HELP!! Cloudy, Greenish water

[flybaby]

I really could use your help folks. Overwhelmed... Been dealing with a super cloudy on and off, greenish pool for almost a month now. Live in WNY - only 3 summer months of pool use at best. So I have been using the Enjoy system from Gary's Pools in this area since we bought the pool, this is my 3rd summer with it. Never any problems, until now obviously. I have religiously reading Pool School, how to SLAM, the forums religiously for weeks. I ordered the TF-100 XL, it arrived today and have taken my first set of readings. I feel confident I did all the testing accurately.

CL- 3
pH - 7.3
FC - 7 ppm
CC - 1 ppm
TC - 8 ppm
CH - 250 ppm
TA - 110/120 ppm
CYA - 23 ppm

I have been leaving the solar cover off since the problem has started. Their continues to build up on the bottom in the groves, a brownish substance ( which I thought dirt for awhile ) that seems to vacuum up more difficult. There is no sign of algae on the walls, no can I feel it. Can't tell for the life of me whether I'm dealing with the mustard algae I have been reading, or dirt and pollen. I looked at tons of pictures here. It doesn't feel slimey when my toes touch it. It disperses more like a cloud. Water color has gone back and forth between milky, cloudy and greenish.

I'm ready to go, test #'s in hand! Can someone point me in the right directions with what you feel the next steps should be?

Thanks so much in advance!

Julie

 

[robertmee]

You need to SLAM. If your Cya is greater than 20 round up to 30...the scale is logarithmic. Assuming CYA of 30 bring your FC up to at least 12 using pool math and liquid bleach. Test every two to four hours and constantly add bleach to keep fc above 12. Brush often to disperse the algae.

Continue this until water is clear, cc is .5 or 0 and you don't lose more than 1ppm of fc over night. It'll likely take a few days and the more often you can test and keep FC above 12 the quicker it will go.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome Julie to TFP, and congratulations on your TF-100 and taking charge of your pool. Since a SLAM appears to be in order and you have already done your homework, you're on your way. Let us know if you have any problems. Good luck!

 

[flybaby]

Update and advice needed!

So the SLAM is going fantastic! When I woke up this a.m., the pool was the most crysyal clear, nicest water I've seen all season! So thrilled and empowered that I finally "got this"! It was definitely algae! Darn green monster. Much appreciation for all that respond and lend a helping hand to teach the TFP way!

So, I was confident that tonight was the night to preform the OCTL ..... then the heavens let loose this p.m. and the floods came, lol! Seriously, we have gotten close to 4 inches since this afternoon. Right now it is majorly overflowing, water pouring out the skimmer. The rains are letting up, but I won't be able to get the water level back to normal until tomorrow... I had to turn off the filter.

I know my Shock Level FC is totally down now, although I have not tested since right before it rained. Should I try and get some more bleach in it tonight? Or leave well enough alone til the a.m.?

 

[robertmee]

Test and keep your fc at slam levels. Depending on how much water you end up draining you might need to add some more stabilizer too. But most important is keep that FC up!

 

[Richard320]

What is this thing you call rain?

 

[flybaby]

6 inches is beyond anything I've ever seen! It was crazy, just crazy. Couldn't do anything with it last night. Water was past my ankles around the pool - it was a lake... Heading out there now to do a full set of testing to get #'s

 

[flybaby]

FC - 7.5
CC - 0
CH - 175
TA - 110
CYA - 30
Ph - 7.5

So I'm adding 90 Oz of 8.25% to get back to my Shock Level of 12. Anything else?

 

[aboykin2269]

So I'm adding 90 Oz of 8.25% to get back to my Shock Level of 12. Anything else?

Sounds good. Just keep SLAMing and try your OCLT tonight! Is your water still clean and clear?

 

[flybaby]

Yep! It's crystal clear and blue. Can see all the way across to the other side... can't believe there isn't more debris in it after the flood!

 

[flybaby]

Passed the overnight test! Sooooo happy to be done with a successful SLAM!

So, now that I have it under control and ready to swim in again - we are leaving for a weeks vacation on Friday. I have a friend coming, and the pool filter is on a timer.

Recommendations as to what to put in it for the week to keep the crystal sparkling water I worked so hard to get? Could I use pucks in the swimmer basket just for the week?

 

[robertmee]

If you use pucks, don't leave them in the skimmer without the pump running 24/7. Buy a floater and leave them in there. Just understand that the pucks are going to raise your CYA so you'll either have to elevate your FC levels when you get back or drain some water. You could teach your friend how to test/add bleach, but hopefully don't have a situation with the one member whose neighbor put in cooking oil instead of bleach!

 

[flybaby]

Cooking oil?!?!? Ugh!

So relatively speaking, if I used pucks for 1 week, how much might that raise my cya?

 

[domct203]

One 8oz puck in 13,500 gallons (24' diameter pool with 4' water) will raise your FC about 4ppm & CYA about 2.5ppm.

One puck a day all week will raise your CYA 17-18ppm, two a day will raise it by 34-36ppm.

Dom

 

[flybaby]

Thank you!!!! Much appreciated. I'm going to do a test and recalculate my current CYA level amd make a decision from there. Think I'd prefer to have her just put bleach in.