slimy, gelatinous strings of goo ruin a good dip.........

[heyred52]

how do I know how much bleach to use?

I used the disappearing black dot. I'll do another test this morning.

[BigDave]

With the CYA test, you add drops of the pool water / CYA testing reagent mixture until the black dot disappears. Then read the CYA level from the marks on the from of the test vial.

[aylad]

how do I know how much bleach to use?

Quoted from Pooldoc's post (#5 in this thread....)
Your pool holds about 13,500 gallons, so your PF=9, so a gallon of bleach will add about 4.5 ppm of chlorine. You might want to add 3 gallons of bleach (~15 ppm) in the late evening, rather than splitting it up. That way, all the bleach will be able to work on the 'goo', instead of losing some of it to sunlight.

[heyred52]

I am convinced the staining is from the gigantic amount of borax I put in the pool. I did not realize it didn't instantly dissolve when I poured it in and i let it just sit there. You can see where it sat and where it spread out to. I should probably have used the brush to move it around. (Incidentally, what I thought was algae was the staining).

Any ideas?

[PoolDoc]

I am convinced the staining is from the gigantic amount of borax I put in the pool. I should probably have used the brush to move it around.

Borax doesn't dissolve instantly, which is why we try to always tell people to add it via the skimmer. However, borax itself won't stain anything. What probably has happened is that the iron in your pool water was precipitated out when you added the borax that way. I've already covered the topic of iron removal pretty fully.

[heyred52]

Readings this morning:

I have repeatedly done the CYA test with the same results! The dot becomes invisible when only about 3/4" solution is added. The line on the back of the CYA test tube says 1.8

Ph 7.2
Free chlorine 3
Combined chlorine .5

I have read the posts on the staining and am gathering the incredients.
---Kem-Tek 338-6 Metal & Calcium Eliminator Pool and Spa Chemicals, 1 Quart
---Kem-Tek 311-6 Pool and Spa 60-Percent Concentrated Algaecide, 1 Quart
---Now Foods, Ascorbic Acid Powder, 2#

Is this sufficient to deal with the problem? I am just not sure of amounts to buy. Thanks.

[aylad]

I'll have Ben check back in and make sure that you have everything that you need...

Janet

[BigDave]

...The line on the back of the CYA test tube says 1.8...

I found the line you're talking about! It's molded into the side of my comparator as well. It's actually a measure of ml, mine reads 1.8, 4.5, and 9. Trouble is, this is well short of scale for CYA, you probably can't even see the level on the front CYA scale.

This indicates that your CYA is much higher. You can use the dilution method to get an approximate measure of high CYA. Dilute one pool water with 2 parts tap water (1/4 Cup pool water and 1/2 Cup tap water) perform the CYA test on this diluted sample and multiply the result by 3. If you're still above 100 CYA with the dilute sample, try 1/4 Cup pool water with 1-1/4 Cups tap water and multiply the result by 6.

[waterbear]

Those lines are ml measurements for doing dilutions with the DPD test. They must use the same comparator mold for all the 2000 series comparators so those lines are probably on all of them. With the DPD test (not the FAS-DPD test you can fill the comparator to the 4.5 ml line with pool water and then to the 9 ml line with distilled water for a 1 to 1 dilution which means the DPD test results are doubled. By using the 1.8 ml line and then filling to the 9 ml lline with distilled water the DPD test results ar multiplied by 5 to give an estimation of chlorine levels up to 25 ppm but with limited precision.

The CYA scale is the ppm scale on the front that goes from 30 to 100 ppm (or the molded scale on the OTHER side (the inside, not the outside) that goes from 30 to 100 ppm if you have a K-2005 comparator.)

Since you are lining up at the 1.8 ml mark you CYA is off scale. The 4.5 ml mark is about80 ppm CYA so your is MUCH higher. You are going to have to do the dilutions as BigDave suggested.

[PoolDoc]

Hi Red;

1. Go ahead and add a SINGLE dose of HEDP -- use whatever dose the label says.

2. Is the slime all gone, now? (Your borax is getting high enough, to help with that, by the way. If you've added over 12 boxes, you should be in the 'will make a difference' zone!)

3. To manage chlorine levels, with your CYA as high as it is, you'll need a K-1515. See the test kit page linked in my signature. The Best Guess page (also in my sig) will explain why. The alternative is to drain and refill, which I don't particularly recommend.

4. If the slime is all gone, you need to let your chlorine drop. But, with stabilizer that high it would also be to add a dose of polyquat, every 3 days. A quart contains 1.4lbs of polyquat (100%) so it has 1.4 x 9 = 12 ppm for your pool. 2 - 3 ppm doses are effective, or about 1 cup at a time. Depending on how quickly we can proceed, you may need another quart, since you can't have chlorine in the pool at the same time you have ascorbic acid.

5. Once the chlorine is below 0.5, and the HEDP and polyquat are both in the pool, you can add the ascorbic acid. Start with a 1lb dose, and see if that lifts all the stains. If it does, you can begin rechlorinating slowly. But continue to use polyquat till you have the chlorine up to Best Guess levels.

6. If you are going to use the CuLator to remove the iron from your pool water, you can put it in now, UNDER the skimmer sock. (The HEDP only holds it in the water -- as the HEDP breaks down, some of the iron will end up on your filter, and be backwashed out. But, some may re-stain your pool.)

BUT, before you start trying to add ascorbic acid, the slime MUST be gone, you must have a reasonable idea of what your CYA levels are, and you must have a K-1515.

Good luck