100,000 gal pool

[4dks1]

It hasn't been clear since Labor Day 2013! We've spent hundreds & hundreds of dollars in the last 10-11 months!

I was thinking of trying the 15% chlorine. Where do you buy it?

We have a Basic OT test kit, but we usually have the water tested at pool stores.

We've been told to drain it.

We just replaced some of the filter grids.

[CarlD]

That is a BIGGG pool! And it's a private residence?

Good luck finding 15% Liquid Chlorine! However, here in NJ, 12% is available in 2.5 and 5 gallon carboys. The place I get it from has so much turnover that their "12%" usually tests at 14-14.5%

With YOUR pool, figuring how much Free Chlorine a gallon will add is easy: Just multiply the percentage of the concentration by 10. So 1 gallon of 15% will add 1.5ppm of FC. 1 gallon of 8.25% will add .825ppm of FC.

But we do need a full screen of pool tests to be able to help.
That would be:
Free Chlorine (FC)
Combined Chloramines (CC) or Total Chlorine (TC)==> TC = FC + CC so if we have 2 we get the third.
pH
Total Alkalinity (TA or T/A)
Calcium Hardness (CH)
Stabilizer/Conditioner (CYA/Cyanuric Acid/Isocyanuric Acid)

Two carboys of nominal 12% run me about $35-$36 and, if they test at 14%, will add 14ppm of FC to your pool. Yeah, you'll need at least that much, maybe more, every dose, and you'll need multiple doses. But 100,000 gallons of water will probably cost far more.

If it turns out your stabilizer is low, Di-Chlor powder may be the way to rapidly raise both FC and CYA levels.

Ben is usually the best person to handle very large pools, but this is the first I remember that wasn't a public or commercial pool.

[PoolDoc]

100,000 gallons is big enough to be different . . . and expensive.

1. Is this a commercial pool?
2. What pump and filter do you have? (make / model / size / type)
3. What sort of chemical feed system do you have?
4. If it's not commercial, are you committed to operating this thing?

[4dks1]

Hi, it is not a commercial or public pool. Yes, it would be great to get it going again.

Pentair DE filter FNS Plus 60
Pentair Whisperpro pump

Chemical feed system-chlorine


Size 260"x260"x272" pool 96" spa

[PoolDoc]

+ 15% chlorine is hard to buy at the consumer level, outside of south Florida. It deteriorates rapidly at summer time temperatures, so IF you get it, you need to make sure it's fresh. I think there may be some places in NJ and California where it's available . . . so you may be able to find it, but that's a local question we often can't help to solve.

Keep in mind, 15% chlorine is a bit different. For example, it will start a fire if you spill it on a pile of cotton rags!

+ You definitely need a K2006 kit. Especially with a 100K gal pool, you don't want to add unnecessary chemicals. See http://pool9.net/testkits/

+ If the pool does not have really high stabilizer, the best place to start would probably be to get 1 or 2 50lb buckets of dichlor at Sams Club. They are one of the few retailers selling un-diluted dichlor, and at a really good price, too. Dichlor dissolves quickly, so it's easy to add, and it builds up your stabilizer level rapidly. Of course, if your CYA is already too high, that is not a good thing.

PoolBrand granular dichlor 50lbs @ Sams Club => ~$2.20/lb (May 2014 in Chattanooga)
PoolBrand dichlor bagged shock 24lbs @ Sams Club => ~$2.50/lb (May 2014 in Chattanooga)

Kem-Tek dichlor 22 lbs @ Amazon => ~$3.50/lb (May 2014)
Kem-Tek dichlor 12 lbs @ Amazon => ~$4.10/lb (May 2014)
Kem-Tek dichlor 5 lbs @ Amazon => ~$5.00/lb (May 2014)
Kem-Tek dichlor 2 lbs @ Amazon => ~$9.00/lb (May 2014)

Keep in mind that Amazon products normally ship free; and that in many parts of the country, you will not have to pay sales tax. Shipping + tax can increase the cost from other suppliers by 15 - 40%, so compare delivered cost, not nominal price.

[4dks1]

Thank you Ben & Carl!

I ordered the K2006C test kit. It should arrive in 1 week. In the meantime it is very hot here. I have 11 gal 8.25% bleach. No tabs in floaters. Would you recommend having water tested at pool stores or add bleach & tabs until tester arrives?

From one of the other threads could you clarify running the pump & green water? Did it say don't run the pump if the water is green?

[PoolDoc]

If you can run the pump, but bypass the filter, do so. Live algae stops up DE filters almost instantly. You have to kill the algae before using the filter.

Can you get to a Sams Club and get 100# of dichlor?

There's really no point in adding bleach, till you have enough chlorine on hand to actually deal with the problem: 11 gallons of 8% bleach isn't going to touch what you need to clean up a 100,000 gallon pool. When I had to open neglected 'Olympic size' (75' long, actually, "Short course" pools) that were 120,000 to 200,000 gallons, I normally would add 110 gallons (2 drums) of FRESH 15% bleach.

If you add chlorine, without adding enough to do the job, you just end up wasting it.

[4dks1]

The local Sam's Club has dichlor. I'll pick it up later today. Do I just put it all at the deep end?

[PoolDoc]

Unpainted concrete -- yes. Any other surface -- scatter it. Even with concrete, don't just dump it all in one spot.

[4dks1]

The tool kit came early, so here's the readings before the dichlor was put in.
PH 8.0
TA 160ppm
CH 440
CYA 40ppm
FC 2
CC 2

Thank you!