How fast can algae grow? This is unbelievable...

[DigitallyChallenged]

New pool. Been fighting to get things in balance. There were delays between filling an electrical hookup and then getting chlorine levels up. Everything was looking good until the concrete deck was poured and my robot died. I thought that the Crud in the pool was just dirt and remnants of concrete/sand. I finally got pool cleaner replaced and now it appears that I'm stuck with brown algae and not dirt.

I am in the process of shocking, I'm up to FC of 20 but ran out of bleach. My SWG is on 100% and I should be up to over 30 by morning. It's oversized so 5% keeps me in the 5-7 range. CC 0 pH 7.2 TA 125(down from 250) CYA 70-80 if memory serves me.

There is no pollen now and no dust storm is evident. My new robot got a bit of sand but it wasn't too full. My filter pressure has gone from 0-1 to about 8 in a week. I plan to clean the cartridges ASAP.

What is surprising is that I brush the entire pool and in an hour I have clumps of brown on the bottom and my steps, which include a wide platform first step, are starting to get covered with brown. How fast can algae grow? This is astounding to me.

Any advice or should I just keep shocking and adding acid to lower TA?

 

[JasonLion]

I think that most of that algae was there well before you saw it, you just couldn't see it in the water until it fell to the bottom and clumped together after it died.

 

[DigitallyChallenged]

I think that most of that algae was there well before you saw it, you just couldn't see it in the water until it fell to the bottom and clumped together after it died.

I hadn't thought of that but I like it. No algae like dead algae!

 

[Flotsam]

I got distracted over the long Memorial Day weekend and didn't test / treat until yesterday. I noticed a very slight green tint to the water - while swimming - not from the deck above. Sure enough - pH was way up and CL was way down ... and my face was itchy. Took care of business this morning ... back to clear blue silky water. Point is - the dreaded algae can reproduce quicker than rabbits!! (or cats!) :lol:

 

[chem geek]

Algae takes from 3 to 8 hours to double in population under ideal conditions so it's not really that fast. However, if the chlorine level is low enough for algae to grow faster than chlorine can kill it, then it can seem to appear more quickly once there is enough to go from dull to cloudy to green (or directly to green, depending on the type of algae).