speedjunkie

Thanks again! It looks a little clearer again tonight. I try to keep on routine MX. Skimmer gets cleaned/checked daily. Filter gets back flushed 1x every week or two, depending on pressure. Pool sweep does a really good job of keeping the pool stired up and the bottom clear. Hard part is usually keeping frogs, toads, moles, mice, etc out of the pool! We live in the country, so it can get interesting! FC=.5 CC=.5 pH=7.6 CYA=0? I suspect part of the pH is due to the lithium shock, as it's pretty high on pH. I'll get some dichlor tomorrow and use it to boost the CYA. I'll also have momma take a sample to the PS and have them check the CYA, just to double check. Mike

This morning. FC=5.0 CC=>.5 I'll look for a liquid conditioner today when I get off work. Should I shock it again this AM? Or wait until tonight? I don't want the sun completely eating all my FC that I just put in either. Should I put the pool cover back on to help during the day, the remove at night while it's shocked and offgasing? Mike

Ok, I shocked again last night to about 18. 3 hours later, still 12. At 0600 this AM, it was 4.5. Tonight when I got home: FC=0 CC=.5 pH=7.2 to 7.4 CYA=0, or at least well below the minimum readable level of 30. So, I shocked it again to 11, and put 6 tabs in the floater right in the skimmer inlet. Hope it helps with the CYA and the FC, while not killing the pH in the process. With working 12 hr days, and leaving at 0630, and not getting home till usuall 2000, it's pretty difficult to play very late with the pool! How often do I need to check it and maintain the FC of 10? Thanks! Mike

Ok, I hit a tiny bit hardere last night. Per the Pool Calc, should have been about 18ppm. This AM, this is what I had, and the water is clearer yet. I can now see the MD. I think we're getting closer! FC=2 CC=>1 pH=7.0-7.2 Mike

I'll give it another dose tonight. If it storms, should I hit it a bit harder? Thanks for the help! Mike

I don't honestly know how long the pH has been low. It was fine a couple weeks ago. I have been using bleach exclusively save for a few tabs here and there, since last year when I converted over to the BBB method. We had lots of rain the past couple weeks, and with the knee, the rain, and work, I wasn't able to check it. Of course, it wasn't being used either, so it unfortuntely slipped. I'm honestly afraid to shock it again. I'm sure it needs it, but I'm exhausted, as well as my check book. I've shocked it SOOOO much in the last 48 hours, and have made very little progress. Not to mention, I'll have to find another Walmart! Mike

Forgot to add that I've been aeriating since Saturday. The chlorine has always been added at night, then checked again in the morning before the sun hits it, and it's dead. I mentioned the CYA being converted, and the PS folks looked at me like I was from another planet! The pH could be low due to trichlor tabs. I've probably used 12 total since I opened the pool in May, but I aeriate everytime we are in the pool, which was pretty regular for the entire month of June, so it shouldn't be low from that, but what do I know. I'm the one with the jacked up pool! Mike

Ok, I had the pool nice and sparkling prior to a bunch of rain. I couldn't get out and check it for a few days due to a knee injury. So, when I did get to it, it was VERY cloudy. I bought a bunch of bleach, and shocked it. My FC would drop to 0 within an hour. I shocked it again, same result. And again, same result. I've dumped in, IIRC, 20 large jugs, and 26 small jugs in the last 48 hours, and it's still near 0. My pH is also really low. Last time I had it checked at the pool store the CYA was 80, everything else was ok. I know the Ca is high, but I live in the boonies and have well water. It's always been that high. The TC wasn't that high until I started dumping in gallons of bleach at a time. I did test the occasional jug of bleach, and it always came in around 6%. The ammonia was at .5 yesterday when I checked it. Anyway, here's the specifics from the last test done at the local PS. 19000 gallon IG vinyl pool FC=0.5 TC=2 pH=6.8 TA=135 Ca=400 CYA=0? Yesterday, I couldn't see the bottom of the pool on the shallow end, at least today, I can. It's improving, but too slowly. I need to do an overnight demand test, but I'm too low on DPD/FAS powder to complete one. The PS said they could do one as well. At this point, they are recommending to triple shock with Lithium every 3 hours until it holds a minimum of 3ppm FC for 24 hours. They also said that my CYA is 0 because it's being masked by the FC demand. Their sheet says to add balance pak to boost the pH, but I told them I didn't want just yet if it would boost the TA as well. They said it wouldn't, but I didn't look at the ingredients, but I suspect it would. Help?! I will take another sample to town this PM and let the PS do the overnight drop test. But, do I buy the Lithium? Or more bleach? I've already pretty much cleaned one Walmart out of bleach in the last 2 days! People are starting to look at me funny! Thanks in advance! Mike

As usual, good info Richard! Thanks! Mike

My pool store told me that nitrates were bad. At 2.0ppm, that looks bad to me. Nitrates will for sure eat chlorine, I'd look at that being a problem. I believe they said anything over .5ppm was trouble. Mike

Richard, Thanks again, I assumed the CYA would have an effect on it, since it takes more chlorine the higher the CYA levels are, my bad. I didn't actually test the generic bleach in tap water like I did the Clorox, just pool water. And it too a whole teaspoon to register 10ppm rise of the generic, where as the Clorox a 1/4 teaspoon registered 7ppm rise. Thanks again, it's Clorox brand only from now on! Mike

Richard, I'll get it right one of these days! I stopped by Leslies last night and just talked to the kid. He was wondering if something like copper was eating up the chlorine. So, I took a sample in today. This is per them. FC=2.0 TC=5+ CC=3+ pH=7.7 TA=160 CH=250 CYA=40 TDS=1600 Copper=0 Iron=0 Well, there went the theory on the copper. So, I knew my ammonia was still high at 3, so I took a chance and bought 5 pounds of MPS. Dumped it all in. I just took a few readings after 3 hours or so. FC=2 TC=2 CC=0 Ammonia=0.5 Right now, I'm pretty happy. It's about bloody time! The CC is 0, and it's actually held FC for over 24 hours. I'll hit it with some more chlorine tonight just for good measure tho, bring the FC up to 5 or so. I'll also add a little MA to bring the pH and TA down. I also bought a jug of Clorox brand bleach today. Now that stuff is 6%+! I checked it per your instructions. In soft water, it raised it 15ppm. In pool water, it raised it 7ppm. I figure with the fairly high CYA, that's why only 7ppm. The crappy thing is, I checked the generic bleach, it said 6% right on the bottle. That's why I assumed it was right too! Glad things finally turned around, I was about to call it quits and fill the pool with dirt! Richard, I want to thank you again for all your help! You ever get to Wichita, I owe you beverage of your choice! Thanks again! Mike

Robert, Per your advice, I took 2 gallons of pool water and added 1/4 teaspoon of bleach. Not much change, so I continued to add bleach. When I got to a full teaspoon, I read 12ppm FC. So, what was already in the bucket, 2ppm, to get a +10 was full teaspoon. So, it looks like the strength is actually 1.5%. Jeez, no wonder it's taking so much and I'm not getting anywhere! So much for Wally store brand bleach. Guess it's time to spend the extra coin on Clorox. I think you are correct on the CC bleed thru as well. When I got the FC up to 12, it took a long time for it to barely start to turn a light pink again. I'm also going to let the 2 gallons sit over night and see what it reads in the AM. What do you think about Lithium shock? It's pretty potent and wouldn't need nearly as much of it. Thanks again! Mike

Ok, so I started with .5 FC, I added 5 182oz jugs of 6%. Per the Pool Calc, that should have brought my FC to 21. Now, it's been about an hour since I added it, but if I let the FC test set for a few seconds, and continue to add drops, I'm up to about 7 on the FC. Do I add drops until it goes clear the first time? Or when it turns pink again, keep adding until it doesn't turn anymore? For now, I'm going back out to add another 4 jugs. See if I can keep the FC way up there. Any advice would be appreciated! Mike

Richard, I received my FAS kit today from Duraleigh, good stuff! Per the test kit FC=.5 CC=1.5 So, it doesn't look like my CC is as bad as I thought, weird. The water is pretty clear, but the FC still drops off over 2 to 3 days, but then again, I'm not hitting it super hard either. Wonder if I still have something growing, even tho the pool isn't green? I'll shock it this weekend tho and get rid of the CC. Might even kill whatever is still there, I hope. Another odd thing. I've used the pool calculator, but I don't seem to get the same FC levels that it says I should see after adding bleach. I'm using the large jugs (182 oz) from Wally (6%), and don't get a FC rise of more than 1.5 to 2 ppm. Per the calculator, I should be getting 4ppm with a full jug. Any thoughts on this? Thanks again! Mike