Gavin

Thanks for your reply and your concern quantumchromodynamics. I guess you are also in the pool biz as well and know the challenges. I know about under water lighting btw. I studied electrical engineering and was once an aeronautical engineer. My business is growing rapidly and we are the premier pool company in the country. I see no way but up. definitely not quitting. I will be the next millionaire poolman by the end of the year. Take care and have a great life!

It did at the time but I learn and I move on. I do not dwell on negatives but keep moving forward and up. I am in business to make money not lose money. Once my clients are happy, the pool is in great condition and I get compensated for my time that is all that matters. eventually this filter will have needed replacing anyway. we will replace it with a small Hayward cartridge filter and the pump is needing replacing so will replace that the same time.

you can add DE. Just don't add as much as you usually as you will need to backwash frequently. add 1 lb less than you usually to recharge. use 3 LBS of DE powder.

Thank you for the reply. no problem. not harsh just realilty. I'm sure I will have to replace the whole filter one day. Its an old filter. I had a repairman do this job. I think what I have learnt from this is that if you have a DE filter with movable parts inside it is best to replace it than try to fix it. Even if you fix it next week something else inside could break or crack and will end up costing you more in the long run. at least with a new filter, if properly cared for, will last many years. NOTE: I do NOT recommend anyone do what I did. I recommend they replace the filter with a new one.

still waiting on the floor tiles. they have to be custom manufactured. when they are ready we will drain the pool and retile the floor. I also think the waterfall section could use a cartridge filter and an addittional SWG. The main pool section has a AquaRite with T15 cell. This section is around 40,000 gallons. the shallow pool and waterfall is connected but flow and circulation is not good so I have a floater at the waterfall. we go through 3-4 tabs per week and 96oz of acid. SWG is stretch at 100% and 12hrs the pump runs. Keeps FC at 4-5 but I would like to add one more SWG in the waterfall system.

update..the pool is cleaner than it has ever been. In fact when I arrive at the pool the pool is so clean I could walk away and not clean it...no one would know. But I do still brush, skim and vac and check the chems. I keep the FC above the min CYA/FC and there is no problems at with this pool. This pool is runing better than any other pool I have. Of course the day will come when I will have to clean the filter. but its been several months now and its still good.

I have ordered a Pool Blaster CG and will let you guys know how it works out.

its made by Water Tech: http://watertechcorp.com/products-catfish.htm I also see they make a Pool Blaster CG: http://watertechcorp.com/products-PBmaxCG.htm which might be a better choice for commercial use. anyone tried any of these?

cool. once you got enough FC in there now you just let the FC drop to the right FC/CYA ration and keep it there. now you will have no more problems.

I'm looking for something like this. anyone tried one of these? does it work well?

I'm not happy with any CYA tester out there. I think the TF Test Kit is probably going to be the most accurate of them all.

When there is cyanuric acid in the water, the effect of pH becomes almost negligible. Even when there is no cyanuric acid, the hypochlorite ions become hypochlorous acid as the hypochlorous acid is used up, because they maintain a constant ratio. \ah ok. so all these products sold by the pool store stating first to adjust pH to 7.2-7.4 is not really neccessary when we have CYA in the water. especially 60-80ppm for like SWG's.

Wow. That's a lot of chlorine demand. Are these US gallons (128 ounces)? Is this pool you shocked last week another 8000 gallon pool or one you're working on currently? You mentioned 60 PPM CYA in an earlier post. yes US gallons. its another 8,000 gallon pool. yes the pool last week had a SWG and the CYA was only 35ppm so I raised it to 70ppm and shocked it the ssame time..so basically I was shocking at 35ppm and well you know it takes time for the stabilizer to disolve. however everything is working very well now. generation enough FC now. this is a new pool this week and it had a CYA of 60 so I left it like that and will try and sell a SWG to them. BTW they are paying for tabs. I decided not to add the 6 gallons and just went with 4 gallons as they are having a party on Sunday. I tested and FC was 7.5 then I added 4 gallons of 10% which brings it up to around 47.5 but by Sunday it would have dropped down bellow 40ppm with CYA of 60 it should be ok and the swimmers will sure to burn off a lot of FC at the pool party. Thanks to you, Chem and the guys I'm finally getting a hold on my pools now and putting this great info to practical use in the field. My clients are extremely happy now. Thanks a million!!!

I have to disagree with the advice to lower the pH. I think that it is important to keep the pH above 7.5 at all time in a plaster pool. I generally target 7.7 to 8.0 and get good results. A higher pH will also protect metals from corrosion. Also, I recommend the you increase filtration time and be more consistent with keeping the chlorine up I have found that low pH and/or low CSI increases the risk of some types of algae, especially mustard algae. Low pH and or low CSI can also cause cloudiness due to plaster dissolving. With a salt cell, you also have to make sure that the CSI does not get too high as it could lead to scaling. doesn't chlorine work better at lower pH levels?

Be careful here. Six (6) gallons of 10% bleach seems like too much chlorine (1 gallon = 128 oz. 6 * 128 = 768 ounces). Adding 768 ounces of 10% bleach to an 8000 gallon pool will increase Free Chlorine by ~ 75 PPM (this assumes that the 10% bleach is fresh and full strength). That's an appropriate shock value if the pool has 160-200 PPM Cyanuric Acid (CYA). But if CYA is that high, you're better off draining 2/3 of the water before you begin to shock. If CYA is in the more typical range of 40-50 PPM, using only 1.5 gallons of 10% chlorine is sufficient; it will raise FC by 20 PPM. I tried 2 gallons and that didn't work so don't want to chance it this time and will shock using 6 gallons. I used 6 gallons in an 8,000 gallon pool last week and the next evening the FC had dropped down to 15ppm. of course that pool had a CYA of 35ppm. Its really hot now and the water temp is 94F.

Gavin, read through the advice given to aGrandma in the last couple of days about the best way to kill algae. I don't know how large the pool is so can't advise on how many gallons. To shock for algae, go all the way up to shock level (usually 40% of CYA is sufficient) and don't let it come down for several days, pumping/filtering the entire time. You only need to backwash the filter if the pressure has risen 8 to 10 PSI over normal. And brushing never hurt anything (except biofilms and algae cell walls!) and could help. Thanks. I was just unsure if shocking was called for even when pool is clear and there is no CC. However it looks as if the little bit of green algae is persistant and I will shock just to be sure to kill it all. I have to replace the pressure gauge so will check pressure after that and decide whether to clean the filter or leave it for another day. btw pool is 8,000 gallons. Thanks for the help.

CYA is 60ppm FC is 5ppm I added 2 gallons of 10% bleach but the green is still there. just a little green on some parts of the walls. Should I give it a good brush and add 6 gallons of 10% bleach this time? also I think I will backwash the filter...might help. Thanks.

I would wait for the Taylor test kit and test. the water samples should be tested right away from what I've heard. fresh water sample is a must. so the pool store is testing water that is not straight out of the pool so results may not be correct. and they will love to sell you something you do not need. test the water yourself. you can buy just about everything you need to balance your pool from the foodstore and hardware store.

yeah its a Goldline Aqua Rite. well thats a relief. Thanks!

Should I add the balance pak 100? Please advise. Thanks! your TA is 107? I like lower TA's to keep pH in check. I aim for a TA of 80. so I wouldn't waste your money raising TA anymore. where is you pH? if you want to raise your pH to say 7.4 use borax..its better for your pool.

Well...I added 4 of the one gallon bottles of the liquid chlorine last night and left filter running all night and had the water tested this morning. Here are the results: TDS: 1400 CYA: 120 Toal Chlorine: 4.7 FREE CHLORINE: STILL 0 PH: 7 Tot. Alk: 144 Adj. Alk: 108 Tot Hardness: 285 I justed added 2.5 lbs of PH increaser and filter is still running. I have 8 more one gallon bottles of liquid chlorine...SHOULD I ADD ALL 8 GALLONS TONIGHT? Eventually, I want to be able to put in my Nature 2 cartridge but free chlorine is still zero. Please advise. Thanks! Thanks for your reply Gavin The water was tested at pool store. I just put in 8 gallons of liquid chlorine in...and will check the water tomorrow morning. are you sure FC is 0? what test kit are you using. what is your CC? if you have CC then shock with what I suggest below. otherwise just add the 8 gallons of 6% bleach tonight and check FC in the morning. pour the gallons around the edge of the pool slowly. your CYA is pretty high but if FC is 0 I would add 15 gallons of 6% bleach. that would raise FC to around 39ppm ..give it a good shock and then you could let the FC come down to around 10 or more. you need to keep at least 10ppm of FC in your pool with a CYA of 120. I am getting very aggravated!! Last night I added the 8 gallons of liquid chlorine and I just had water tested this morning and the results are: Saturation Index -0.6 TDS: 1400 CYA: 128 Total Cholorine: 0.5 What the phuck! Free Chlorine: STILL PHUCKING 0 ZERO! WHAT THE PHUCK!! ph: 7 TOT ALK: 107 ADJ TOT. ALK: 69 TOT HARDNESS 335 SALT: N/A (I AM THINKING OF CONVERTING TO SALT AS I AM GETTING PHUCKING SICK OF THIS!) POOL PLACE IS TELLING ME TO ADD 16 LBS OF BALANCE PAK 100 AS ALKALINITY IS LOW (AGAIN?? WTF!!!???) I AM NOT DOING ANYTHING UNTIL I HERE FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN FINALLY HELP ME. I AM TIRED OF THE POOL PLACE TELLING ME EVERYONE IS HAVING SAME PROBLEMS! WTF! I CANT AFFORD TO DUMP MY WEEKLY PAYCHECK ON POOL CHEMICALS AND THEY ARE NOT DOING A DAMN THING! I AM READY TO CLOSE THE DAMN POOL AND FILL IT AND GROW MY LAWN BACK! PLEASE HELP! you need your own test kit. that is impossible to have 0 free chlorine after adding 8 gallons of bleach. my guess since you say your pool is clear is the pool place is not testing right. get a Taylor K2006 or even better a TFT test kit... http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html one other thought...are you sure your pool is 24,000 gallons?

Thanks for the suggest but I just need something simple that maybe plugs in a power socket. anything out there like that?

Well...I added 4 of the one gallon bottles of the liquid chlorine last night and left filter running all night and had the water tested this morning. Here are the results: TDS: 1400 CYA: 120 Toal Chlorine: 4.7 FREE CHLORINE: STILL 0 PH: 7 Tot. Alk: 144 Adj. Alk: 108 Tot Hardness: 285 I justed added 2.5 lbs of PH increaser and filter is still running. I have 8 more one gallon bottles of liquid chlorine...SHOULD I ADD ALL 8 GALLONS TONIGHT? Eventually, I want to be able to put in my Nature 2 cartridge but free chlorine is still zero. Please advise. Thanks! are you sure FC is 0? what test kit are you using. what is your CC? if you have CC then shock with what I suggest below. otherwise just add the 8 gallons of 6% bleach tonight and check FC in the morning. pour the gallons around the edge of the pool slowly. your CYA is pretty high but if FC is 0 I would add 15 gallons of 6% bleach. that would raise FC to around 39ppm ..give it a good shock and then you could let the FC come down to around 10 or more. you need to keep at least 10ppm of FC in your pool with a CYA of 120.

I heard good things about the Tiger Shark. going to purchase one next week.

pro..generates natural pure chlorine while the pump runs. able to keep FC lower than in traditional pools. able to save money by not purchasing chlorine. you got water softener salt in the pool so water feels better and is healthier for your skin, eyes and hair. cons..not many. pH seems to rise higher than traditional pools but this can be fixed by keeping TA low and or adding borates. I heard some people complain of erosion of pool side rocks and stones. maybe they added too much salt...3,200 seems to be a good amount to keep in the pool. can't see many cons. SWG are awesome and I highly recommend them.