what problem do i tackle first!

[poolhelp101]

I have several issues to battle with my pool and i need to know what to address first so i can effectively clear my pool. i have an inground, sand filter, 21,000 gallon vinyl liner pool. haven't been able to get a good test kit yet, so having to use the strips to test for cya, which is 20. have been using bens chart to get the chlorine levels suggested to fight the green and it has worked. it still has a green and dingy tint to the water and the deep end is cloudy, but i can see the bottom. when i opened, the pool had brown stains and i have checked and absorbic acid will bring the stains off. i use well water to fill my pool so i know i am putting iron back in the pool as i am having to add water because i am vacuuming to waste. so what address first...i know i need to use the absorbic acid method for the stains, i need to continue high levels of chlorine to clear the green and i need to use the metal out to get rid of the metals in the pool...but what do i tackle first??? please help advise me. thanks!

[AnnaK]

I would first fight the algae, get them all killed and the debris filtered out. Give some thought to using skimmer socks for the fine particles. As long as you vacuum to waste and/or frequently backwash there's no point in bringing the CYA to the desired goal of 50 ppm, so that can be set back for now. And, since your fill water contains iron and you're refilling frequently because of the vacuuming to waste, and are introducing more iron in the process, that, too, should be put on hold until the water is fully sanitized.

Once you're done with the shock process and your water is clear you can work on the stains and the iron and add an appropriate amount of CYA.

The very first thing I would do though is to get a good FAS-DPD test kit such as the Taylor K2006.

[poolhelp101]

the green is 100% better today, still a little cloudy in the deep end. chlorine is almost non existent and ph is 6.8 and stablizer 20. i do want to do the absorbic acid treatment and i need to use the metal out due to the vacuuming to waste and having to add well water...what do i do next? do i begin the absorbic acid, then metal out or vice versa and then begin to increase the stablizer and balance the water....or what do i add more bleach now or what should i do next?? would appreciate your help and guidance in the steps to take next. thank you!!!

[aylad]

Keep going with the high chlorine until your algae problem is completely cleared up...once you add the metal sequestrant you're not going to be able to bring your chlorine up high enough to fight the problem, so that that done first--water should be clear, blue, not cloudy. Keep running your filter 24/7 until the cloudy clears. I would go ahead and add Borax so that you can bring your pH up a little, but mbar recommends no more than 7.2. However, 6.8 is low enough to be acidic and cause damage to a liner, so if it's a liner pool I would go ahead and address that. AFter that, I would put stabilizer in a tube sock and hang it in front of a return, so backwashing won't wash it out of the pool before it dissolves. THis will take a few days to dissolve, but you want stabilizer in the water to protect your chlorine once you get the other problems taken care of. In the meantime, I'll see if I can get Marie (mbar) to offer her advice on this thread since she's the stains/metals guru around here.

Hang in there!
Janet

[poolhelp101]

thank you very much! I will do just as you said. i will let you know how things are going so you can help advise me and keep me on the right track. thanks again!!

[Watermom]

Jan -- I already asked Marie to take a look and she is going to.