Need help-High Cya, calcium, and algae

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

Turbo,
The stains on the plaster could be a result of a number of things... I know some minor staining I had cleared up after a couple times of shocking the pool water and minor brushing. That was from decaying leaves, etc over the winter months and not from algea. Depending on the cause of the stain some sort of scale/stain remover may work. If you are going to drain the pool then you could acid wash the plaster to remove staining. If it isn't that bad I would see if it clears up this season with chlorine and brushing and then if not explore more intensive fixes in the fall.

[Turbo]

Thanks for the help everyone. CYA is about 160. I guess draining the pool all the way and scrubbing the sides might be the ticket. I haven't had a chance to research acid washing the sides. What chemicals should be used and what is the best plan of action? Should I consider refinishing the sides?

One last question. I have some leftover sodium dichloro-****. Does this have any stabilizer in it? I know the trichloro does but not aware of the dichloro. I definitely don't want to put any more CYA in the pool unless I have to.

Thanks,

Greg

[waterbear]

dichlor is the other stabilized chlorine, your non stabilzied chlorines are sodium hypochlorite (good old bleach!), cal hypo, and lithium hypochlorite (expens$ive stuff!)

[Turbo]

I assume acid washing is done with muriatic acid. What mixture do you use and what effect does this have on the bottom of the pool while washing?

Greg

[Turbo]

I drained the pool and it appears that the stains are not really stains. I think it is yellow algae that is growing in the crevices and round pocket holes you can't reach. Even so, I tried applying ascorbic acid and then scrubbing it to no avail. If anything, it bleached the area some from the natural white wall color (looks a little greyer to me).

I would then assume that once I get the pool full again with the correct ph, TA, CH, and CYA, I can keep the chlorine levels up to get rid of the algae.

Greg

[duraleigh]

Greg,

Your assumption is correct. It will probably take some persistence to eliminate that yellow algae but consistent high levels of Cl and frequent brushing will do the trick.

Yellow algae is frequently misdiagnosed. Google the term and you will find some pictures to help you confirm.

[Turbo]

The pool is nearly full (3 or 4 inches to go) and I did some testing. Ph is 7.4, cl is 0, TA is 150 and CYA is 70 - 80, probably 80 (not sure about seeing the dot). If I understand correctly, I need to aerate if possible to get the TA down. I am going to start shocking and will look at the chart to see what I need. I was hoping CYA would have dropped further. I must have drained 3/4 of the pool.

I guess I will just run high cl for now. Any suggestions?

Greg