, I got the K2006 Thursday and just got around to doing the chlorine test. I got 1.2ppm free chlorine and 0 combined (I think anyway). I did a 25ml sample in an area out of the flow of water at 18" deep. 2 scoops of the powder turned it a dark pink and 6 drops made it clear. 5 drops of the other and it was still clear.

Looking at Table B will tell me how much chlorine to add for 30ppm to kill the algae based on %available chlorine and volume of pool, however, I'm not sure how to calculate %available. I'll be using Aqua Chem's Shock PLUS (Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione 58.2%) - 1LB.

I haven't gotten around to calling WaterAce yet as they have the same work hours as me but I'll get to it this week. Meanwhile, if I keep the filter cartridge sprayed off, the pressure is between 5-20 and plenty of circulation around the pool for about 48 hours.

btw, I was joking around on Facebook about buying this kit, and my cousin Bryan (who I went to first for help before here because he has "been in the biz for 20 years") made these comments (image below). He didn't reply to my initial call for help so I tried to sound smart just to troll him...

[PoolDoc]

Do you already have the AquaShock Plus? It's 58% dichlor but that means the actual chlorine percent is much lower, since 100% dichlor is only about 55% chlorine. Your product is 58% x 55% (0.58 x 0.55) or 32% chlorine!

Do this:
1. In the evening, brush and then add 4 gallons of household bleach for each 10,000 gallons of pool water (24 ppm dose)
2. Test your CYA level, and report that here.
3. Tell us what your pool dimensions are, or what your gallons are.

[TonyIsSocial]

I do already have the AquaShock Plus; bought it and tabs at Costco. Do I wait after the 4 gallons to test CYA? I'm ok to use the PLUS for regular maintenance right? The bleach is just to kill this algae?

Here's a rough dimension drawing of the pool, not sure the best way to calculate volume:

[PoolDoc]

Sorry about the Costco purchase; that's why I tell people to by pool chems at Sams, not Costco. Sams sells (at least for the last 3 years) undiluted trichlor and dichlor; Costco sells the mess you've got. I don't remember what ELSE is in it, so I can't recommend it at the moment, but it's probably OK so long as there is NO copper in it.

+ You can test for CYA at any time; chlorine levels don't affect the test.

+ Volume calculation: 7.48 gal/ft3 x [(3.5 x 9 x 24) + (6.5 x 14 x 13) - (14 x 0.5 x 3 x 3)] = ~14,000 OR 11,900 gallons.

spreadsheet here: http://goo.gl/wE4tN -- the difference is whether 3.5' is the WATER depth, or the POOL depth.

+ bleach is just a predictable way to add chlorine, that we can recommend without worrying about side-effects or what ELSE is in the bleach. Algae doesn't care whether you have FC = 30 ppm from bleach or Shock Plus. *YOU* may care if the Shock Plus has enough copper to turn hair green and stain your pool!

[TonyIsSocial]

That's the water depth, so 14,000, thanks! I'll pick up 6 gal of bleach tomorrow on the way home tomorrow and pick this back up.

Thanks Ben.