Looks and smells like a stagnant pond

LaurenB

0
Gold Supporter
Jun 4, 2014
155
Fawn Grove, PA
Pool Size
22500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Happy Spring!

I’m a returning pool owner. I’ll try to make it short and sweet. I just want to make sure I’m on the right track because it’s been about 4 years.

New build in ground pool finished build and closed right away before Thanksgiving.

Before closing a put in enough cya to raise to 17, and some bleach, and said a Hail Mary.

My safety cover wasn’t ready when closing, so sometime in January they swapped the tarp cover with the safety and all the gunk on top of the tarp cover went in (I wasn’t home).

So now I’ve opened early in attempt to get a start on balancing and cleaning and omg I was not expecting this. It looks and smells like the Chesapeake bay. Can’t see the bottom. My pool was PRISTINE at my previous house and I never had to deal with anything like this. I only ever read other people’s stories on here; but at least I feel somewhere prepared because of that.

So the pool is open and running. I backwashed to lower water to where the skimmers are doing something. We had a ton of rain this winter so when I checked water chem, 0 chlorine, and cya so low it appears to be zero. But I know I poured that gallon in before closing so there should be SOME… maybe like 8? Should I guess 8 or assume 0?

I’m typing this in between added liquid cya. Next I’ll check pH, alk, and then raise my chlorine but I’m wondering what cya level to use? I’m pouring in enough to take another 17ppm… so I guess my main question is should I assume 17 or assume 23ish (assuming there is some left from the fall).

Thanks! I’ll post pics. Not much to see though. The liner is almost black and so is the water.

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Before you add any stabilizer/CYA confirm you do not have ammonia in that swamp.

Add chlorine for 10 ppm and test your free chlorine after 30-minutes. You likely have ammonia in your water if you lost 80%+ of FC in 30 minutes.


What is the pH?

What test kit are you using?
 
Hey LB and Welcome back
But I know I poured that gallon in before closing so there should be SOME… maybe like 8? Should I guess 8 or assume 0?
CYA degrades 3 to 5 ppm a month, plus any rain that got in there diluted it a bit further. It's unnoticeable during the season but very noticeable when you walk away from the pool for several months.

Testing under 30 is sketchy at best so we recommend adding 10 or 15 at a time until it registers a 30.

But hold the phone until you test for ammonia first.
 
Thanks for responses.
TA 80 and pH 6.8
I had already added the gallon of cya so at least 17ppm in there now.

Ammonia?!

Ok I added enough bleach to raise to 10. Waiting 30 min then will check chlorine levels.

Is it ok to have socks in my skimmer baskets during this? Because they are filling up with leaves and straw at an impressive rate
 
Repeat the test/dose every 30 mins until the FC holds. It takes several or many 30 minute doses to 10 FC to kill the ammonia.

Then
SLAM Process
 
Is it ok to have socks in my skimmer baskets during this? Because they are filling up with leaves and straw at an impressive rate

You will need to clean your skimmers and backwash your filter frequently.

I would not bother with skimmer socks. Catching the small stuff is not your problem now.
 

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I did an early test of the chlorine (about 20 minutes after adding and it’s at 1ppm! I was not prepared for this! I’m running out to buy more bleach and will start over! I’m feeling very overwhelmed. Thank you all for your help. I’ll post after I’ve gotten back and run another 30 minute test
 
I hope you are buying 10%-12% liquid chlorine and not lower % bleach.

You will need a lot of liquid chlorine. Check date codes and buy the freshest you can can find.


It takes about 10X the amount ammonia in FC to convert an ammonia pool. So if, for example, your pool has 20ppm ammonia, it will take 200ppm FC to convert it all.

 
I’m buying 10% bleach.

Is it labeled bleach or is it liquid chlorine?
I have to work 5am-6pm tomorrow. What should I do while I’m gone? I shudder at the thought, but should I get a chlorine puck floater?

Nothing.

Chlorine pucks will not add enough chlorine to make a dent and will add CYA.

Clearing your pool will take a while. Could be a few weekends.
 
I have a question, partially for my own edification, partially for a potential suggestion to the OP. Is there a reason why draining and a fresh fill is not a less time-consuming and more economical option here? Maybe I'm missing the complexity of vinyl liners, or high ground water, or wells, or something else. But when I think about the cost and effort I would face with my pool in this scenario I would just spend the couple hundred extra dollars on my monthly water bill to drain and refill the pool over a couple of days and start over. Anyways, I'm sure I'm showing some ignorance, but maybe there's something here?
 
Is there a reason why draining and a fresh fill is not a less time-consuming and more economical option here?
You need to leave 12 to 18 inches of water on a liner to keep it in place. For inground pools that means leaving that much water in the shallow end.

Repeat drains lose efficiency removing new water with the old.

That said, draining half (?) with more of the volume at the top due to the deep end cuts the remaining battle in half. I did so myself when I opened to a black swamp, I didn't even blink, I just drained down to a foot in the shallow end and only had to fight what was left. Draining 50% a second time would remove 25% on that round, removing 75% of the battle.

With cheap/clean water and a good path for draining high volume, it's certainly easier to get a leg up.
 
second test yielded 4.5 ppm fc at 30 minutes. Seems like progress already?

There are literally FEET of leaves, hay, and worms in the bottom. Should I be focused on getting all of that out first? Am I just wasting chlorine with all of that organic matter in there? I’m working on getting it out between tests.
 
I dont think draining is an option. We have nowhere to drain to plus a well so that would be several water trucks. A 6k gallon water truck is about $250-300 last I ordered
 

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