I don't really have any questions.............YET

[jw1977]

Thanks,
I got the pump started last night and vaccumed out a bunch of it. Also got the shock going, and am filtering all day today. I will take another water sample tonight and have it analyzed in the am

Almost forgot - It is a 35K Gallon, with a vinyl liner

[jw1977]

OK, so I have shocked, and vaccumed and I have dead algae everywhere. Water has went from green to cloudy blue. I don't have a good test kit yet, but do have some strips. I checked it last night which was 24 hrs after intial shock:
PH 7.8
FC 1-2
TA 180-240
CYA 0

So, I backwashed my filter, and added 4lbs shock - Checked it again this am before leaving:
PH 7.8 - 8.4
FC 10+
TA 180
CYA 0
Water still a cloudy blue - dead algae still working into the skimmer
Suggestions?

[Watermom]

Are you only using cal-hypo for your chlorine? The calcium hardness level is the one reading your pool store didn't give you that you need. If the calcium level gets too high, then you'll have cloudy water issues. Vinyl liners don't need calcium either despite what some pool stores will tell you.

Keep the chlorine high again today. Aim for a cl reading of 10. Each time you test, take the cl back up to 10ppm. There is no such thing as testing too often when you are trying to clear up a pool. You'll need to continue to do so until you can go from sundown one evening until within 2 hours of sunset the next morning without losing more than 1ppm of cl. (It would make this much easier for you if you had a good kit and didn't have to rely on the pool store or on "guess strips" as we call them. See below about picking up an OTO kit to use instead of the strips.)

Run the pump 24/7 and clean the filter whenever the filter pressure rises 5-10 psi over the clean filter pressure which may be frequently as it filters out all the dead algae.

You're going to need some cya, also called stabilizer or conditioner. The label should show cyanuric acid or isocyanuric acid as the ingredient. You'll need about 10 lbs. to get to a CYA reading around 40 which would be a good level. Get an old sock and put some of it in there and hang it in front of a return jet. Run the pump 24/7. Give the sock a squeeze every now and then to help it dissolve. Continue adding more to the sock until you have all 10 lbs in there. It will probably take you several days for it all to dissolve.

A pH of 7.8-8.4 is not accurate enough. 7.8 would be ok but 8.4 would be too high and would need to be lowered some with some muriatic acid. Instead of using teststrips for now, go to Walmart and pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops.) Use that to test pH and report back. The chlorine side of the tester will only go to 5, but you can force it to go higher with a dilution method described here: Testing Without a Good Kit

Keep us posted and, think about that good kit.

[jw1977]

Yes, I am only using Cal Hypo right now...until the bucket is gone, then I am going to bleach! My SWCG was delivered today, so I can get that installed tonight as well (Not turning it on until clear and balanced!)
I added some muriatic this am - 1 qt

[jw1977]

Ok, so I got home last night and vacummed out all the dead algae I could get to - Sent it all to waste. Backwashed and rinsed filter
PH still high, added 1 QT muriatic acid
5 lbs chlorine
Brushed the whole pool and dipped out any floating gunk.

This am the water is blue and cloudy - Gets a little clearer every day. I took a sample to the pool store:
FC: 21
TC: 23
PH: 8.0 ??
ALK: 100
CYA: According to them - they cannot test becasue the water is cloudy (Test strip says 0)
Here's a new one:
Phosphates: 1500 - Of course, I need to buy a bottle of Phos-Free....???

From what I can tell, I have been making progress, and am probably some stabilizer, and a couple more days of staying after it from being able to swim. Should I use the Phos-Free?

[Watermom]

Continue with the sustained high cl levels. Run the pump 24/7 and backwash any time the filter pressure rises 5-10 psi over clean filter pressure. Continue working to lower pH. Return the Phos-Free and get your money back. You are right. You don't need it. Phosphate removers are one of the latest "must-have" products according to pool stores. In reality, they are the latest "make some money on unsuspecting customers" product.

You need a kit! Need a kit! So you don't have to rely on the pool store. Plus, your numbers will be much more accurate than what they do. Do yourself a favor and get a Taylor K-2006 or 2006C. See the link in my signature below.

You're making good progress. Keep up the fight and you're gonna win!

[jw1977]

I went ahead and bought some stabilizer (CYA) Should I go ahead and get some in there now? or continue to only worry about CL and PH?