Yellow tint on bottom of deep end

[aylad]

I have "stabilized chlorine sticks" (brand and item: Bioguard Stingy Sticks). The active ingredient is trichloro-s-triazinetrione. Is that the same as the trichlor puck you mention?

Yes, it's the same thing.

Janet

[cmcq]

I added the sequestering agent two days ago, and I think it worked, but \I can't be 100% sureright now b/c the water is now very cloudy so I can't see the bottom of the pool from the pool deck. I haven't had time to dive down and look at the bottome of the deep end, but some stains that hat started appearing on the steps are gone. I checked the chlorine and is is 0, and the PH is 6.8. I've also now found mustard-colored spots on the steps and walls of the pool which brush off with no effort. I ***ume those are due to the lack of chlorine, which is due to having added some ascorbic acid when diagnosing the stain and the sequestering agent after that. Does that sound right? If so, the question is how quickly do I bring the chlorine back up to get the water re-balanced? Can I rely on the SWG or can/should I add some trichor sticks to the skimmmer? The final added complication is that we're scheduled to have the pool closed in 9 days, and I ***ume I need all this cleared up by then.

Thanks

[mbar]

You can start to bring the chlorine up now - bring it up slowly. If you have a sand or DE filter, put a trichlor stick in the skimmer, and keep it there until the water clears, this helps to let any stain that will for when it hits the chlorine to stain the filter instead of the pool. Keep adding chlorine to get the chlorine up to 6, while keeping the ph at 7.2, and no higher. If you don't see any stains forming, you can take it up to shock level, if you see stains make sure the ph is btween 7 & 7.2 and add more sequesterer. Then take it up to shock, which for you would be between 12 & 15ppms. You will have a hard time keeping the chlorine up because it is working to get rid of stuff in the water which is eating up the chlorine. You will have to be consistant. Keep the filter running 24/7. You can keep your SWG going, or you can shut it off while you are maintaining the chlorine so closely yourself.

As for clearing it up before the pool closes, I would just make sure that you have killed off any algae that you may have - which may be to use mega doses of chlorine. You shouldn't close until the chlorine is holding steady overnight and you have no combined chlorine. There seems to be a form of brown algae that is going around that needs mega doses of chlorine to kill it - here is a link to a thread about it.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=5612
I think killing the algae off is more important than the staining - I have already closed my pool with a lot of staining, and opened in the spring to no stains!!! I think if you have enough sequesterer in the water and keep your ph down, you should be able to get up to shock levels without getting more stains. Just keep the filter running 24/7, keep a trichlor stick in the skimmer, and when you add bleach DO NOT add it to the skimmer with the trichlor in it! Add it to the return stream. Good luck, and feel free to ask any questiions you may have