Frustrated with algae and chlorine

[mnhwinn]

At what point should I let the kids back in the pool?

[aylad]

You need to keep the shock level up until you're not losing any chlorine when measuring at sundown and sunup. After that you can let the chlorine start to drift back down, and the kids can get back in. Once it gets below 8 or 9 ppm I wouldn't have a problem getting back in, although I'd wear old suits in case of fading and rinse their hair well after getting out to make sure the chlorine doesn't dry it out.

Janet

[mnhwinn]

Ok, my pool is looking SO much better, and I am SO happy! My kids keep asking why the pool looks so blue! I know it's on its way to being algae free! It hasn't looked this good in a couple of years.

I have been scrubbing the entire pool every night for the past week. I'm wondering, though, the stuff that I can see floating in the water (at night with the light on when I scrub) that looks like jelly fish texture - see through floaty slime - is that indicative of an algae problem still? It has gotten a ton better since I began this process a week ago, but it is defintely still there when I stir things up and scrub.

[aylad]

It is probably just the slime/biofilm that algae produces that you're getting off the walls of the pool when you scrub. The filter should take care of it.

Are you still shocking, or have you reached the point yet where you can let the chlorine come down?

Glad it's improvig. It's really nice to see that clear, beautiful blue color again, huh?

Janet

[mnhwinn]

I am still shocking, but it is holding chlorine really well now. My new test kit is due to be delivered today, so I feel that I will have a more accurate idea of what is going on after I get that. I have been having to use the dilution method with distilled water to calculate the chlorine levels for the past week, and I feel that has been a bit tough, so I am just keeping a lot of chlorine in to be safe. Excited for my new test kit to arrive!

Yes, it is great to see that beautiful pool again! Thanks to all of you! I forgot how gorgeous it could be!

[mnhwinn]

My test kit was delivered today! Here are the current numbers:

FC - 5
CC - .5
TC - 5.5
CYA - 40
PH - 7.3
TA - 70
CH - 400

What do you think?

[CarlD]

If your water is clear, these are excellent numbers. If your water is NOT clear then you are well on your way to being clear.

My test kit was delivered today! Here are the current numbers:

FC - 5 This is good

CC - .5 If this is because you're testing with 10ml you may want to run the test with 25 ml (each drop is .2, instead of .5) If it then tests as .2 you are FINE!

TC - 5.5 See above--it may really be 5.2, which is fine

CYA - 40 FC levels should be between 3 and 6 so you are fine. But I'd stop using the tri-chlor pucks unless you feel the need to raise it higher--you are FINE here

PH - 7.3 A TAD low but I would NOT add anything to raise it--let aeration (splashing) take care of slowly raising pH to about 7.5 or 7.6. On the plus side your chlorine is more effective at this level.

TA - 70 This is a good level. Keep it here especially with your CH at 400.

CH - 400 This is the very high end of normal for concrete pools. It's OK but you do NOT want to go any higher, so you should NOT use Cal-Hypo to shock your pool or you risk the water going cloudy and scaling on anything metal.

What do you think?

I went back over your posts. You had also added PolyQuat (good) ("16 oz of poly[oxyethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene(dimethyliminio )ethylene dichloride] 60%.") but then your FC was low and you couldn't get it back up for a couple of days. That's normal.

You may want to add an ounce of Polyquat once a week.

You added phosphate reducer. Don't. It's a HUGE waste of money and nowhere near justified for your phosphate level. We have users with levels of 3000 who have NO problems maintaining their pools without reducers.

You added a liquid CYA additive. That probably was what got your CYA to 40ppm... That's fine.

You used Cal-Hypo shock packs--that's why your calcium is at the high end and shouldn't be used any more.

You used Tri-chlor pucks which helped keep your pH down (Cal-Hypo raises it) but still in the safe range. Tri-chlor adds CYA as well, so, for now, you shouldn't be using them.

You've also been adding bleach/liquid chlorine and that is just fine!

If you are unsure about your CC, add bleach or LC to get your FC to 15 and that should clear it. But you can also use the K-2006 using a 25ml sample rather than a 10ml sample and this will measure FC and CC levels in .2 increments, rather than .5 increments. If CC is actually .2 (which you cannot tell at the 10ml level) then don't worry about it.

You have done GREAT!