HELPppppppppppp

[raptureready1953]

I think I have cloudy blue today. I went out to test and I could actually see about 1/4 in into the pool . I actually saw some of the liner. LOL. My ph was super high, so added some reducer. Another gal. and half of clorox. Told dh to pick up some more clorox today, almost out.

Hope this turns clear soon. Thanks yall (probably does not help that we have humid rainy afternoons for the rest of the month. yuck)

[Simmons99]

DON'T adjust PH with high chlorine levels - the high chlorine will mess with the PH test. Err on the side of caution and wait for your chlorine levels to drop below like 20ppm.

What have your chlorine tests been looking like? Make sure you are backwashing and scrubbing - now the filter needs to start cleaning out the dead algae. Keep the chlorine levels high to make sure that none starts growing again.

[raptureready1953]

Hi My husband says that we have no capability to back wash on this vinyl pool. But I have been scrubbing. Trying to keep the chlorine level up. I only have a five way tester, and I also have strips. I go by the color on the five way. It is really brown. The test strips, the color is on the high side ..I think its over 10 on the strips, 5 on the other. I put in a gal and half a while ago. Swept, ... now later I will go out and maybe add more chlorine, and then sweep. Tonight I will vacuum if its not thundering and lightning. And add another gal and half. Does that sound about right? My pool holds aprox. 4500 gal. Its an intex vinyl.

[Spensar]

Sounds like things are coming along. Instead of backwashing, can you take out the cartridge filter and hose it off? There will be a lot of gunk to come out, and since you can't backwash, washing out the gunk will greatly speed up the process. I don't have one so I'm not sure how you you clean them without replacing them. I'm assuming you can wash it off and pop it back in instead of replacing it every time. After it's nearly clear and the bottom free of stuff, you replacing it would be a good idea.

Are you buying clorex brand bleach? If so make sure it is the plain ordinary bleach with no additives or "spring fresh", etc. You want straight sodium hypochlorate. If the is a Walmart near you, their house brand is usually the cheapest and doesn't have additives. (Just want to make sure you aren't accidently putting bad stuff in your pool!)

P.S. You WILL be able to see the bottom of the pool.

[ivyleager]

Hi My husband says that we have no capability to back wash on this vinyl pool. We also have no skimmer.

Okay, you have a small Intex pool that holds 4500 gals, and filtrations appears to be the major limiting factor. I'm ASSUMING that you've kept the filtration system (such that it is) on 24/7 and changed out the cartridge(s) as it is most likely fairly gunked up by now. If so and still no change, I'd recommend letting the chlorine drift down to almost zero, adding some polyquat per bottle recommendations, and then reshocking. Then again, dumping and refilling seems reasonable, too.

Good luck.

CaryB
Caniac

[Spensar]

I'm not sure that the algae is dead, dead, dead yet, so letting the chlorine down to zero may be a little early. Visibility is not close the bottom yet, and any results have only come along over the last couple of days with consistent high chlorine levels. I'm not sure what benefit their is in letting the chlorine drift to zero and putting in algaceide. From what I understand, teh aglae got going from yo-yoing chlorine levels.

I'm just going with my experience, but I kept the chlorine levels very solid until I was reading zero CC for a couple of days and was starting to see the bottom of the pool through the fog.

Until the CC is zeroed out, backing off the chlorine may not be the best bet and I'd err on the side of caution.

RR1953, if your kit doesn't give you cc levels, can you get it tested at a pool store? If they wonder at the chlorine levels, just tell them you are zapping a bunch of algae and ignore anything else :-) ! That cc reading is a good thing to know now.

[raptureready1953]

What is CC? No pool store around here. Would have to drive an hr and half. The pool is now just cloudy. Like you said it looks foggy. GOod description. Will keep doing what I am doing for now. If not clear in two days, I am dumping and refilling. Thanks for all of everyones help.

[Simmons99]

What is CC? No pool store around here. Would have to drive an hr and half. The pool is now just cloudy. Like you said it looks foggy. GOod description. Will keep doing what I am doing for now. If not clear in two days, I am dumping and refilling. Thanks for all of everyones help.

CC= combined chlorine - it is chlorine that has been "spent" but not burned up in the process of killing organics. You will ususally have it when your pool has been heavily infected with organics (algae, tanning lotion, urine, etc.)

When you shock the pool - it not only kills the bad stuff, but it also "burns up" the combined chlorine (CC).

CC are tested with the FAS-DPD chlorine test kit I told you about a couple of days ago.

You mentioned your test is dark brown - are you diluting with distilled water and testing - 4 parts distilled water and one part pool water? If so - then your chlorine level is too high - you should get a vibrant yellow - but not dark brown.

You should go to http://www.poolsolutions.com and read the articles and check out the "sticky" threads at the top of the forums - they will help you understand this process a lot better and the terminology.

[raptureready1953]

the color is a funny brown...but I am in the process of shocking. Its vibrant yellow when level is about 5.

[Spensar]

Keep vacumming and cleaning the filter too, to get the junk out. Over the next day or so, you should see clearer water. Like Ivy said, filtering is becoming the challenge now.