Winter Blues (or should I say green :( )

[TequilaTony]

Ok, here goes.

Pool company came and closed my pool last week of October. Water looked good and clear. Checked a couple weeks later and still clear. Reason I checked is that we have lots of trees so leafs still get under cover from front opening. The water temp is well below 60F. Today, it's 42F.

I opened the cover 2 weeks ago to find what I thought was ice forming on top the water. Well, it's not ice! It's a foam that when scooped with the skimmer looks light tan and scummy. I assume I had an algae bloom at some point. Not sure how as the water temp was probably below 60. In either case, I now have a mess. Water is green with no visibility. Scum floating in patches on the top. The pump and lines are full of antifreeze and plugged for the winter so no filtration.

Should I do anything about this until spring? My CYA levels were 90-100 when I closed. I'm doing periodic partial drains and refills over the winter in order to get that down to 30-40 in hopes FC will be more effective next year.

 

[JVTrain]

If you're feeling ambitious, you could remove the cover and skim off all the floating material as best you can. After you do that, you could add some bleach to try to bring the pool up to SLAM FC level. However, with no circulation, I would advise slowly pouring the bleach around the perimeter and brushing the area where you add immediately after adding. Then brush the entire pool. You could even run a submersible pump with the exhaust hose underwater to circulate the water some.

All of this would only be a bit of a band aid until you could get circulation and fully attack it in the spring as it's impossible to complete a SLAM procedure on a stagnant pool. How high did you have the FC at close? Do you know what the pool company did for closing water balance or chemical treatment?

This is why once I close and temps drop, I tend to pretend the pool doesn't exist. Once the weather gets to freezing temps around here, I can't do much about a problem with the pool anyway... Might be a little different in your climate.

 

[Casey]

I would not mess with this until Spring. But that's just me.

 

[Piper Mike]

If it was me, this would drive me crazy with the thought that I had to wait all winter. I'd do what JVtrain suggested.

 

[TequilaTony]

If you're feeling ambitious, you could remove the cover and skim off all the floating material as best you can.

I've been skimming off and on all day and have managed to remove most of the floating scum. Water is still pond green but it does not look quite as bad.

You could even run a submersible pump with the exhaust hose underwater to circulate the water some.

I've thought about tying my pool cover pump off the diving board and doing just that. I used it this morning to pump water out for 90 minutes this morning. It's taking quite a bit longer to refill with the garden hose.

How high did you have the FC at close?

Not sure what the final numbers were but pool company had me do the work of balancing. They just provided feedback when I took test samples in. They thought the FC was high enough at close. My guess is it was not!

I should probably pretend the pool is not there but that scum looked awful. I can see where it discolored the stairs and skimmer bezel. I'm guessing there is quite a bit floating and on the bottom. I could throw the robot in but that would take many cycles to even make a dent.

This is my first winter with a pool. So, perhaps this is all normal. I thought I'd read somewhere that the pool was supposed to stay pristine once the water temperature dropped to winter temps.

 

[bmoreswim]

Bottom line is that while the water was still warm enough to support algae growth, the FC dropped too low. An interesting question is if you brought the pool to SLAM level and performed an OCLT prior to closing. This is, or should be, a standard procedure for pools that get closed. That would have eliminated the possibility that you had something lurking in your water (given your high CYA - a more likely possibility) that caused the post-closing algae bloom.

As for what to do? I'd definitely take a whack at SLAMing with your cover pump (carefully). Not so much because it has to be done, but because I'd want to do it. It would bug me to have it like that all winter if I didn't at least try to make it better.

 

[Piper Mike]

I agree with you bmoreswim. I wouldn't be able to relax all winter know how my pool was. I'd slam it good.

 

[Casey]

Ok, here goes.

Pool company came and closed my pool last week of October. Water looked good and clear. Checked a couple weeks later and still clear. Reason I checked is that we have lots of trees so leafs still get under cover from front opening. The water temp is well below 60F. Today, it's 42F.

I opened the cover 2 weeks ago to find what I thought was ice forming on top the water. Well, it's not ice! It's a foam that when scooped with the skimmer looks light tan and scummy. I assume I had an algae bloom at some point. Not sure how as the water temp was probably below 60. In either case, I now have a mess. Water is green with no visibility. Scum floating in patches on the top. The pump and lines are full of antifreeze and plugged for the winter so no filtration.

Should I do anything about this until spring? My CYA levels were 90-100 when I closed. I'm doing periodic partial drains and refills over the winter in order to get that down to 30-40 in hopes FC will be more effective next year.

You need to stop opening the cover. The pool company closed the pool. It should have stayed closed without you lifting the cover to look at it.

The pool company also winterized the pool and if you're doing drain refills, you are diluting every winterizing chemical they put in there to keep the water clear. If your water is now a mess, it does not surprise me because you are messing with a sleeping dog so to speak.

Now, unless you want to open the pool, SLAM it and close it back up APPROPIATELY, leave it alone before you bleach the bottom of your pool out because you did not circulate the water well enough. These guys do not have to look at your newbie mistake.

I've been here for a long time and never has it been acceptable to SLAM a pool that's already had it's lines bled n winterized. Nor has it been an acceptable practice to winterize a pool n then do drain/refills after its been covered.

 

[duraleigh]

Casey offers good advice. A SLAM is not a procedure that can be performed without a functional pool pump and the willingness to tackle the procedure.....that means undoing all the closing process and then redoing it when the SLAM is complete

My suggestion to OP would be to leave it buttoned up and deal with it in the Spring. Armed with the knowledge obtained here, he can perform a successful SLAM and get his pool crystal clear with no issues.