45lbs shock, still consuming FC

[ftwpool]

Evening folks, im starting to regret not draining the pool. I’ll keep it short as i possibly can.

27000g Semi in-ground pool, 425sq cartridge filter, 3HP variable speed pump runs 24/, 2” piping in/out.

Pool cover came off in a wind storm early winter, was too busy to care so I left it open all winter to swamp out figuring id drain and refill, due to record rain and wet soil i didnt want to chance it so here we are 45lbs of shock later…

Starting Numbers

0 CYA (closed at 90)
50 TA (closed at 120)
8.6++ PH (off the charts red purplish)
240 CH

Opened by netting as much of the gunk off the bottom as possible, vacuumed a bunch to waste, cleaned filter and repeat a few times then began. Added a gallon of muriatic acid. Added a few lbs of cal-hypo shock and realized real quick i had ammonia, took 15lbs 56% cal-hypo + 4g 10% liquid to start holding some* chlorine, went from dark green to extremely cloudy white, This was 3 days effort but due to work i was forced to leave it for a week.

Started back up 2 days ago for round 2, the entire time ive been vacuuming, cleaning filters and brushing non stop. 15lbs of shock added over a few hours to maintain 10-15ppm then went to bed, woke up to 5ppm FC and 3ppm CC. Added 6lbs to get it back up but throughout the day in sunlight I struggled too hard to maintain 10ppm and due to 0cya I didnt want to keep throwing money away so I added 4lbs of CYA to skimmer this afternoon. Soon as the pool was shaded at 6pm here I added enough (roughly 10lbs) to bring it up to 29ppm FC hoping to hit breakpoint and lower the CC…..and still had 3ppm CC. I Just checked (it’s been 5 hours) FC is 17ppm and CC is now FOUR PPM?! Water is still extremely cloudy white haze, and smells like chloramines.

Current numbers

(Ran out of CYA reagent, should be 15-20 now I hope)
8.2 PH (Was at 7.4-7.6 earlier today while FC was below 10ppm before i started the heavy round)
17ppm FC
4ppm CC
70 TA
240 CH


The increasing CC is worrying me, the water refuses to clear up in any way or show signs of clearing and the insatiable chlorine appetite after THAT much shock and liquid is unreal, were talking 50lbs of calhypo 56% and around 8g of 10% liquid.

Ideas? Opinions? Thank you.

 

[ftwpool]

I took a sample to a local shop earlier today before this evenings round, attaching that here. All other numbers are from my Taylor 2006c kit

 

[Bperry]

Evening folks, im starting to regret not draining the pool. I’ll keep it short as i possibly can.

27000g Semi in-ground pool, 425sq cartridge filter, 3HP variable speed pump runs 24/, 2” piping in/out.

Pool cover came off in a wind storm early winter, was too busy to care so I left it open all winter to swamp out figuring id drain and refill, due to record rain and wet soil i didnt want to chance it so here we are 45lbs of shock later…

Starting Numbers

0 CYA (closed at 90)
50 TA (closed at 120)
8.6++ PH (off the charts red purplish)
240 CH

Opened by netting as much of the gunk off the bottom as possible, vacuumed a bunch to waste, cleaned filter and repeat a few times then began. Added a gallon of muriatic acid. Added a few lbs of cal-hypo shock and realized real quick i had ammonia, took 15lbs 56% cal-hypo + 4g 10% liquid to start holding some* chlorine, went from dark green to extremely cloudy white, This was 3 days effort but due to work i was forced to leave it for a week.

Started back up 2 days ago for round 2, the entire time ive been vacuuming, cleaning filters and brushing non stop. 15lbs of shock added over a few hours to maintain 10-15ppm then went to bed, woke up to 5ppm FC and 3ppm CC. Added 6lbs to get it back up but throughout the day in sunlight I struggled too hard to maintain 10ppm and due to 0cya I didnt want to keep throwing money away so I added 4lbs of CYA to skimmer this afternoon. Soon as the pool was shaded at 6pm here I added enough (roughly 10lbs) to bring it up to 29ppm FC hoping to hit breakpoint and lower the CC…..and still had 3ppm CC. I Just checked (it’s been 5 hours) FC is 17ppm and CC is now FOUR PPM?! Water is still extremely cloudy white haze, and smells like chloramines.

Current numbers

(Ran out of CYA reagent, should be 15-20 now I hope)
8.2 PH (Was at 7.4-7.6 earlier today while FC was below 10ppm before i started the heavy round)
17ppm FC
4ppm CC
70 TA
240 CH


The increasing CC is worrying me, the water refuses to clear up in any way or show signs of clearing and the insatiable chlorine appetite after THAT much shock and liquid is unreal, were talking 50lbs of calhypo 56% and around 8g of 10% liquid.

Ideas? Opinions? Thank you.

Adding lots of cal hypo has been reported to make the water cloudy (and it raises the CH). Its why TFP recommends only using liquid chlorine. You need to follow the SLAM process.

Heres the instructions:

SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain

We’ve all had to deal with a green pool. Clear algae from your pool with a SLAM! Read here to use shock level and maintain to clear your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Jimrahbe]

ftw,

Our water is pretty cheap.. To fill a 15K pool is about $75, so $150 for you..

When water is cheaper than the fix, I vote for draining the pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ftwpool]

ftw,

Our water is pretty cheap.. To fill a 15K pool is about $75, so $150 for you..

When water is cheaper than the fix, I vote for draining the pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

That was the original plan but my property has been absolutely soaked this year with the rains and I was worried I’d have issues caving in or floating the liner if I went that route. The other issue is my Tap water cost me a small fortune to increase CH and lower the ~280 TA when I first filled the pool 2y ago. My local water is not very pool friendly.

I just checked at 9am and my FC is 11pm, CC is reading 3ppm, it’s possible that 4ppm reading was just a fluke or miscount. It did hold more chlorine overnight than yesterday so that’s promising, maybe I just need to be more patient. Meantime I’ll continue with liquid chlorine and follow the SLAM process more closely but is there any way to clear up the cloudiness? I did buy a bottle of clarifier the other day for the first time out of desperation, at what point can I use that while SLAMing? Thanks again everyone.

 

[Bperry]

That was the original plan but my property has been absolutely soaked this year with the rains and I was worried I’d have issues caving in or floating the liner if I went that route. The other issue is my Tap water cost me a small fortune to increase CH and lower the ~280 TA when I first filled the pool 2y ago. My local water is not very pool friendly.

I just checked at 9am and my FC is 11pm, CC is reading 3ppm, it’s possible that 4ppm reading was just a fluke or miscount. It did hold more chlorine overnight than yesterday so that’s promising, maybe I just need to be more patient. Meantime I’ll continue with liquid chlorine and follow the SLAM process more closely but is there any way to clear up the cloudiness? I did buy a bottle of clarifier the other day for the first time out of desperation, at what point can I use that while SLAMing? Thanks again everyone.

It would be best to just keep filtering. Stay away from the cal hypo next time.

 

[ftwpool]

Is there anything special I need to do to address the high combined chlorine? Raise the FC target or anything?

 

[PoolStored]

Meantime I’ll continue with liquid chlorine and follow the SLAM process more closely but is there any way to clear up the cloudiness?

Slam will clear the cloudiness. The more often you check FC and add chlorine the faster it will go...if you can do every 2 hours, it will speed things along.

I did buy a bottle of clarifier the other day for the first time out of desperation, at what point can I use that while SLAMing? Thanks again everyone.

Clarifier is not necessary. I would return it.

Further, if it is NOT a Seaclear or Orenda chitosan clarifier, do NOT add it to your pool, you will make things worse. There are edge cases, like lots of fire ash or a dust storm, where we *might* recommend a Chitosan clarifier. You do not need it.

Clarifier - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ftwpool]

It’s looking promising. The ammonia and CYA eaters are clearly gone, all the cya I added yesterday is accounted for on the test and my combined chlorine has dropped in half. I lowered the PH to 7.2 and added 2g of liquid to bring me back up to 15FC and put the puck floater in the pool to help maintain since I need some cya anyway I’ll let that dissolve and remove it once my CYA reaches 30. I’ll post the progress as I go. I’m hopeful the kids can swim in a few days at this rate. Thanks for the help!

 

[PoolStored]

I’m hopeful the kids can swim in a few days at this rate.

It is safe to swim with FC up to SLAM level...AS LONG AS YOU CAN SEE THE BOTTOM...

 

[reggiehammond]

Stop with the pool store testing. It's going to get you in worse trouble and the results are not reliable or repeatable.

I don't know anyone in DFW that "closes" their pool. Next year, consider keeping it open through the winter. FC demand is very, very low due to the cold water, but it's not 0.

 

[ftwpool]

Stop with the pool store testing. It's going to get you in worse trouble and the results are not reliable or repeatable.

I don't know anyone in DFW that "closes" their pool. Next year, consider keeping it open through the winter. FC demand is very, very low due to the cold water, but it's not 0.

I’m using my Taylor 2006c kit also side by side. I ran out of CYA reagent, super low on 0871 until Wednesday when my refills show up but no, I definitely don’t rely on their numbers solely. My local store is typically not far off from my own testing. I’d say their PH is usually the most off and they’re +5-10ppm cya always but it’s nice to have an additional set of numbers.

I do agree with you on the “closing”, I’m done trying that.

 

[ftwpool]

Still extremely cloudy, lost only 2ppm FC overnight lastnight and the CC is down to 1ppm. I got my reagent refills in and my TA was ~60 on the Taylor kit so I added a bit of baking soda to bump that up to 70, CH is 350. When I rinse my cartridges it’s like pure milk/chalk so they’re doing the job……slowly. I’m surprised how long it’s taken the combined chlorine to drop, I’ve never dealt with that before, in the past if I’ve ever had any pink on that test I shock and it immediately goes to zero within hours at most, this will be 4 days (not including the first round of 2 days a week prior) of obscenely high chlorine to get that down. This was the last time I ever “close” a pool that’s for sure.

 

[reggiehammond]

No need to raise TA - you might have been better off lowering TA to 50 to avoid pH drift. 50-60 is where I find that pH will not rise typically.
CC indicates that your FC is doing work on organics in your water. Cloudiness is also evidence.

Can you post a full set of results from your own test kit? What do you mean by "obscenely high chlorine?"
TFP principles are based on the FC/CYA Levels. I want to make sure you understand that relationship as FC levels measured by test kits do not tell the whole story. You have to know your CYA to understand how much FC is actually active, versus bound to the stabilizer.

 

[ftwpool]

PH 7.4 (I adjusted to 7.2 prior to starting SLAM)
FC 16 (I’ve maintained between 10-20 for 3 days now, only dipped below 10 early the first day, been as high as 28ppm (obscenely high to me) with cal-hypo shock on day 1 as well)
CC ~1.5ppm (highest tested was 4ppm)
TA 70
CH 350
CYA ~25 (I can FAINTLY see the dot filled all the way to the top past the 30 line, but I’m talking baaarrely)

 

[PoolStored]

During a SLAM.
No need to test pH...test is invalid when pH is above 10.
No need to test CC until you pass OCLT, then test CC on the same sample.
TA and CH and CYA should not change during SLAM.

Save the reagents...

 

[ftwpool]

While vacuuming lastnight I hit a patch of leaves while standing next to the filter and return, I watched the discolored water go through the pump strainer and watched as it spewed the same discolored water right back out into the pool through the return. I must have a hole(s) in my cartridges so I ordered a new set. I have a 420sqft cartridge filter (4 carts) and when clean it registers 0-1psi and my memory is shot but I seem to remember it being more that that when clean in the past. The highest it got was the last time I cleaned them and it rose to 10psi. This will be the 3rd season on that set and I cleaned them about a dozen times last year so they’re due to be replaced anyway. Hoping that helps clear it up.

 

[ftwpool]

Guys…. I’m losing it here. Zero improvement whatsoever for the last 4 days. Brand new filters, dumping 2 gallons of 10-12% chlorine in every sunset and launched a floater in there with 3 pucks wide open since Tuesday, sometimes I’ll throw in an extra gallon or 2 in the morning. I’m waking up to 10ppmFC and between 1-2ppm of CC every morning. It’s Just as cloudy as it was the day after I initially shocked it. I’ve vacuumed with the kreepy krauler, and a WyBot osprey 700 max alternating every day, brushed daily and ran the pump 24/7, there’s nothing in that pool but cloudy water there is Zero debris anywhere. This is getting ridiculous. Any suggestions before I start draining the water?

 

[PoolStored]

How often are you checking FC and adding chlorine to get back to slam level?

 

[ftwpool]

The first 3 days I was out there on a lawn chair checking constantly it never dipped below 10 but once. The last few days I’ve been checking morning, 3pm and sunset. Something isn’t adding up here.