Algae visible, no FC loss

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G

gemphx

0
Jul 16, 2016
19
Phoenix, az
I did the overnight chlorine drop test and seems my FC is not dropping. However, I am seeing visible algae! It is in my leaf catcher, on the cleaner hose, and I am seeing some on the side of pool - but water is really clear. Husband has been using the little Taylor kit with the chemical measurements on each side and the chlorine reading doesn't go high enough. Last night I did the drop test and was able to discern that I am no where near high enough on chlorine. I will attempt the SLAM - but wondering why FC didn't drop if there is obvious algae?
My readings are :
FC 8
CC .5
TC 8.5
PH 7.5
TA 80
CYA 65 (I think. did 2 tests and ran out of chemicals, one showed 65, one looked closer to 80)
Pool is 14 years old, plaster is not great - being replastered this fall.
 
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What kind of test kit do you have? Also, you're missing a component that's real important - pH level.

You mention you ran out of reagents for CYA test. Might I ask how old they were?

Take the cleaner hose out and soak in a high (30ppm+) solution of chlorine/water until the algae is gone! Not familiar with a leaf catcher, but, if it's removable and will fit somewhere to soak it, that's good as well.

Possibility it's mineral staining on the hose/catcher and not algae? Would have expected ONDT to plummet...
 
Thanks for the response. I edited my post to show my PH, (7.5, but will bring down before slam), and edited my sig to show I am using T-100 test.
Not mineral deposits - def. algae. Leaf catcher attaches to cleaner hose and catches big items (leaves, flowers) before they hit the plumbing and filter.
I am currently soaking what I can soak, but have a few questions.
1. should I remove and clean out light before I slam?
2. If I am not getting a drop in chlorine before the slam, how do I know when slam is finished?
3. Does adding chlorine raise the PH?
4. I am confused about stabilizer - I have read that the stabilizer protects the chlorine, but also that if too high the chlorine won't work. Am I understanding that correctly?
 
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1 I would clean the light during the SLAM so that the higher FC water gets in there.
2 this is why there are 3 criteria to SLAM completion, all pools aren't the same
3 not necessarily, but the SLAM process tends to lead to PH increase so we recommend lowering it as a precaution
4 CYA protects chlorine from the sun and it also buffers it's harshness by binding to a certain percentage of it. So, the higher the CYA the higher the FC needs to be to maintain an effective amount for sanitation, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
 
At what level can I get in? I will make sure to brush and backwash - have cleaned the outlets, the tile around the skimmer and the cleaner. Not much algae on the sides, I think I caught it in time, but every year at this time we get algae on one side of the pool. plaster is old and gives algae someplace to grow, but fortunately we are able to replaster in a few months and that should help. Husband was doing pool stuff, and didn't know about FC levels per CYA levels, so chlorine has not been where it needs to be.
 
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