Maintaining to Green over night

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Mike59

Mike59

0
Jun 13, 2014
81
Lancaster, PA
I was swimming in crystal clear and clean water yesterday, and woke up this morning shocked to see the pool green.
We had a severe storm last night, but I've read here that rain doesn't have much effect on chemistry.

Now to be honest, my FC got a little low when I checked yesterday morning (6.5 for CYA of 70). I did not add any CL last night cause I was out and figured going one day wouldn't make much difference. My CC has consistently been 0. ph has consistently been 7.5.

I didn't have time to take readings this morning as I was running late for work.
I most likely will need to do a SLAM, but I'm really disappointed and can't figure out how it would go from zero CC, no clouds of anything in pool, crystal clear to green with difficulty seeing floor drain in a matter of 12 hours.

I'd like to understand this. Any clues or guesses before I post tonights readings?
Can a pool turn green in a matter of a day or two where CL is a little below minimum range?

Thanks.
 
It sure can.

SLAM it hard and fast and it should clear up nicely/quickly. That minimum is no joke. If you let it drop below that for long at all, you may get a bloom. Think of algae as an opportunistic pathogen (like Staph. infections). They live on many human beings skin....not harming a thing until they see an open cut or an irritated hair follicle, or a surgical incision...then they attack, killing them can be rather challenging if you let the infection get a head start.

The bugs that cause algae are all around you, waiting for you to slack on the chemistry so they can attack. The only way to keep them at bay is to be vigilant. If you think of it like that you won't ever have an issue.
 
CC is not a reliable indicator. CC often remains zero before, during, and after getting algae.

It takes about 48 hours for the pool to turn green, but for most of that time you wouldn't always notice anything going on. The final step, where it goes from reasonably clear to murky green can happen as quickly as 8 hours. During most of the first 40 hours you can detect that the water has lost it's sparkle, but the change is fairly small and many people miss it.
 
I guess how it can turn that fast has been covered.
The good thing is you know what you need to do and it won't take long or much bleach to have it sparkling again. No explaining how bad tablets are or that YES you need to use laundry bleach or that you need a good test kit. You're easy, SLAM it and you'll be good :p
 
JasonLion said:
CC is not a reliable indicator. CC often remains zero before, during, and after getting algae.

It takes about 48 hours for the pool to turn green, but for most of that time you wouldn't always notice anything going on. The final step, where it goes from reasonably clear to murky green can happen as quickly as 8 hours. During most of the first 40 hours you can detect that the water has lost it's sparkle, but the change is fairly small and many people miss it.
Click to expand...

So is it all because I went low on my maintenance FC? A few days ago I got low to around 5.5 so I put in 121 oz. bottle of 8.5 thinking that would take care of getting a little low. Could that have been the start of the algae bloom? Let me know if I'm understanding this correctly: If you go below Min FC for CYA algae starts and remains even if I go back up to Max FC or even a little higher? It appeared when I went low a second time? Only adding CL at SLAM levels will kill it now?
 
SLAM level FC is the killing range. Once it starts normal FC levels may hold it from getting worse, but you need to get that FC to the killing range to get rid of it.
It only takes a slip or two below your min for it to start. ?
 
If you go below the minimum recommended FC for your CYA you have the opportunity for algae to start reproducing in your pool. Depends on what gets dragged in or blown into your pool, how many times it's dipped below that min ... It's different with each pool as no two are the same for bather load, environmental conditions, amount of sun, chemical mix, pets, ...
Only going to SLAM will kill it. Anything less than SLAM like going to the maintenance target FC or a bit higher might hold it as is, could slowly get worse, might get a bit better, might even look good but algae is in there just waiting to go green.
 
Thanks everyone for the explanations.

Please don't take this as complaining, but more that I want to know and understand.
In all the years of pool ownership, it never turned green like it did over night. I would see algae starting in the corners, maybe clouds of dust on the bottom, but never pee soup in a matter of hours.

Even with a CYA over 200+ and FC always fading away as fast as I poured it in, I never had this happen. Were the pucks and granular feedings preventing this?
Not to jump the gun, but it makes me wonder what will happen in the fall when I close the pool. Will it turn green in a week?

With the TFP method, I have confidence it works......but I guess I didn't realize how sensitive it is to missing a day or two.
(Again...not complaining....just trying to understand)
Is adding bleach every night just keeping it clear but not getting rid of algae and other contaminents? I thought CC=0 meant nothing was growing.
How do I know now if what I'm swimming in is ok if all my numbers are good and water is clear?
Was I swimming in "bad" water yesterday when it was crystal clear, just hours before it all turned a murky green?

I don't like not understanding or not being in control (ADD)...this has taken a little hit on my confidence level of understanding my pool.
Heading to pick up 8.25% tonight to get SLAM started. Going forward...no more missed nights.

- - - Updated - - -

A couple of hours before severe thunder storm and torrential rains came down and pool turned green:

photo.JPG
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Kristap178 said:
Maybe someone brought some extra algae to the party on a swimsuit used at a lake?
Click to expand...

New Rule: No bathing suits going forward....that'll teach them! :handwave:

- - - Updated - - -

Smykowski said:
Rainwater has no effect on balanced, clean pools. However, if you're on the very edge of a bloom, rain can be what shoves you over the tipping point.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I guess I was on the edge. I've learned my lesson.

- - - Updated - - -

PAGirl said:
If you keep your FC above the minimum until the water goes below 60 degrees, then follow theTFP pool closing guide, opening before the water goes above 60, you should be okay next spring.
Click to expand...

Thanks PAGirl. Looks like you are a neighbor! How about those storms last night?
 
I ran pump all day yesterday while at work, it was already looking a little better. Stopped at store on way home and empty the shelf of 8.25% bleach.
6:30pm last night:
ph 7.5
CYA 60-70
FC 3 CC ~.5
Started SLAM with a level of 30.
Added 5 jugs (121 oz.) of 8.25 Bleach.
Brushed...showing clouds

9:30pm last night
FC 32.5 CC .3

6:45am this morning
FC 28 CC .3
Added 48 oz.
Green looks gone...just slightly cloudy.

Will check again after work and top off SLAM level and do OCLT tonight.

Running pump 24/7 - levels going up on filter. Will change DE once SLAM is done.

Question: I'm doing 10ml so each drop is .5ppm. Therefore, I'm using over 60 drops during SLAM. Can I change the amount I'm testing to save on the drops?
 
Last edited:
I don't see why you couldn't go to a 5ml sample and use each drop as 1 ppm ?? Wouldn't be as accurate but at 30 FC you don't need to be that exact either.
 
Thanks...will try 5ml out tonight. Just ordered 2 more 2oz. containers of R0871 from tstestkits.net :party:

2:30pm
I called home and got my son to bump filter...went from 20 to 14....will backwash tonight.

Over the phone I walked him through doing a FC test.
Went down to FC of 17.

I had him put in 2.5 jugs of 8.25% to bring it back up to around 30.

Stopping for more bleach on way home and also brush the walls and floor again.

Nice being able to have someone test and add CL during the day! Will hopefully save me some time.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply