Help me please!!

[Wendy Madds]

Hi everyone - I am completely new to this group as of half hour ago. I am pretty sure I listed all of the information in my signature that's needed. I tested my water just now and every single level on the strip is fine. They tested it at the pool store and got the same results, and they told me it tested negative for Phosphates. Water is crystal clear. Here's my issue:

3 weeks ago I woke up to algae (tan in color) all over the bottom of my pool. I put in two bags of shock and vacuumed, and it all came back. I did two algaecide treatments with the product recommended by my local pool supply store, followed the directions to the T, and the algae returned within 24 hours each time. I vacuumed to waste 3x, each time giving a double shock treatment, and again - algae returned by the next morning. I used two different algaecide products from a different manufacturer, followed all instructions, vacuuming to waste with each treatment, and algae returned. After the last time I vacuumed to waste, I shut off my filter (left it off for 4 days) and the pool stayed 100% clear. So, I (as well as the pool company) assumed the problem was the filter. They installed a brand new $450 filter and all new hoses, I shocked the pool, turned on the brand new filter, and within 12 hours I had algae AGAIN all over the pool.

It was recommended to me by a different pool company to try the following... I just added soda ash at noon, I'm waiting until 7:00pm and doing one more 2 lb algaecide treatment with a new product along with 2 lbs of shock, and adding 2 more lbs of shock in the morning and again at night. I'm doing it, but I am very sceptical that it will work since nothing else has.

At this point I have spent over $800 in three weeks between the new filter, hoses, and all of the chemicals and not one single thing has helped. Before I resort to emptying the pool completely and letting the sun kill whatever might be in there before I refill it, I was hoping that someone here can help.

Thanks!

Wendy

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi Wendy,
Welcome to TFP. You have certainly come to the right place for help. So many other people just like you have sought help after having been "Pool Stored" with nothing to show for it except an empty wallet.

TFP is about teaching people how to care for their pool and only add what it needs, not what some slick talking pool store person or chemical salesman wants you to buy.

Unfortunately, the test strips you are using are notoriously inaccurate. In actually, your water parameters may be way off. Same goes for pool store testing. The pool store testing and their recommendations are biased to their advantage, so they can sell you expensive stuff that for the most part, doesn't work. I think you have already found that out the hard way.

In order to know what your pool needs, you need your own reliable test kit. It will be the best investment in your pool that you can make. There are only two which we recommend and they provide every test which you will ever need. The TF100 or the Taylor K2006C are the bomb. The TF100 is only available at TFTestkits.net. The K2006C can be found at various places online.

The next thing is to understand what all of the chemicals do and what each of the tests mean. The best place to start with that is to read the ABC's of pool chemistry. Here is a link for you. Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

I recommend NOT to add the shock or the algaecide, or the Soda Ash. The shock contains stabilizer if stabilizer is already too high, could well be the root cause of your algae problem. I and everyone else here will recommend to add only liquid chlorine until we can get a better grip on your situation.

Your signature didnt show up. Please try that again? We are willing to help but really need to see some of your pool specifics.
Without knowing that, we dont know how much liquid chlorine to recommend to you at this point.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

If you can see the bottom, you're waaaay ahead of most of these people: Recovering my old inspirational links - Page 2 Just start there and scroll up following the links and looking at the before and after pictures. Then just do what they did. psst: it starts with a proper test kit.

 

[woodyp]

STOP with the algaecide and take it back if you can.

 

[AprilsZoo]

If it was tan in color from the beginning of the "outbreak" then it's very possibly pollen and not algae.

A couple thoughts:

• Can you get a sample of the substance, and smush some between your thumb and finger-- algae feels slimy, pollen feels a little grainy and looks sort of "fluffy".
• How does it behave when you brush it? Does it seem to completely disappear into the water and take a long time to settle back out; or does it seem like you can still see it in the water, right by where you brushed it up (at least at first) and settle back out in a few hours?
• Is there a lot of pollen "dust" on other surfaces outside? On patio tables, or on your deck, or even on your car ?

The cure for pollen is brushing and increased filtering-- skimmer socks work miracles... they are a must for getting pollen out of the water. A good pool cover helps a lot too.

There is the possibility it is Mustard Algae... That is sometimes brownish, or yellowish in color. It tends to grow in the shady areas of the pool-- almost never in the sun. It appears to be very "powdery" in the water... but will still seem slimy to the touch.

Do the walls and/or floor of the pool feel slimy when you run your hand or feet over them?

The cure for Mustard Algae is lots and lots and lots of chlorine... there is really nothing else that works as reliably as chlorine-- oh yeah, and patience.?

In order to eradicate mustard algae, you must have a test kit that uses the FAS-DPD chlorine test:

• tftestkits.net
  The best option for most people. The test kit has been custom designed by the owner of these forums so that the kit contains the reagents in amounts proportional to how they are commonly used. The purchase of this kit also helps to support the forum and keep it online. In addition, a discount is offered if you become a site supporter.
• K-2006 from Amazon
  The difference between the two K-2006 kit options is that the K-2006C includes 2oz bottles of reagent, and (2) 10gm. vials of R-0870 DPD powder; the standard K-2006 kit has only one vial of powder, and bottles of reagents are only ¾ oz.
• LaMotte FAS-DPD
  Clearly, a very expensive kit-- although it has it has the capacity to run some of the tests many more times (i.e. more than 100 CYA tests), per-test-cost may still be higher.

There is NO substitute for the FAS-DPD Chlorine test—there are standalone kits... but you really need all the other tests that come in the kits above also, especially the CYA test.

Above all, you have got to stop adding "magic potions" to your pool.

Think of it this way:
You and your family are getting into that water. You listed several chemical concoctions you poured into your pool... but you didn't list the specific ingredients that were in any of them. Do you know? Do you know how the various algaecides and other products that you added interact with one another? Were you following the instructions of the pool store employee, or following the label instructions? Did you read the labels for yourself to make sure that you weren't double-dosing your pool by adding multiple products that had the same active ingredients?

If you were paying attention to all of the things I mentioned above-- yay! Good for you! Unfortunately most people who come here in a panic, looking for help after they've been "pool-stored", have no idea what they have poured into their pool, and they have no idea what problems most of those products usually cause. I suspect that you fall into this latter group.

If so, it's good that you found this forum. Now you can start to be in control of your own pool, instead of being at the mercy of the pool store. A pool store is a business, and like any other business, their first priority is to make money. Your first priority is a healthy, clean pool. Obviously, there is a conflict of interests there. :-?

The very best algaecide is chlorine. 95%+ of pool owners would never need to add any other algae control products if they just kept their FC and CYA in balance. Cl comes in many forms, but the liquid type is just about free of unwanted side effects. Most people here use regular, unscented ultra bleach, just like you might use for laundry. You want to find at least 6%, and preferably 8.25% sodium hypochlorite listed as the active ingredient (the rest will probably be inert ingredients). It is important not to get any that says it has any fancy scents (regular scent is the same as unscented), and don't get any that are "splashless"... also no "outdoor" or "cleaning" varieties. All of these have extra additives that you don't want in your pool. Alternatively, you can get "liquid pool chlorine" (which is usually between 10%-12.5% sodium hypochlorite) at Walmart, Home improvement stores, Costco, and yes, at the pool store. You have to be strong if you go back to the pool store-- go in with a list and do not talk to them except to buy what you came in for.

You can get past this hurdle, but you have to commit to the methods you will learn here. Trying to mix the advice you get here with pool store advice is a recipe for disaster-- it never works. It only causes frustration for everyone.
But if you are ready to learn and will listen to everyone on here who has actually used these methods* and who want to help... then you can be successful!

*Did you know that many of the employees working in a pool store, do not have a pool, have never even cared for a pool themselves, and have never used the products they are recommending to their customers?!