How long does SLAMing, on average take?

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suziequsie2945

0
May 31, 2013
176
New Jersey
Is it possible there is still something in the water absorbing my chlorine even when it has been completely clear the past few days? Just wondering if maybe there is a testing error on my part, either last night or this morning.

My pool is crystal, crystal clear (and has been since opening, just a tad cloudy when opening but nothing major - never green). We opened it Friday and noticed I had 0 CYA, and had some CCs. Added some stabilizer, and I have been SLAMing it since Friday night. It is getting much better (would lose chlorine immediately but now holding pretty stable), but it seems my OCLT this morning came out with still an FC loss of 2 ppm. (CCs were down to .5 yesterday - didn't bother checking them this morning since we already failed the FC portion). I couldn't believe it as I thought for sure we would pass the test this morning so we can give our filter a break tonight! I have never had to SLAM this long before, especially when the water is crystal.

There has been no swimming at all at this point. Brushing and vacuuming every day.
 
Suzie, I can't offer words of advice, but of compassion to your situation! I'm also in NJ (Central), and am in the same situation as you for many days now. It's still dropping anywhere from 2 - 5 overnight, regardless of the fact that it's sparkly clear. Wonder if it's something in the air here?!?! :) Best of luck to you as well!
 
Metsy10 said:
Suzie, I can't offer words of advice, but of compassion to your situation! I'm also in NJ (Central), and am in the same situation as you for many days now. It's still dropping anywhere from 2 - 5 overnight, regardless of the fact that it's sparkly clear. Wonder if it's something in the air here?!?! :) Best of luck to you as well!
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Hi there neighbor! How long have you been SLAMing? I want to give my poor filter a break. Although it does not help my situation, it certainly makes me feel better to know I am not alone:D What in the world could it be? NJ may be the culprit! LOL

Fingers crossed, tomorrow's results are the end of the SLAM for both of us!
 
It sounds like you may have lost your CYA to bacterial conversion, which can result in lots of Ammonia in the water, it takes a lot of Chlorine to neutralize all that Ammonia, so my advice is to just keep at it.

Ike
 
Isaac-1 said:
It sounds like you may have lost your CYA to bacterial conversion, which can result in lots of Ammonia in the water, it takes a lot of Chlorine to neutralize all that Ammonia, so my advice is to just keep at it.

Ike
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Yes. That makes total sense. I have a feeling it has something to do with my loss of CYA. Thank you for your reassurance because I wasn't sure exactly why there was still such a high chlorine demand, even after adding CYA Friday into Saturday.
 
Turn on your obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies if you want to get to the end. Scrub EVERYTHING. Remove ladders, clean them with a brush and bleach solution. Same with any lights or other nooks and crannies. Get a toilet brush (preferably new!) and scrub out skimmer buckets, baskets, lids. Heck, dunk and scrub your return eyeballs in bleach solution. Think of any place that those buggers could hide and clean it.

Think about deep cleaning sand filter if you haven't. Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter
 
JVTrain said:
Turn on your obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies if you want to get to the end. Scrub EVERYTHING. Remove ladders, clean them with a brush and bleach solution. Same with any lights or other nooks and crannies. Get a toilet brush (preferably new!) and scrub out skimmer buckets, baskets, lids. Heck, dunk and scrub your return eyeballs in bleach solution. Think of any place that those buggers could hide and clean it.

Think about deep cleaning sand filter if you haven't. Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter
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Thank you. Good advice. I don't have much in the pool though, such as lights, etc., but baskets, etc., I can clean. Didn't even think of that.

BTW, what would make the CYA convert the bacteria into ammonia? I would like to avoid this in the future if possible.
 
suziequsie2945 said:
Hi there neighbor! How long have you been SLAMing? I want to give my poor filter a break. Although it does not help my situation, it certainly makes me feel better to know I am not alone:D What in the world could it be? NJ may be the culprit! LOL

Fingers crossed, tomorrow's results are the end of the SLAM for both of us!
Click to expand...

Suzie - two weeks but only half baked the first one because I was still trying to keep caught up to the process. I wish you the best, I just adjusted my FC level up to a level over the recommended levels ( :O ) to see if I can't end this quickly! I've got fingers crossed for both of us!
 
I am in NJ as well. (Morris county) and it took me longer than normal to pass OCLT this opening - not as long as you though.

My CYA was a touch low (but not 0) because of water loss and replacement, but I also noticed a LOT of organic matter in my pool this year. Leaves, pollen, and polynoses (maple tree seeds). I would clean the pool, and an hour later it looked like **** again. The wind has seemed to drop a bit, so less stuff is blowing into the pool. I also put the solar cover on, so that helps keep some of the garbage out.

-dave
 
suziequsie2945 said:
BTW, what would make the CYA convert the bacteria into ammonia? I would like to avoid this in the future if possible.
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Not a lot is known about the mechanism by which it occurs, when it occurs, when it doesn't but the general agreement is that CYA is converted to ammonia by a specific soil bacteria under certain conditions. Some places have this soil bacteria, some don't, some don't get it in their pool... etc. It is seen more often in pools that are winterized (and happens over the winter) but can occur in any pool where the FC drops below recommended levels. There are quite a few threads on this forum about it. I know I read a lot of them when I discovered it had happened to me so what I know is a conglomeration of all of them mashed up in my brain. Basically the bacteria eat the CYA, convert it to ammonia and it may be then transformed into other nitrogen containing compounds which may outgas from the pool. The extent of the breakdown can vary widely.

Short answer, if you always have FC in your pool over the winter, it can't happen because the bacteria can't live. Close as late as you can, as clean as you can and open early.

Search the forums for CYA ammonia if you want information that hasn't been mashed up in my head.
 

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Ammonia -- Need help!

Hi guys,

How long does it take to get rid of ammonia? I'm pretty sure that is my issue, not 100%, but it makes sense because I don't know what else it could be.

I've mentioned my issue in a previous post, but here goes again: We opened the pool Friday. I had 0 CYA. A few members from TFP told me that a type of bacteria absorbs CYA and then turns it into ammonia, which it sounds like may have happened to me. CCs at that time of opening were 1.5. Started shocking Friday and added enough CYA to bring us up to 30, via the sock method. Now, I haven't tested the CYA level at this point yet because I know it takes a week to register the results. I have been using 30 as a guide on the chlorine/CYA chart when it comes to shock level (12 ppm). I tested CCs yesterday and we are fine there, less than .5. However, we are continuing to lose FC overnight. The night before last, we lost 2 ppm, so I thought for sure last night we would be done, but I was wrong. We lost 3.5 ppm last night. So, I have been shocking since Friday, brushing and vacuuming every day, staying on top of shock level all day long, brushed crevices and cleaned skimmer basket with bleach, to no avail.

The filter has been running 24/7 since Friday night. I can't imagine our electricity bill at this point!!!! Can I do something regarding giving it a break for a little bit???? (I know, probably a stupid question, but I am desperate).

I need some advice/suggestions. Should I bump our shock level up to 16 ppm, even though at this point, I am unsure of our exact CYA number (although it should be 30 if I measured it out correctly). Will that help speed it up? I want to get rid of this ASAP at this point. I am exhausted and at my wits end. Even when our pool was green two years ago, it didn't take this long. The pool is crystal clear, however. That is a positive at least :)
 
Re: Ammonia -- Need help!

If you still had ammonia, your FC would be much lower and your CC very high - once ammonia is oxidized it just is, doesn't consume chlorine the way other organics do and not at all like your describing.

Lets talk about the OCLT. I'm wondering if you are testing too soon after adding chlorine - that it's not fully mixing and you're getting a higher than actual result on your test night time test. So what I suggest tonight is add your shock dose early, like say 7. Test the FC at like 930-10. Then do your comparison in the morning. Or, don't add any chlorine, and do a comparison of the tests without boosting the chlorine.

I would not go higher especially if it's crystal clear.
 
Re: Ammonia -- Need help!

Suzie -

Welcome to my....well you know what it is.

From the advice I've been getting on my situation you're okay to go over the recommended shock levels at least by some and in some instances much larger ratios then what the chart says. For example, per my CYA of 40 I should be shocking to a 16 but went for 20 a day or so and am now up to a 24 trying to kill off whatever it is eating my chlorine overnight. I'll allow the experts to really jump in on the math and the chemistry portion but given that our weather this week is very bright and warmer than it has been, I'd go over at least by a bit to make sure you don't fall below the numbers they tell you.

Stay Jersey strong my friend! (Easier for me to remind other people of that than do it myself!) :handwave::twisted::brickwall:

And most importantly follow the advice of those in the know. My situation just may be particular to me.
 
Re: Ammonia -- Need help!

frustratedpoolmom said:
If you still had ammonia, your FC would be much lower and your CC very high - once ammonia is oxidized it just is, doesn't consume chlorine the way other organics do and not at all like your describing.

Lets talk about the OCLT. I'm wondering if you are testing too soon after adding chlorine - that it's not fully mixing and you're getting a higher than actual result on your test night time test. So what I suggest tonight is add your shock dose early, like say 7. Test the FC at like 930-10. Then do your comparison in the morning. Or, don't add any chlorine, and do a comparison of the tests without boosting the chlorine.

I would not go higher especially if it's crystal clear.
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Thank you for the clarification on the ammonia. At least ruling things out at this point is helpful. No, definitely not testing too soon. Last night, I added my last dose at 6:00 pm and tested at 8:30 pm. Nothing else adds up to why I am experiencing this. Maybe I need to wait longer than 2 1/2 hours? It's a decent size pool, 25000. I'll wait longer tonight to see if that changes. I do feel it may be a testing error somewhere along the line (but how????) because nothing else makes sense.

If it's not ammonia, the pool is clear, than what else could it be? At this point, do you think I could just stop shocking and see what happens???
 
No, wouldn't necessarily stop. I know it seems like you've been shocking forever but it's only been since Friday. POP. Tell me about your circulation - pools you have eyeballs helping to direct the flow? Any light niches? Ladders in or out? I would try the not adding chlorine for 1 night, see what happens on the test. Then you rule out uncirculated chlorine as the culprit...
 
The short answer is two or three times as long as you think it should. ;)

You've ruled out sunlight. What about organics? Any debris stuck in the skimmer, the pump strainer, or the filter will still be in there sharing the same water and chlorine. Did you vacuum up a bunch of soggy grow-your-own peat moss early on? Maybe the bleach is still trying to oxidize it all. Just throwing it out there as an idea.
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
No, wouldn't necessarily stop. I know it seems like you've been shocking forever but it's only been since Friday. POP. Tell me about your circulation - pools you have eyeballs helping to direct the flow? Any light niches? Ladders in or out? I would try the not adding chlorine for 1 night, see what happens on the test. Then you rule out uncirculated chlorine as the culprit...
Click to expand...

Is there any harm in having the filter run 24/7 for this long (4 days so far)? That concerns me (and my electricity bill - LOL). No lights. Ladder is in but just put it in on Sunday. Nothing out of the ordinary from the previous years.

What do you mean by not adding the chlorine for one night? Do you mean skipping the last dose, the evening dose (6:00 pm or so) entirely and letting the chlorine fall where it may, test it before bed, and then test in the morning, still with filter running all night? May be a good idea.
 
Ok, so the last time I tested was 5:30 a.m., this morning and we were at 16.5 for FC. I just tested again now at 10:00 a.m., and we are at 13.5. A 3 ppm drop when it's not full sun yet, about half sun, and the sun probably didn't start hitting it until around 8:00 (not 100% on that). Does this drop seem normal? CCs are 0.

If there are 0 CCs, clear pool, what would cause the FC level to drop beyond acceptable range, especially overnight?
 

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