Algae in condominium Homeowner's Association pool

[Denali]

Thank you for your reply.

I have no idea where copper would be introduced since I have added nothing, but the pH reducer(dry acid), CYA, and two different strengths of sodium hypochlorite(6% and 10%).

Unless one of the "inter ingredients" in either the bleach or the liquid shock had copper I don't know how it could be in there. The bleach was regular unscented generic walmart bleach that is 6% sodium hypochlorite. The liquid shock is 10% sodium hypochlorite. Both list the remaining ingredients as "inert".

It might be algae, but if it is I'm suprised since I did brush the walls and floor to expose any lingering algae to the chlorine. Not to mention the amount of chlorine I've added.

I am going to take a water sample to a pool store and have it checked. I'm not certain I trust my tests at this point.

The copper may have already been in the water. You have a tablet feeder on the system which is how the pool was sanitized in the past. The tablets have a low pH and may have reacted with any metal in the system over time.

[Henry_R]

Indeed the foaming began with the CYA and hasn't ceased since. It also went along with
my near zero chlorine reading(s). Perhaps the pH reducer(dry acid) didn't disolve enough before
I added the CYA? It was hours apart though. And now it's been several days and still foamy.
A lot of the foam seems to be staying in the skimmer.

I'm going to take a sample of water and have it tested before I add anything more.
My problem is I ride public transportation(my neighbor will be busy tomorrow). How much
will time degrade the sample. There's about a 90 minute time between home and the pool store.

[Denali]

Indeed the foaming began with the CYA and hasn't ceased since. It also went along with
my near zero chlorine reading(s). Perhaps the pH reducer(dry acid) didn't disolve enough before
I added the CYA? It was hours apart though. And now it's been several days and still foamy.
A lot of the foam seems to be staying in the skimmer.

I'm going to take a sample of water and have it tested before I add anything more.
My problem is I ride public transportation(my neighbor will be busy tomorrow). How much
will time degrade the sample. There's about a 90 minute time between home and the pool store.

Normally with dry acid you dissolve it in a bucket first and then add to deep end near the return lines. Don't know where there would be a reaction between the two chemicals.

Not sure about the time but 90 minutes should be fine. Perhaps put in a bag to avoid sunlight.

Let us know the results when you get them.

[Henry_R]

All the piping seems to be PVC both white and grey (CPVC?). There are no metalic pipes anywhere except the cast iron outlet drain. The PVC backwash pipe goes into a cast iron pipe, but it doesn't connect directly to the rest of the system.

We don't even have a water faucet near the pump to refill the pool. All refills are done with a garden hose. And all our main pipes around here are galvanized steel. But none of them get even close to the pool.

What about the leak? Could something be leaching IN through the area where there's a leak?
We still cannot tell exactly where the leak is. The water level hasn't dropped more than 1" in the three days since I've been at this. I raised the water level on Saturday and I put some water in on Sunday after
backwashing but none since and the level hasn't changed. It's one crazy leak.

There is large chunk of plaster missing from one of the side walls. Could something behind plaster the wall be reacting to something else?

[Henry_R]

The pH reducer container says to "broadcast" it in the deep end of the pool. It only mentions disolving it in water if the pool is 4' or less. This pool is at least 6 feet deep and I followed the instructions on the label by broadcasting it into the deepest part of the pool.

I'll find something to keep the sample out of light. Is it ok to use the water sample container from the test kit? The one for the CYA test is the only container I have that has a cap. Will any residual CYA reagent in the container skew the test at all if I rinse it well before hand?

I have nothing else to take a water sample with me except perhaps a 16 oz soda bottle.

[Denali]

The pH reducer container says to "broadcast" it in the deep end of the pool. It only mentions disolving it in water if the pool is 4' or less. This pool is at least 6 feet deep and I followed the instructions on the label by broadcasting it into the deepest part of the pool.
Then there shouldn't be any problem with an interaction.


I'll find something to keep the sample out of light. Is it ok to use the water sample container from the test kit? The one for the CYA test is the only container I have that has a cap. Will any residual CYA reagent in the container skew the test at all if I rinse it well before hand?

I have nothing else to take a water sample with me except perhaps a 16 oz soda bottle.

Clean anything you use well before adding pool water. You want to have enough water for all the testing so maybe use both.

[Henry_R]

Ok, you're right about having enough. As for the soda bottle. Will residual CO2 cause any problems?
I can rinse it forever, but sometimes the CO2 stays even after that.

[Denali]

Ok, you're right about having enough. As for the soda bottle. Will residual CO2 cause any problems?
I can rinse it forever, but sometimes the CO2 stays even after that.

Honestly I don't know. If you have or can get any glass jars, they would work.

[Henry_R]

I'm rinsing the plastic bottles out w/ water over night. With some luck any CO2 will be displaced and not remain by morning. I don't have anything glass that's both small enough and has a water tight lid.
It has to be water tight since I ride the bus and the bouncing of the vehicle can sometimes rattle teeth
and would certainly be enough to open a lid that wasn't tight.

[Henry_R]

The 10% liquid shock was old according to the mfg!
I emailed them last night with the date codes and was told it is
old and should have been restocked.

No wonder the stuff isn't working well.
It explains a lot of why the chlorine didn't seem to work after Sunday
even though this is stronger than the 6% generic bleach.

I'm still going to take a water sample to the pool store though.

I want to know as much as I can about the water and I'm just wasting reagents doing
it myself right now.

[chem geek]

I've got to tell you that I'm sorry you're going through the issues with your HOA pool and that things like buying old/weak chlorinating liquid are happening. You've got a lot of patience and are to be commended. Thanks for hanging in there.

[Henry_R]

I have more patience than I knew I had. I'm more concerned that I've wasted $30 in CYA and pH reducer by adding bad chlorine. Lowes should be responsible for this mess. I wonder what I can say to them to get them to give us compensation? I'm going to ask for a manager at the least to make certain no one else has this issue. I should have known the bottles were old given the amount of dust on them.
I just didn't think since they're located outside the dust was a real indication of their age.

I wasn't told how old they are either. I've asked the mfg how to interpret the date codes so I can
do so without having to ask in the future.

If I hadn't noticed the label stating "this product degrades with age." I wouldn't have even questioned it.

I'm just not sure what exactly I'm going to say to return the 4 and a half empty bottles and three unopened bottles to convince the return desk person that the stuff is bad.

I've gone around with old stock at Lowes before and had to get the mfg to call them to change the stock
when they were either unwilling or unable to do so. That time it was thinset for tile that had lumps in the bags indicating it was old and had absorbed moisture. Even after my telling them the stuff was old it remained on the shelf for weeks later.

[Henry_R]

I took the water to a local pool shop. THe results are: TC=0, CYA=25, TA=30, pH=7.5.

I got 12lbs of baking soda to lower the TA, and more CYA to raise the level. Then I got some calhypo shock. I'm about to go and return the bad chlorine so wish me luck.

[Denali]

I have more patience than I knew I had. I'm more concerned that I've wasted $30 in CYA and pH reducer by adding bad chlorine. Lowes should be responsible for this mess. I wonder what I can say to them to get them to give us compensation? I'm going to ask for a manager at the least to make certain no one else has this issue. I should have known the bottles were old given the amount of dust on them.
I just didn't think since they're located outside the dust was a real indication of their age.

I wasn't told how old they are either. I've asked the mfg how to interpret the date codes so I can
do so without having to ask in the future.

If I hadn't noticed the label stating "this product degrades with age." I wouldn't have even questioned it.

I'm just not sure what exactly I'm going to say to return the 4 and a half empty bottles and three unopened bottles to convince the return desk person that the stuff is bad.

I've gone around with old stock at Lowes before and had to get the mfg to call them to change the stock
when they were either unwilling or unable to do so. That time it was thinset for tile that had lumps in the bags indicating it was old and had absorbed moisture. Even after my telling them the stuff was old it remained on the shelf for weeks later.

Wow! What a pain. Just when the pool is starting to look good you run into this. Even with the bad chlorine you haven't wasted the other chemicals. Good luck with returning and getting a refund. I would hope they would take it back without a problem.

[Henry_R]

The lady at the return desk started to balk but her supervisor must have asked a manager who approved the return. They took my reply from the mfg of the stuff too stating it was likely bad due to the date code.

Not a bad transaction but I'm not done with Lowes yet:

I'm going to email Lowes corporate too and see what other compensation they'll give us.

It's going to cost us more in chemicals to get it back to what it was starting to look like on Sunday
before I added the shock and that's not including time, gasoline, *and* added electricity to run the
pump for 3 extra days straight instead of it clearing from the chlorine level coming up
and my being able to shut it off for some time.

Perhaps they'll give us some sort of store credit to buy there or something. That'd work since
I'll need to get that vacuum hose and plate at some point this week.

At the very least I hope it gets the stuff pulled from the shelf since they have at least a pallet of it.

I still didn't hear back to my reply to the mfg rep. He might send me some free of charge too.
Even so I want Lowes to take action and I'm going to see what I can get. With our money
as low as it is the more the better.

BTW, how do I calculate the power demands the pump is making?
It states it's a 230/115V unit and lists the rating as 7.1/14.2

The HOA President is worried our power bill will be skyhigh with the runing the pump 24/7 for what'll
be 5 days straight. She's mandating I turn it off for at least 12 hours per day come Friday.

If I'm doing the numbers right 230V @ 7.1A per hour is 1633 watts per hour.
And 115 @ 14.2 is the same amount. That comes out to about 40kWh per day at 24 hours?
Does that sound about right?

That's not too much in the end if I'm right.