Quote Originally Posted by stantheman View Post
Hi Carl.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply to my mail. Your help is greatly appreciated. Your comment about alligators was very funny. The worst we can expect in the UK are frogs in the pool... certainly no alligators. Apologies for the delay is responding been busy with family and reading your excellent pool solutions website.

1) I have used your dilution method to measure the Free Chlorine in the water and I believe it to be 10.4.

That's probably good enough. I never measure closer than .5...10, 10.5, 11, etc.

2) I have also lowered the pool water by approx 20 to 30 %. I hear you when you say that this is not going to make a huge difference, but I had started the process, so I let it run for a while. I am now refilling the water and expect this to be complete in a day or so. Also my pool line is really old and faded, so don't want to fade it anymore. My kids also have sensitive skin.

20 to 30% means you'll lower CYA by 20-30%, which will help. There's lots of discussion of what REALLY bothers skin. All evidence is that it's not the Free Chlorine, even when it's very, very high, but rather the Combined Chloramines that are irritating to skin and eyes--which is why the IDEAL CC level is...zero. The next thing you need to remember is that "high chlorine" is only high relative to CYA. So when your CYA is over 100, the recommended FC level of 8 to 15 is actually no higher RELATIVELY, than an FC level of 2-5ppm is when CYA is under 30ppm!

If you look up the thread I started recently on liner fade, you can see how much my liner faded in 12 years (rebuilding the pool now). Fading happens.

3) You would not believe the hundreds of pounds I have wasted on expensive pool chemicals in previous years. Your pool solutions website is a revelations! I have been hunting high and low for the last few days for cheap bleach. Sadly in the UK most bleach comes with foaming agents or fragrance. This is the only variety that I have found that looks suitable....

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/produ.../?id=260550096

On the plus side it is cheaper than bottled water! On the negative side.. it is only 1.5% so I have had to buy all the store stock! So I have 13 bottles (26 litres). I will need probably the same amount again to finish the job. No big deal, just means I will need to hit another branch of the same supermarket later in the week.

I'm confused: The description says "less than 5%" yet it seems to be only 1.5%.. Are there no pool stores that sell "Liquid Chlorine"? You can test the stuff easily. All you need is an eyedropper with a 1ml marking. Fill a bucket with 10l of tap water. Test its chlorine level. Then add 1ml of bleach to the bucket and mix. Measure chlorine level again, and subtract the tap water's chlorine level. What's left is a good estimate of the ACTUAL strength of the bleach.

But you're wise to avoid the sudsing, frangrances, etc. They WILL give you problems!


4) The plan is to let the pool water level return to normal. Retest for FC, TA, CYA, PH etc Get the pump going and use the supermarket bleach ASAP. I did by some Algaecide a week ago, but having read your email I have decided to leave it well alone for now.

If it's not Polyquat, don't use it.

5) I believe my bottom drain to be blocked, so I am dependent on my skimmer basket return. Water pressure at the sand filter is very good. There seems to be no visible means of playing with the bottom drain. I may try a drain snake when the algae is gone.

It could also be, now, a place where the algae is congregating.

6) I skimmed an article you wrote about lowering TA. It said I needed to aerate the water... pardon my ignorance, but my haywards multiport valve has no such option. Do you mean filter? Below is a link to a pici of the type of valve I have.

Whoops! Aeration is merely exposing lots of water to air. You can mount a fountain (I have one that screws into my return) or point the returns at the surface so they splash. Since the water isn't yet safe to swim in, you miss out on the best method: A gang of kids going crazy and splashing! Yup, that's all it is...Nothing to do with your multiport valve.


http://yourpool.co/running/what-do-a...g-actually-do/

Below is a pici of my pool just before I started draining.

http://s46.photobucket.com/user/stan...a44ad.jpg.html


Many thanks again!

S
Nice looking pool! I see the liner has pulled out of the corner near the diving board. There's a plastic strip you force into the corner when the liner is in place called "Liner Lock" that prevents that.