Was hoping to avoid this topic, but...

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waterbugs57

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LifeTime Supporter
Jun 17, 2012
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SW Pennsylvania
Hello all!
Still working on building a deck and my maintainence is lapsing. Still new to this. I have been sailing along smoothly but now I fear I am dealing with something dreadful. It looks like- or at least I fear that it is- mustard algae. I am not familiar with what it looks like, but this is yellow brown on the bottom and steps. It wasn't there on Sunday or maybe it was and I have been assuming it is silt or dirt that needs vacuumed. On Saturday was the last time I tested the water results were FC 3.5, PH 7.5 cc 0, TA 60, CH 90, CYA between 40 and 50. Noticed the whatever it is, streaking marks under the solar cover-when I went for a water sample. FC at zero! Panicked and threw in a couple of jugs of 8% bleach and went back over an hour later to dip some water. I am looking at FC at 10 CC at .5 CYA still holding at 45 and PH at 7.5. Water appears clear. I will test FC before sunrise to see if there is a change. If there is I am thinking I need to bring my FC up to around 18 until it does not change during dark hours and CC is reading zero. Is it that simple or am I totally misunderstanding this process? I have not had to shock my pool as of yet so I could use some advise, thank you all so much for all the help I have received in the recent past in getting this far... Melinda
 
Can you post a pic? That would help us identify what this is. It could be sawdust and/or dirt from your deck building activities, so let's not panic quite yet. Adding the extra chlorine as a one-time preventative measure to bring you up to 10 ppm will not hurt anything as it is just slightly above the high end of what we recommend for a CYA of 50 ppm.
waterbugs57 said:
I need to bring my FC up to around 18 until it does not change during dark hours and CC is reading zero. Is it that simple or am I totally misunderstanding this process?
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Yes, what you are describing is what we call the Overnight FC Loss Test. The fact that your water is clear is a good indication. If you fail the Overnight FC Loss Test, then I would begin the SLAM Process.

Going forward, at your current a CYA of 50 ppm, the FC should never drop below 4 ppm. So, even with FC at 3.5, especially at the height of summer, that is conducive enough for organic contaminants to gain a foothold. FC should be tested daily during the swim season. When adding chlorine, I would add enough to bring the FC to 6 ppm which will give you some headroom for normal daily FC losses which will help guard against the FC dropping below 4 ppm.
 
Will post pics tomorrow. I know I should be testing daily.... Thank you... I hope it is sawdust or dirt. I have had little use and was looking forward to this weekend as it is the last days of my vacation and there is no rain in the for ast! It has been a bad summer for a first year of pool ownership. :-/
 
Good morning and again thank you Bo? And Tony for your help. I think this probably is the garden variety algae as it is bright out and I can see clearly. My water is not clear it is dull and cloudy and I can see streaks of green algae on the bottom. The stugg in patches on the steps appears more yellow- green and at dusk last night it rattled me. I posted my numbers last night and took a sample at first light this morning. Lost 1 Ppm of FC overnight. cc is still what I think is less than .5. I am going in and brushing down everything turning pump to high and dosing to 20. My questions are; the solar cover was just put on last week but now has been subjected to the algae. Not sure how to deal with it. Also I guess I have to wait until I brush the pool before raising the chlorine level because I don't have a completed deck around my pool. Any suggestions? I would imagine at that high of a chlorine level would not exactly be a beauty treatment for my skin :).
 
waterbugs57 said:
Good morning and again thank you Bo? And Tony for your help. I think this probably is the garden variety algae as it is bright out and I can see clearly. My water is not clear it is dull and cloudy and I can see streaks of green algae on the bottom. The stugg in patches on the steps appears more yellow- green and at dusk last night it rattled me. I posted my numbers last night and took a sample at first light this morning. Lost 1 Ppm of FC overnight. cc is still what I think is less than .5. I am going in and brushing down everything turning pump to high and dosing to 20. My questions are; the solar cover was just put on last week but now has been subjected to the algae. Not sure how to deal with it. Also I guess I have to wait until I brush the pool before raising the chlorine level because I don't have a completed deck around my pool. Any suggestions? I would imagine at that high of a chlorine level would not exactly be a beauty treatment for my skin :).
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If I remember correctly, you can be in the water with the FC up to shock level. It's going to be hard on your clothes. Wear something old, that you don't care if it fades.

A stepladder and a long pole would do the trick. I have two adjustable length pool poles with removable attachments (brush, leaf bag, etc).
 
Howdy Melinda!

Just wanted to check-in and say hi to another first year, SW PA pool owner. It has been a great summer for folks who hate the hot weather...which means it has been a lousy summer for folks who are first year pool owners!

Also wanted to add that from what I've read on the boards here, mustard algae is pretty rare and only really likely as a culprit if you've been frequently running at FC=0. Sounds like that is not your case so I'd really guess you are dealing with run of the mill algae.

You need to start SLAM-ing the pool, but I wouldn't use mustard algae levels. Don't stop until you pass the famous 3 tests. In the meantime, keep swimming as long as the water isn't so cloudy that you can't see the bottom (safety reasons) and your CC's aren't out of control.
 
If I remember correctly, you can be in the water with the FC up to shock level. It's going to be hard on your clothes. Wear something old, that you don't care if it fades.
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Yes, you can swim safely up to SLAM level. Additonally, in six years, we have had zero reports that I am aware of of any faded clothing....including SLAM levels.

I have been in my pool many times at SLAM value and I have never noticed even the slightest fading.
 
Dave, Brian and Charlie thanks for tuning in to my dilemma .i am try ing to keep my FC at 20( a little higher than recommended) I brushed walls and floor. Didn't actually see anything on walls but to be sure. Cleaned the steps best as I can and now the water seems whitish and cloudy, dull. I guess I am learning to ' see' the qualities of water, just don't know why it looks the way it does. I remember last week thinking it didn't look as crisp or sparkling as it usually does but it seemed vague and everyone thought I was being obsessive. Now I know to trust my judgement- lesson learned. Wondering what to expect now. My test recognizes 0 CC and I am staying at shock level so 2 conditions of the 3 down and 1 to go. How long will it take for the water to clear now and is there anything else I can do to expedite the process? Should I clean my filter now or after the process or not at all, my pressure on pump is holding normal? Thanks. Melinda
 

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I see now that you have a cartridge filter...personally I would wait until the SLAM process is done to clean it unless it is really dirty. Hard to say how long it will take to clear. As soon as you notice any amount of dead algae collecting on the floor, hit it with the vacuum.
 
If you have noticable algae / cloudy water, I am surprised that you are not seeing a pressure rise in the filter (unless it is very large ... you did not list the size/model in you sig).

I would consider opening it up and cleaning it and seeing if the pressure drops. Then clean it when the pressure rises 20-25% over the clean pressure ... of course this all assumes that the gauge is working properly.
 
I am going to clean it now. The filter that is, and amend my signature with that info. The gauge is always filled with bubbles of condensation. My friend has dealt with algae before and she says when the algae is dead she dumps flock? In and then vacuumed it up. What is that and do I want to use this product? I appreciate the hand holding through this experience. Thank you.
 
Let's see, floc and cart.....hmmm.... last time the neighbors tried that with the pool that is now in my yard.....Can you say two 12 packs of Intex carts? Changed out literally hourly. No cleaning those babies! Gummed up with the floc very quickly.

No, I'm not the one used the floc, neighbor did. That's when she gave us the pool. Been BBB ever since, and only problem I've had with it was the mustard algae.
 
That's funny Charlie, in a sad kinda way. Thank you for driving the point home. Today I am still keeping FC at shock level and about to get in and start brushing ( at nothing) and vacuuming....CC still at below .5. Do I really keep the chlorine level up until the water clears? I cleaned my cartridge yesterday, it was dirty...
M
 
If you don't keep the chlorine level up you might end up with what I had.... water that I thought was clear, but this layer of yuck that showed up every morning and refused to go away. After a week of SLAMming, daily brushing... and a little D.E. in my filter (mine is a sand filter) I now see what they meant by crystal clear. I thought it was clear until I saw this! And now... no more stuff on the floor greeting me every morning...

To be honest I'm scared to let the level drop back down to "normal"....but if I pass my OCLT tonight I think that's what I'm going to do...

Good luck to you!
 
Previous owner of the pool has seen it, and even been in it since I took over the care and feeding. She has made the remark that it was never this clear and sparkly even with a fresh fill.

I've got pics in other threads here, showing how clean and clear yours can be with a little P.O.P. along with completing the SLAM process.

Many threads from others as well showing the transformation from black/green swamps to "my neighbors are all jealous" sparkly clean.
 
Is testing and dosing twice a day enough? Brushing once a day? My vaca ends tomorrow and it's back to work. ( which may be a relief) when I brushed the bottom today I was surprised to still fing stuff on the bottom as I thought I got it all yesterday! I am going through some bleach, adding two 120 jugs twice today! Gonna have to buy stock in that company :)
 

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