Re: FAQ: Common Spring Startup Errors

[Watermom]

I hope it is getting better today. Since you are still getting a CC reading, I would continue to maintain shock levels with your chlorine. If you had a lot of algae, the cloudiness may just be the sand filter taking awhile to filter out the dead algae. Some people with sand filters have had some luck with adding a little DE to their sand filter to help clear it. Poconos does that. I'll alert him to this thread and see if he thinks that might be something that could help you. Hang in there. It will clear up. Post with any changes today.

Watermom

[vanhout]

Thanks for the replies.

On the "move the needle" comment - no, I'm not using a meter, just meant it as the expression. I added about 1.5 pounds of Borax this morning and I'm now at 7.5 pH. I was trying to get it up to 7.5 or greater, per Ben's sticky on this subject, but I'm not sure why, because I thought Chlorine was more effective at lower pH.

Last night I lost about 2.5 ppm of FC overnite. Water is still cloudy. I put in another 1.44 gal 6% bottle this morning, and I guess I'll just keep maintaining my Cl above 10 ppm. I don't know what else to do.

I'm up to 66 gallons of 6% Cl used since I opened the pool 13 days ago. I've bought so much Chlorine at Costco in the last 2 weeks that I'm worried Homeland Security might start an investigation.

Any other thoughts?

[Poconos]

You can try adding DE like Watermom suggested. Here's the link to the thread where I mentioned this and how to do it.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ht=%28ajs-1%29

Al

[vanhout]

You can try adding DE like Watermom suggested. Here's the link to the thread where I mentioned this and how to do it.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ht=%28ajs-1%29

Al

I'm going to give this a try.

[CarlD]

Tough problem!

Some basic questions of things I did NOT see:
Are you...
1) running your filter 24/7?
2) vacuuming to waste everyday?
3) brushing the bottom and walls everyday?

Your TA and CH together shouldn't be a problem in a vinyl pool--at least not enough to gen clouding.

So it's got to be algae.

DE in the sand filter will increase the filtering by decreasing the size of particles that get trapped. A 10lb box is usually about $8. You add about a cup. The object is to raise the pump pressure 5lbs, but no more. I suspect there's either a problem with your filter or your pump may be too big for it. What's the size on these two? Do you know the GPM the pump produces and the filter's max GPM?

You can also use skimmer socks--they increase filtration at the skimmer--but you'll have to clean it a couple of times a day. They aren't too expensive. There's some sort of bag you can attach to the return that "polishes" the water by micro-filtering it--it's expensive--about $70--but I don't remember its name. It is supposed to work.

Meanwhile, you need to get your FC up 20ppm. Since you are using SO much chlorine, it may make sense to find a local pool store that sells the 12% 5 gallon drums--each is like 10 gallons of 6%. Occasionally some stores will even get 26%--a five gallon drum is like 25 gallons of 5.25%. But it's hard to find. You also want a store that turns over its stock of these "carboys" every week--higher concentrations break down into lower concentrations, and the higher they are, the faster they break down.

Still, you can add ALOT of chlorine at once, and you don't have 20 or 30 bottles to recycle--the carboys are re-fillable. It's convenient and easier, but not always cheaper.

With 36,000 gallons, it should take 5 gallons of 6% to raise your pool 8 1/3ppm. If it's taking more, you are fighting something. But if it's not, and it's holding the FC, then you have a filtering problem.

Don't dose your pool up to 50ppm--that's only a strategy for a concrete pool. "Taming the Pool Monster" was, for me, a complete waste of money--this site has worked far better over the years.

Stick to the strategy. Ben (PoolDoc) may give you an alternate plan that's a "Plan B". If Ben (and only Ben) does so, please follow it instead--he'll have seen something unusual that requires something drastic. Until then, keep the FC up, run the filter 24/7, add DE, vacuum and brush daily.

Good luck!

[vanhout]

Tough problem!

Some basic questions of things I did NOT see:
Are you...
1) running your filter 24/7?
2) vacuuming to waste everyday?
3) brushing the bottom and walls everyday?

Your TA and CH together shouldn't be a problem in a vinyl pool--at least not enough to gen clouding.

So it's got to be algae.

DE in the sand filter will increase the filtering by decreasing the size of particles that get trapped. A 10lb box is usually about $8. You add about a cup. The object is to raise the pump pressure 5lbs, but no more. I suspect there's either a problem with your filter or your pump may be too big for it. What's the size on these two? Do you know the GPM the pump produces and the filter's max GPM?

You can also use skimmer socks--they increase filtration at the skimmer--but you'll have to clean it a couple of times a day. They aren't too expensive. There's some sort of bag you can attach to the return that "polishes" the water by micro-filtering it--it's expensive--about $70--but I don't remember its name. It is supposed to work.

Meanwhile, you need to get your FC up 20ppm. Since you are using SO much chlorine, it may make sense to find a local pool store that sells the 12% 5 gallon drums--each is like 10 gallons of 6%. Occasionally some stores will even get 26%--a five gallon drum is like 25 gallons of 5.25%. But it's hard to find. You also want a store that turns over its stock of these "carboys" every week--higher concentrations break down into lower concentrations, and the higher they are, the faster they break down.

Still, you can add ALOT of chlorine at once, and you don't have 20 or 30 bottles to recycle--the carboys are re-fillable. It's convenient and easier, but not always cheaper.

With 36,000 gallons, it should take 5 gallons of 6% to raise your pool 8 1/3ppm. If it's taking more, you are fighting something. But if it's not, and it's holding the FC, then you have a filtering problem.

Don't dose your pool up to 50ppm--that's only a strategy for a concrete pool. "Taming the Pool Monster" was, for me, a complete waste of money--this site has worked far better over the years.

Stick to the strategy. Ben (PoolDoc) may give you an alternate plan that's a "Plan B". If Ben (and only Ben) does so, please follow it instead--he'll have seen something unusual that requires something drastic. Until then, keep the FC up, run the filter 24/7, add DE, vacuum and brush daily.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot for the in depth reply. Here's the answers to the questions you posed.

- I am running 24/7, for the last 2+ weeks I've been open, except for 6 hours yesterday I turned it off to see if anything settled out

- I vacuumed to waste when I had a substantial quantity of stuff to pick up, now I get a light amount of "dirt" every day or two, so I haven't been going directly to waste, but typically backwash after vacuuming

- I have brushed occasionally, not every day. I don't have any visible algae - nothing green, so it hadn't occured to me

- My hardware is a Jacuzzi 350 filter, 83 gph, and a 1.5 HP motor on the pump, which is also a Jacuzzi. The tag on the pump is bleached out, I can't read it, so I don't know what its flow rate is. I put new sand in the filter about 2 years ago.

I've got some DE, I'm going to try that next. I'm still losing 2-3 ppm overnite, and the pool is still cloudy. Not super cloudy, but not as good as it normally is. I've been maintaining at least 10 ppm, I moved it up to 17 ppm last night and I'm going to maintain at 15 ppm for a while.

Some questions:

- You recommended adding DE for a 5 psi increase, Poconos recommended a 1 psi increase. Thoughts?

- So you think I should just keep maintaining a high Cl level? Would another super shock level be in order - like 20 or 25 ppm? I'm at 50 CYA, so according to the chart, I'm at shock level already at 15 ppm.


I'd love to be able to get bulk Cl somewhere, my pool store only carries the gallon containers of 12%, and they don't even have those in stock until the swimming season starts. Those carboys would be great if I could get them.

Thanks again to everyone for the great tips, I hope I can get this cleared up soon.

[CarlD]

Go with Poconos...Al knows more about it than I do.

For some reason I thought your CYA was 60--hence the higher shock.

My concern with the pump and filter is if the pump's flow rate is higher than the filter's, it won't filter correctly