Algae aftermath

[piespa]

Hello all. I am a pool noob but I am eager to learn. Opened my new house's pool up in July and everything went great for a month. Then I had a cloudy issue which quickly turned into a green issue. I've been going to my local pool store (dramatic pause for everyone to laugh at me) and they gave me the magic algecide chemical. That was 5 days ago. It worked great at removing the green within a day. But for the past 4 days I am left with a milk cloudy mess. So far I have tried the clarifier, extra chlorine, and I have the pump running 24/7, all while back washing almost every day. Today I did my first vacuuming, which was exciting (did I mention I am huge nerd) but seemed to leave the pool even more cloudy!

I know you want test results, but I just now discoverd this site and as a result ordered a Taylor 2006 test kit so the chemical composition may be a few days out. All know at the moment is what the generic strips say, which is chlorine is high, and ph is a little low. I appreciate anyone that would like to steer me in the right direction.

 

[Mr Bruce]

Add a gallon of bleach with the pump running each day until your test kit arrives. Post results and we can go from there

 

[AimeeH]

Welcome to TFP

You'll be ok. Read up on the links below and ask questions as you have them you will find no shortage of help here.

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain

 

[kimkats]

Well the two above me have it all covered so all I have to say is HI! You are going to love TFP! Your wallet will love it as well!

 

[MarianParoo]

How low is "low" with the pH? It's the one test that strips and pool stores usually get right as it is a pretty simple test.

 

[piespa]

Wow thanks for the welcome guys. Didn't expect such responses so quickly!

The strip colors look like they come out darker then the 6.2, but not as dark as 6.8.

Also, add a gallon of bleach? As in head out to my local grocery store and get a gallon of Clorox bleach we use for laundry?

 

[max2k]

Wow thanks for the welcome guys. Didn't expect such responses so quickly!

The strip colors look like they come out darker then the 6.2, but not as dark as 6.8.

Also, add a gallon of bleach? As in head out to my local grocery store and get a gallon of Clorox bleach we use for laundry?

Welcome!

It's hard to believe but- yes, plain unscented non splashless bleach . Your algae is just regrouping for the final attack to turn it to swamp with frogs. It always muddies the waters first . 1 gal/day will keep you somewhat hanging until you can post actual test results.

 

[piespa]

Holy cow. Ok. Liquid bleach for now, stay tuned for test results. Thanks again guys.

- - - Updated - - -

Secondary note, my novice research has told me the algae should be dead, and their carcuses are what is making the water white. Which I thought the vacuuming would clean it out. Is this not the case? Did those green jerks actually survive my $90 murder sauce I purchased and dumped in the deep end??

 

[max2k]

Holy cow. Ok. Liquid bleach for now, stay tuned for test results. Thanks again guys.

If it helps at the end when you get your water clear and sparkly you'll be adding about half of that every 2 days in hot weather to maintain chlorine level, much less at lower temperature. Besides that there could be some other smaller additions from time to time but chlorine is the cornerstone of TFPC. No other expensive potions are required. When maintained at correct level chlorine doesn't smell, doesn't cause irritation and kills every living thing in there (except swimmers) much faster than anything else. I particularly love it for simplicity and low maintenance nature.

Nobody can tell if algae survived or not- we saw many cases here when it proceeded to swamp few days later. Ppl would go to the store, buy another round of products, dump in the water just to observe another temporary improvement creating unimaginable mix of chemicals out of their water. Since you're on well water so I'd be careful with that. In the worst case bleach 'disappears' from the water on its own within days so nothing would be lost if you change your mind later. No one ever done this but there's always first time for everything .

If you could reliably test FC level you'd know for sure but currently your guess is as good as anyone else.

 

[MarianParoo]

Do you have any water features? A slide? Fountains? Waterfall? If so, you can turn them on and it will aerate the water and help raise your pH.

 

[lightingguy]

You should expect that some of the algae survived and if you don't keep the pool properly chlorinated they will grow back.


Bleach - There are a bunch of "chlorine" products out there. It's really important to understand that from a sanitation point of view it's all the same thing. Bleach, chlorinating liquid, chlorine pucks, bags of shock - it all contains hypochlorous acid - and that is what keeps your drinking water safe (and your pool clean).


We recommend using liquid forms of chlorine (bleach) because they do not contain unwanted additional chemicals. All solid forms of chlorine have additional chemicals that build up in the pool water over time and cause problems

 

[piespa]

Hello again. Here is the update, I have been back washing the filter and pouring a gallon of bleach in the pool daily. The cloudiness has actually subsided. I can now see the bottom of the shallow end clearly and faintly see the bottom of the deep. When I first posted I couldn't see the bottom at all. Test results are as follows:


FC 18ppm
CC 1.5ppm
8 drops to raise the ph to an acceptable level (the book says that correspond to about 6lb soda ash for my sized pool?)
180ppm alkalinity
160ppm calcium hardness
70ppm cya

 

[RonsPlc]

Don't worry about your PH until you are finished with the SLAM...
PH tests are NOT reliable with a FC of 10 or higher.

Nice to see that it is starting to clear up for you.

 

[max2k]

Hello again. Here is the update, I have been back washing the filter and pouring a gallon of bleach in the pool daily. The cloudiness has actually subsided. I can now see the bottom of the shallow end clearly and faintly see the bottom of the deep. When I first posted I couldn't see the bottom at all. Test results are as follows:


FC 18ppm
CC 1.5ppm
8 drops to raise the ph to an acceptable level (the book says that correspond to about 6lb soda ash for my sized pool?)
180ppm alkalinity
160ppm calcium hardness
70ppm cya

yes, just focus on FC & CC until you finish SLAM, no need to conduct other tests while in SLAM.

 

[AimeeH]

Hello again. Here is the update, I have been back washing the filter and pouring a gallon of bleach in the pool daily. The cloudiness has actually subsided. I can now see the bottom of the shallow end clearly and faintly see the bottom of the deep. When I first posted I couldn't see the bottom at all. Test results are as follows:


FC 18ppm
CC 1.5ppm
8 drops to raise the ph to an acceptable level (the book says that correspond to about 6lb soda ash for my sized pool?)
180ppm alkalinity
160ppm calcium hardness
70ppm cya

Are these numbers from your new Taylor test kit?

If so, keep in mind you were battling algae and you want to follow SLAM process (link in post #3). That means keeping your FC at shock level for your CYA until you pass the three tests. Clear water. CC of less than .5 and overnight chlorine loss of less than 1

18fc is not high enough for a CYA of 70. You should be maintaining 28 FC. Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

Of course if you just got your test kit you wouldn't have known where you were.

 

[piespa]

Yes these are the first numbers from the Taylor test kit. I was about 24 hours removed from my previous gallon of bleach, wanted to test the pool as-is first. Just now added my daily gallon of bleach. I will test again in the am and am guessing will need to add more in the morning. Seems like it's going in the right direction though. I really thank you all for the responses and advice.

 

[MarianParoo]

Do you know how to use PoolMath? Here is a tutorial:
Pool School - PoolMath

Forget the booklet and use PoolMath instead.

I am concerned about your low pH. PH tends to read HIGH, not low, at elevated FC levels. What was your reading?

 

[piespa]

Thanks for the pool math link. Haven't seen that one yet.

The reading was outside the range of the test kit, which measured for ideal ranges. The instructions said to count the drops needed to get into ideal range, which I did. Didn't give me a ph number but their magic book instead gave a recommendation.

 

[MarianParoo]

Do you have a slide, fountains, and/or a waterfall? If so, turn them on to aerate the water. If you can get some 20 Mule Team borax, you could add a box of that. Mix it in a bucket of pool water first.

 

[piespa]

No slides fountain or waterfalls. I will pick up some of that borax today. This morning the FC was at 24ppm and CC was still at 1.5ppm. I added the bleach last night so that clearly bumped up the FC.

Pool cloudiness continues to recede slowly into the deep end. I do however see some little grayish smoke clouds on the bottom in some places. I assume that is dead algae? Should I sweep that up? Vacuum it? Or leave as is?