I was not going to "close" my pool at all, but then managed to kick the hose that puts the filtered water back in the pool off the filter one day in November. Not wanting to mess with pool plumbing right then, I drained the water to below the input eye in the pool and took the hose going from the skimmer off and plugged the opening. I was planning on opening the pool and putting chemicals in it before the water got to 60 degrees, so I wouldn't have a "swamp" to deal with. However, at the end of January we had several days in the mid to upper '70's along with mild nights. By the time I thought to check the pool the first of February the water was 66 degrees and green. I've gotten my needed plumbing items, 10 gallons chlorine, and 2 gallons muriatic acid. I fixed the plumbing; this went without problems. I also filled the pool to the proper level and tested the pump and filter. All good. Today is the day to start degreening. Checked Ph, it was at 8.2, so added a quart of 15% muriatic acid. The water isn't so bad that you can't see through it, but it is cloudy, so I knew that durinYg the CYA test the dot could disappear sooner than the actual CYA would indicate. The dot disappeared at 80, given the fact I used tri-chlor at the end of last summer but did replace about a foot of water I estimate it to be no more than 60. So I put 2 gallons of 10% chlorine in to start. Was planning on using some polyquat also. Maybe. I was going to post pics but I'm on an iPhone and can't see how to do it from here. Has to wait until later.
Water warmed up too soon
- Thread starter Swimgirl
- Start date
I wouldn't worry about the Polyquat, I'd stay with the bleach until you pass the OCLT. Also I'd err to the safe side and shock to the 80 ppm CYA level. It'll just make it go faster if it really is closer to 60.
P.S. 2 gallons of 10% bleach wouldn't have quite gotten you to shock level even for a CYA of 60 ppm. You need more bleach!
P.S. 2 gallons of 10% bleach wouldn't have quite gotten you to shock level even for a CYA of 60 ppm. You need more bleach!
Hi Swimgirl, just a few quick thoughts...
You might want to consider replacing a little more water before you shock your pool. Your CYA is still pretty high, which makes the shocking process more expensive. In your case, try to get your CYA down to about 30 if you can.
It sounds to me like you know your way around pool chemistry, but just in case you have questions, Pool School and Pool Calculator are great resources (links in sig box). Good luck!
You might want to consider replacing a little more water before you shock your pool. Your CYA is still pretty high, which makes the shocking process more expensive. In your case, try to get your CYA down to about 30 if you can.
It sounds to me like you know your way around pool chemistry, but just in case you have questions, Pool School and Pool Calculator are great resources (links in sig box). Good luck!
The algae that I have now appears to be of the same kind I have gotten before, bright green, and always before it has died out quickly with shocking, maybe a little polyquat, and filtering and vacuuming. But last year and the year before I had found a very small amount of a type of algae in the seams of my pool that is very dark green, almost black, seems to be even resistant to polyquat, and only comes up with fingernail or butter knife. Is this black algae? If so, whats the best way to get rid of it if I see it again?
Probably not. Black algae seems to reside in the nooks and crannies of gunite pools and typically doesn't get a foothold in a vinyl pool.
Sometime, somewhere I read that there were over 700 species of algae so it's hard to say what each one is. I know in my pond I will get an algae bloom that appears VERY suddenly as if it's going to take over the entire pond and then, just as suddenly, it disappears. Apparently many species can only exist in very narrow conditions and even the slightest change in temp, daylight, ph, etc. will get rid of them.
Good ole' chlorine gets them all, however, regardless of how stubborn they may be. :-D
duraleigh not to contradict but here in Missouri there is an algae referred to as mustard algae that chlorine alone won't stop it takes a yellow out algaecide. I have also heard of a type of mold that grows under a vinyl liner and can come through, had a customer that may have had that, as it was hard to get off the liner. I don't know if that is possibly what swimgirl may have. My customer couldn't vacuum it off the surface had to scrape to get it off.
If I am careless, I get mustard algae every August. The proper amount of chlorine gets rid of it in a couple of days and it doesn't return unless I get slack again on the chlorine.
Yellow out is not a well thought of algaecide here on the forum. If I remember correctly, it is a very high consumer of chlorine thereby often aggravating an already inadequate chlorine situation.
Yellow out is not a well thought of algaecide here on the forum. If I remember correctly, it is a very high consumer of chlorine thereby often aggravating an already inadequate chlorine situation.
duraleigh is right. There are really no free lunches and no short cuts to fixing algae, be it mustard (a worldwide issue rather than just a local one) or any other flavor. The "miracle in a bottle" approach rarely eliminates the problem. What they do well is empty your pocketbook and create other problems to contend with later, usually in the form of metals. The correct amount of chlorine for the correct amount of time fixes every kind of algae every time.
Just to reiterate what Dave and 257 said, maintaining the proper level of chlorine for your CYA will prevent any type of algae from forming. Once you have it, you have to follow the rules listed here for shocking. Once you've passed the OCLT then and only then can you go back to maintaining the 'normal' chlorine level for your CYA.
Shock the pool to get rid of whatever's in there and then maintain the FC level where it should be all the time and you'll never have to shock again. It's really that simple. No magic elixirs needed.
Shock the pool to get rid of whatever's in there and then maintain the FC level where it should be all the time and you'll never have to shock again. It's really that simple. No magic elixirs needed.
I don't know how chlorine kills all when customers come in and buy shock to get rid of algae and finally try a yellow out algae and have no more problems. Guess they are just lucky or I haven't dealt with this for 30 years.
swimcmp said:
Chlorine will kill it. Anything else is just a waste of money, and that includes Yellow Out, which is just overpriced bromine.
Until you see chlorine drop from 15ppm to 0ppm in less than an hour, you can't imagine how quickly chlorine is consumed in an algae filled pool, and people continue to try to get away with
swimcmp said:
I think that most don't KNOW how to properly shock their pool water with chlorine, most are uneducated about this subject. (they have no idea about the chlorine/cya relationship and have no idea about a FAS-DPD chlorine test kit -FC/CC/TC )
It's a process, not just an event, by throwing in a bag of shock.
I would think the only reason they get lucky when using yellow out, is they have the chlorine finally high enough to do the job.
Well, by Thursday evening the water was pretty clear, all algae was dead and the chlorine was holding. I backwashed out the filter (have a sand filter now) on Thursday evening after work, by flashlight, as it was pretty dark by then. Then on Friday early afternoon hubby called me to tell me the pool was losing water through the backwash hose and the water level was already down below the inlet eyeball, about 1 1/2 feet down. Turned out I had not gotten the valve position firmly over to circulate. 
And the reason why there wasn't so much water in the backyard for hubby to notice it earlier was, get this, most the water was going down a gopher hole! I could just imagine those poor gophers "Run for your lives! Flood!" :!:
And the reason why there wasn't so much water in the backyard for hubby to notice it earlier was, get this, most the water was going down a gopher hole! I could just imagine those poor gophers "Run for your lives! Flood!" :!:
Some before and after photos. Nice clear water; just a little dust and pollen in the bottom now! 