Inherited a pond, trying to turn it into a pool!

[Watermom]

Each gallon of 12.5% should add 2.8ppm, assuming it truly is 12.5%. You never know. Glad you found it. It will mean few empty jugs. You'll be able to tell when the algae is dying as your water will be cloudy and grayish instead of green. Keep working on the pH. Keep us posted how things are going.

[barma16]

When I tested this afternoon the pH was still low, so I've added another 8lb Borax. Total Alkalinity was up to 60ppm, so another 4lb Baking Soda has gone in.

I'm not convinced I'm testing for chlorine properly. When I tested this morning, the first drop of 871 cleared the solution. By the time I'd made a note and was about to start the next test, the solution had regained a slight pink tinge. Assuming that I hadn't measured all of it yet, I kept going.

When I tested this afternoon I was careful to wait a minute or so between drops, and each time the tinge returned. It wasn't much in the way of coloration, but I could see that the drop of 871 was clearer than the solution around it before mixing, so I kept going. I stopped when my FC count got over 15ppm, since I don't think I've added enough bleach to hit that sort of level, especially if the bleach deteriorates in the sunlight.

I retested the chlorine once I'd completed the other tests, and stopped at the point where the returning tinge seemed to be the same color as before. That gave me about 5ppm, which seems more sensible, so I've added 2gal of the 12.5% (which has 12.5% Sodium Hypochlorite listed in the active ingredients, so I'm hoping it's the real deal!).

So my silly question of the afternoon is, just what does "clear" mean in this context? When the solution first clears completely, when it stays clear after mixing, or when (if) it stays clear a minute or so after mixing? I never was much good at chemistry...

[PoolDoc]

Hi Mark;

=> You can assume that you'll need about 1/2 as much 12% bleach as you did 6% bleach.
=> Dead algae is not green. It typically will go from green to grayish green to a greenish gray to bluish gray. The pool is not usually blue till it's clear. Dead algae filters MUCH better than live algae.

[barma16]

Thanks Ben, I think I get that. It's water clarity when testing (specifically for chlorine) that I'm trying to get my arms around now. I don't want to muck up bleach dosage because of bad testing technique.

Appreciate the input (and patience, you must have answered these hundreds of times before!).

Mark

[Yeggim]

...So my silly question of the afternoon is, just what does "clear" mean in this context? When the solution first clears completely, when it stays clear after mixing, or when (if) it stays clear a minute or so after mixing? I never was much good at chemistry...

I heard that letting the sample sit after adding the 5 drops of R-0003 reagent to test for combined chlorine it will revert back to pink. When I test for FC with the R-0871 my sample turns completely clear (after so many drops)--even the undissolved crystals of the R-0870 DPD powder. My tests are right on the mark when I test before and after I add a known quantity of bleach according to the Pool Calculator.

May I ask why you wait a minute after each drop of the R-9871 reagent? I add a drop, swirl a second or two and add my next drop and so on. Sometimes I'll add up to 6 drops in rapid succession because I know that I have at least 3ppm in the pool and then swirl. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

[BigDave]

There are videos on the Taylor website that show FAS-DPD test procedure - might help to see.

[barma16]

May I ask why you wait a minute after each drop of the R-9871 reagent? I add a drop, swirl a second or two and add my next drop and so on. Sometimes I'll add up to 6 drops in rapid succession because I know that I have at least 3ppm in the pool and then swirl. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Most likely I'm doing it wrong! I started waiting after I had a sample turn clear, then turn pink again while I was making notes (Just with the 871, still testing for FC). I'm really on day 1.5 of trying to get the hang of this, so I'm learning as I go. I just made an assumption that the pink coming back was a sign I hadn't accounted for all of it. Sounds like my FC is probably much lower than I thought...

[barma16]

There are videos on the Taylor website that show FAS-DPD test procedure - might help to see.

Excellent, I'll check them out, thanks!

[Yeggim]

There are videos on the Taylor website that show FAS-DPD test procedure - might help to see.

Good idea. I forgot about those.
http://www.taylortechnologies.com/pr..._slideshow.asp

barma16, go to the "catagories" on the left and choose "POOL/SPA"

[Yeggim]

Most likely I'm doing it wrong! I started waiting after I had a sample turn clear, then turn pink again while I was making notes (Just with the 871, still testing for FC). I'm really on day 1.5 of trying to get the hang of this, so I'm learning as I go. I just made an assumption that the pink coming back was a sign I hadn't accounted for all of it. Sounds like my FC is probably much lower than I thought...

Hey Mark, you're doing great. That's a big pool you took on and even though it's a bigger swamp than a lot of pools, the principals are the same. You have to kill everything in the water with chlorine and then it has to be filtered out.

Try and keep it simple. Get a solid free chlorine test number.
Next test your Ph. If your free chlorine is 10 or below you can pretty much trust the Ph reading and make adjustments based on those readings. If your free chlorine is high and your ph is in range, or a little high, leave it alone. High chlorine will skew your ph reading toward the high side and if it reads low and you have a solid free chlorine test that reads 15 or above, throw a couple boxes of Borax in just as a precaution.

Now, on to the kill zone. Bleach. You know first hand that you're gonna need a lot. Don't be caught short. Stock up on that 12.5% stuff. I used a little over 5 gallons of 12.5% on my pool and it's 1/6 the size of yours and my water was barely green.

Assuming we have your test problems sorted out, I'll bet your FC is low or gone. If that's the case, dump 5 gallons of the 12.5% bleach in. Test an hour later after it's circulated. Odds are that it will get eaten up fast. Bring it back up to 15ppm. Test again and repeat as often as you're able. If your swamp is eating it up as fast as you can pour it, jack it up to 20ppm.

While you're feeding the monster swamp the chlorine it needs, you have to filter it. DE filters are very good at this. As you kill the algae it will settle to the bottom and little by little the water will clear. As your pump circulates the water and filters out the suspended particles, you should be able to see deeper and deeper as time goes by.

Don't kill your motor and pump. If your filter fills up in a few hours, you cant run it unattended. Let that stuff settle. Don't rile it up. Once you can see the bottom, you can vacuum to waste if water replacement is not a problem.

You need to keep your water circulating as much as possible. If your filter is clogging up quick, back off on the amount of DE. Use a little less than the manual calls for.