Chem Geek Or Anyone... Please Help!

[jmarshall]

First, let me apologize in advance for the lengthy post.

I have read so many of your questions/answers but I still can't figure out what to do, so I'm hoping this e-mail will do the trick. I have been working daily for about 3 weeks now trying to get my pool up to par. I have to admit I didn't do the best at winterizing it last season. Actually I didn't do anything, so I know this process is taking longer than it should... and yes I have learned my lesson. I have an 11,000 gallon, in ground, fiberglass pool in Charleston, SC with a sand filter.

It was very cloudy/blue green for a while but after giving the sand filter a thorough cleaning and backwashing (once a week for the past 3 weeks), adding algaecide and clarifier (daily for the past week) and vacuuming with robot 24 hours later has pretty much fixed the issue. Although I still wonder if it could be better; it's still a little cloudy/blue green but I may just be asking too much?? Anyway, my main problem is I can't seem to get my levels right. I always seem to get conflicting advice on what to fix first and I'm about to pull my hair out.

Chlorine - This has been off from day one, but when I visited my pool store about a week ago they said this is the last problem you fix. Until then I had shocked it randomly with not much rise in FC, probably because my other levels were off. I use the 3" tri-chlor stabilized chlorine tablets and 1 lb bags of 65% available chlorine pool shock from In The Swim. My levels tend to be FC = .5, TC = 2 or FC = .5, TC = 1. Typically the day after I shock (at night) my levels are FC = .5, TC = 3 so I thought maybe I'm not using enough... but then I also read that maybe I need an oxidizer - so the confusion sets in. I generally keep two pucks in the skimmer basket and three in thing that floats around the pool + the random shock treatment I mentioned above. When that didn't seem to do the trick I wondered if I was adding enough shock (the 1lb bags do say for 10,000 gallons). So last night (7 PM) I added at least 3 lbs (it might have been more because I finished off some I had left in a container). This morning when I checked it (10 AM) I have FC = 2, TC = 3 and all my other levels are CRAZY off. First I don't even know if I actually shocked it because I did it at night and couldn't test it until 15 hours later? Everything I've been reading says the CC should not be higher than .5. But I never know what time of day to shock it... first I read you are supposed to add the shock treatment at night, so it doesn't burn off as quickly. But then I read that you are to test your pool every hour or so until you reach 10 PPM (is that right) when trying to super chlorinate. So, if I add it at night like the package says, then I can't test it every hour...

Here are my levels with an ave mid day temp of 85F:

* FC = .5, TC = 1.5, CC = 1

* PH = 7.4 - It took me a while to get to this level... it was hovering at 7.2 for weeks. I read I should stop adding chemicals and try to make an aerating device. So I made a MacGyver style waterfall with PVC pipes in the deep end. It seemed to work well to create the needed bubbles; however, the circulation wasn't as strong (because I had to occupy one of the two recirculation jets) so I took down my invention after one week so the pool could filter at full strength. I do want to mention that my little contraption worked... my PH and ALK had come up to acceptable levels. That will be about one week ago tomorrow.

* ALK = 100

* CH = 350 - I did have to add about 16 lbs of Hardness Plus to get it here.

* Copper and Iron are in range (0 - .05) - After using the max amount of Metal Out

* CYA = 90

These are my levels (10 AM) after adding 3+ lbs of shock last night:

* FC = 2, TC = 3, CC = 1

* PH = 7.0

* ALK = 80 PPM

* CH = 400 PPM

* Metals = same

* CYA = 80

So I am at a loss of what to do... Aerate? Shock? Filter? add more chemicals??

Please help...

Much Thanks,

[chem geek]

By using stabilized chlorine, such as Trichlor pucks/tabs for regular use and Dichlor powder/graunules for shocking, you've gotten your CYA level pretty high. That will be a problem that will need to be solved in one of several ways if you are to avoid getting algae in the pool. Either you need to do a partial drain/refill to lower the CYA level or you'll need to maintain high Free Chlorine (FC) levels (around 8 ppm) to prevent algae growth. Another alternative is to use an algaecide -- either PolyQuat 60 or a phosphate remover. If you continue to use stabilized chlorine, you'll just keep increasing the CYA level requiring higher FC levels or more algaecide to prevent algae. On the other hand, if you backwash your sand filter weekly, then maybe with your smaller pool you'll be able to keep the CYA level in check, but do NOT use Dichlor for shocking. If you are going to use stabilized chlorine, then it should only be the Trichlor pucks/tabs. By the way, Trichlor is highly acidic so if you use that then your pool will require periodic addition of pH Up (Arm & Hammer Washing Soda; careful: NOT the laundry detergent).

With your fiberglass pool you don't need to worry as much about the CH level -- you do need some to protect the gelcoat, but it's not as critical as with plaster/gunite pools. Also, the pool store advice that the chlorine level is the last thing to adjust isn't quite right since you mostly had decent numbers -- they don't have to be perfect before you add chlorine.

What I suggest is that you read this sticky and suggest you also post on that forum as there are many that can help you there and walk you through this. I try and not give too much advice on this forum due to some problems that caused in the past so suggest others help you out more either here or at Trouble Free Pool. You're going to need more than I'll be able to provide on this forum.

Richard

[jmarshall]

Thanks so much for your help Richard! I checked out those forums and they, along with your response, have definitely been helpful. I'm going to post there as well just to see what response I get. I retested and found my CYA to be 40. I don't think I was doing it correctly the first time. Maybe I'll see you on the other side...