cda

In the middle of the week we put some algaecide in, approximately one quart, and then after a day or two the residue on the bottom that we had every day was gone (white/gray residue mixed with dirt) and we started getting a chlorine level during the day. We had 3" weekly tablets in the floater and everything has been fine ever since. I guess the partial drain and the algaecide did the trick. I am keeping my fingers crossed and knocking on wood as we speak so I don't jinx it. Thanks for all the help on the forum.

Good luck with your problem....I have had the same problem as you since we opened at the end of May. We ran the whole gammit and no luck. Spent ALOT of money with no success. We did a significant partial drain, and still all our levels are good except for FC. I hope you have better luck than we do, we read posts everyday trying to figure our problem out. I will keep up to date on your progress to see what works for you....we have tried everything up to this point.

Our numbers last night were PH 7.4, FC 5, Total Alk 120, Stabilizer 100. This morning, we read PH of 7.8 and FC 2. Just now, at 3:00pm on a cloudy, warm day we did a reading to see if we still had a chlorine reading, and it was 0...nothing. PH was higher than this morning. So, my question is, we did a partial drain all at one time....what should we be doing now to get a reading? More shock? More chlorine?

We did a partial drain one foot below the skimmer and we are refilling now. Keep our fingers crossed and see what happens when we add chlorine. We came back from the shore today and the pool was still blue but no chlorine reading, everything else fine. So, it was drain day.

We had the water tested for metals (copper and iron)this past Saturday and then prior to that, and none were present. We also treated it for Metals back when we opened the pool, thinking we had metals in the pool, we used Metal Free from Natural Chemistry, Inc. It must have worked because the tests showed nothing present. However, 3 out of the 4 pool stores we visited did not run metal tests; it was hard to find one who did. When we added the bleach two nights ago it did not turn green...which is a good thing. Now, to get it to keep a FC reading during the day would be the trick. After much frustration, I decided to forego the bucket test and put 1 container of Bio Stabilizer 1.75Lbs in the pool. It says on the instructions to run for 24 hours and don't backwash for 48 hours. We will see where that leaves us on Friday night. Thank you for your help and for trying to solve our problem. We have been looking everywhere for an answer, and none. This weekend may be a drain weekend. A question about that, we have an above ground 24' round pool, how much can we drain? I have heard you cannot drain too much because the liner may get messed up. The pool stores have said that we would have to replace the liner if we do a full drain, but they don't say how much we can drain. Have a Happy Fourth of July weekend!

I used Phofree from Natural Chemistry approximately 2 weeks ago. Been there, done that...it was expensive as well as all the other stuff we have used. I also treated the pool 3 days ago with BioGuard® Algae All 60 Algicide 60% Polyquat....expensive for a small bottle. When testing my CYA, it is in the normal range, approximately in the 30-50 range which is showing ideal on my test kit. After having that tested with the NUMEROUS pool stores in my area, it was always in the normal range. I have kept all the analysis' and it never was out of range. As a matter of fact, the Ph, Alkalinity, Stabilizer were always in the normal range. It was just the FC that was reading 0 at home and at all pool testing stores. I did buy stabilizer just in case we needed it, but never put it in. Do you think I should try it and see what happens? It is probably the only thing we haven't tried. Also, this sounds funny, but our pool is very blue. We put some pool water in a white plastic bucket and it was very blue, like someone put food coloring in it. Nice to look at, but it has never been that way before and we have had the pool for 8 years.

Added ALOT of bleach last night and had a high chlorine reading last night after circulation. Early this morning, still high chlorine and the Ph was off the chart....around 11am, after quite a bit of sun, the chlorine was GONE and Ph was down to the normal range. We completely give up. We are wasting money. Don't know what the next step is for us, maybe just a partial drain.

Chemgeek: We put 6 packets/pounds of Dichlor shock (35% chlorine) in the pool last night and it turned a green color and this morning it is blue with a chlorine reading of 1. On the bottom, however, there is a residue around the bottom of the pool. We are going to vaccuum to waste this morning and continue with our 3" floaters in the skimmer. After reading alot of posts on this site, I have been seeing that someone has reported having a residue on the bottom of their pools (not your average dirt)and when brushed is a white cloud or dust. Is it algae? Should we treat the pool with a Polyquat 60 algaecide also? Your help would be appreciative. Michele

We had a full test run and here are our results: CYA is 80 FC and Tot Chlorine 0 PH 7.5 Total Alkalinity 144 Metals: None Phosphates: approx 300-500 The pool is blue and clear. There are no visual signs of algae. We are using slow dissolving tablets in the floater, it has approximately 6-3" tablets in there now.

I found that happening to mine also, so I just put a small, but significant rock in the basket for weight, and it hasn't happened since. My neighbor used a sinker that is used in fishing in theirs.

We still can't get a consistent chlorine reading. When testing, everyday, it shows up clear on our test strips or the dropper type test kit. I am adding about 6 fast dissolving chlorine tablets in our floater every day and it goes up a little bit and then later, nothing there. Can someone explain it? We shocked it last night (which we do once a week) and it went green again for awhile and then woke up to a blue pool. We treated the pool with PhosFree by Natural Chemistry because the pool store mentioned our level may be high. I purchased a Phosphate test kit and it read high (close to 1000ppb). After following instructions, retested recently and it was showing approx 300ppb. I did read about phosphates and it said that it could cause the chlorine problem. I am not sure if it is working though. I also noticed that the water has a mildewy smell to it. Sounds funny, but the towels and bathing suits have a mildewy smell. I hope we can get this figured out before the end of the summer. I feel like a chemist when I go out everyday with all these test kits.

We still can't get a consistent chlorine reading. When testing, everyday, it shows up clear on our test strips or the dropper type test kit. I am adding about 6 fast dissolving chlorine tablets in our floater every day and it goes up a little bit and then later, nothing there. Can someone explain it? We shocked it last night (which we do once a week) and it went green again for awhile and then woke up to a blue pool. We treated the pool with PhosFree by Natural Chemistry because the pool store mentioned our level may be high. I purchased a Phosphate test kit and it read high (close to 1000ppb). After following instructions, retested recently and it was showing approx 300ppb. I did read about phosphates and it said that it could cause the chlorine problem. I am not sure if it is working though. I also noticed that the water has a mildewy smell to it. Sounds funny, but the towels and bathing suits have a mildewy smell. I hope we can get this figured out before the end of the summer. I feel like a chemist when I go out everyday with all these test kits.

We still can't get a consistent chlorine reading. When testing, everyday, it shows up clear on our test strips or the dropper type test kit. I am adding about 6 fast dissolving chlorine tablets in our floater every day and it goes up a little bit and then later, nothing there. Can someone explain it? We shocked it last night (which we do once a week) and it went green again for awhile and then woke up to a blue pool. We treated the pool with PhosFree by Natural Chemistry because the pool store mentioned our level may be high. I purchased a Phosphate test kit and it read high (close to 1000ppb). After following instructions, retested recently and it was showing approx 300ppb. I did read about phosphates and it said that it could cause the chlorine problem. I am not sure if it is working though. I also noticed that the water has a mildewy smell to it. Sounds funny, but the towels and bathing suits have a mildewy smell. I hope we can get this figured out before the end of the summer. I feel like a chemist when I go out everyday with all these test kits.

Went to another pool store that we heard did good water testing and they tested for metal, and guess what, nothing showed up in our water. They told us to shock the pool with a lithium based shock that is suppose to dissolve quicker and work better. We did that last night and the pool looks blue this morning and the chlorine reading was approx a 2 and the Ph was a little high, about a 7.8. Kids went swimming over the weekend, and no one had green hair or any kind of discomfort due to the water, which was a good thing.