Algea in New Pool

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BuckyT

0
Aug 17, 2014
10
Georgia
Hello all,

I'm a new member and I'm having some problem with algae in my new in ground pool.

My pool is 25,000 gallons, saltwater, vinyl liner.

My chlorine readings are above 3.0

My Ph is hovering around the 7.8 to 8.0 mark.

I know I need around 2 pints or so of Muriatic acid to bring the ph down.

Do I need to shock my pool even though the chlorine reading are above 3.0??

Do I need algaecide for this problem??

I have been super chlorinating about every 2 weeks.

My pool is in the wide open. No trees or shade. It gets 8hrs+ of sun during this time of the year.

I've already tried to lower the ph with dry acid. It worked and I added some phosphate remover. The ph came back up fast and the algae is still coming back. It's brown in color. Well most of it is.. The water is crystal clear. It just appears in small blotches on the sides of the pool. I did see some that appeared to be yellowish green.

Sorry for the long rant, but kind of clueless at this point.

Thanks for any advice,

Regards,

BuckyT
 
Hi, welcome to TFP! The question is not just how high is your chlorine (FC) but how high is the chlorine in relation to the stabilizer/conditioner (CYA)? Your CYA may be too high, which over buffers the FC so that it is less effective at sanitizing the water and killing algae. Algaecides are more a preventative than a cure, and if they contain metals such as copper or silver they will cause staining. Please read ABCs of pool water chemistry . It will give you basic information on pool chemistry.


What have your been using as your daily source of chlorine and what have you been using to super chlorinate your pool? Please have the CYA level tested and post the result here and we will have a better idea how you should proceed.
 
Thanks for the reply Zea3.

I'm not adding any chlorine. I put a couple of sticks into the filter next to the pump right when the pool was finished. My wife has been been using the super chlorinate feature on the Hayward Goldline system. The pool was finished on May 4, 2014. The test kit I'm using is the Pentair Rainbow Test Solutions kit that came with the pool.

Honestly... I'm completely clueless??? The kit I have doesn't even mention testing my CYA?? I'm going to go and read up in the abc's of pool water chemistry.
 
I would recommend a high quality FAS/DPD test kit such as a Taylor k2006 or a TF 100 . It contains the tests you need to be well informed about the chemistry in your pool, FC (free chlorine) CC (combined chlorine, the waste byproduct of chlorine oxidation) TA (total alkalinity) pH, CH (calcium) and CYA (cyanuric acid, also known as stabilizer or conditioner).
 
The name of the unit is actually a Hayward Pro-Logic PL-P-4. It has the T-Cell-x and plumbing kit (P-Kit). Well.... Reading into this, it seems that this system is supposedly eliminating the need to add sanitizing chemicals to the pool..........................................

Now I'm really lost... LOL!

And the kit I have, doesn't have a CYA test on it............... I read up on CYA and understand the concept.

- - - Updated - - -

The total alkalinity is 110 at the moment as well. Thanks again for the info.
 
Hi Bucky,
Zea is right. The effectiveness of the FC depends on CYA level. (BTW, your PH has nothing do with it). The ABC's will get you started.

Troubefree pool is about learning how to care for your pool yourself more than it is simply providing advice and answering questions.
If you know how to take care of it, and just learn a few basics of what your pool needs in terms of chemicals, then you can free yourself
from the pool store and their expensive items that do nothing more than complicate the situation. Their recommendations about what to put in
are based on nothing more than salesmanship and how many $ they can get from you. That is there job though. That's how they make their money.

If you really want a troublefree pool, with crystal clear water, then you will have to let go of the normal pool industry recommendations.
The first step in doing that is getting your own good and reliable test kit. Pool store testing is notoriously inaccurate and performed by people who's on job is to
recommend that you purchase their product. Here is a link to recommended test kits. Both are excellent ones. I recommend and most
folks on this forum use the TF100 because its more bang for the buck. Recommend also to get the XL option only available for the TF 100.
www.tftestkits.com As a disclaimer, we do not get paid 1 penny if you buy a test kit. And we do not get paid 1 penny to offer advice.
Our goal is to provide a place to learn and make recommendations based upon science and not sales commissions.

While you are waiting for your test kit to arrive, please DO read the ABCs as zea provided you. Since you have algae present, you will need to Shock (we call it SLAM) the pool per the TFP method. Read up on it so you will be ready when your test kit arrives. Here is a link.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl
 
You can have a pool store test the CYA for now. They tend not to be too accurate with that test but it is better than nothing. When the pool was started up did they just leave the chemicals with you or did the builder put them in?

The SWG uses salt in the water to generate chlorine, so if everything is balanced and working correctly you shouldn't need any additional chlorine, unless there is a need to conduct the SLAM process on the pool.
 
zea3 said:
You can have a pool store test the CYA for now. They tend not to be too accurate with that test but it is better than nothing. When the pool was started up did they just leave the chemicals with you or did the builder put them in?

The SWG uses salt in the water to generate chlorine, so if everything is balanced and working correctly you shouldn't need any additional chlorine, unless there is a need to conduct the SLAM process on the pool.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking reading up on it. I put all the salt in myself and actually per the builders request put a couple of sticks in the filter on the pump side when the pool was initially turned on. The salt level reading on the LCD window of the prologic is reading at the moment 2800ppm.

I've ordered a TF-100 test kit. My test kit only goes up to 3.0 for FC. When I perform the test, it is a deeper yellow than the color code for 3.0. So I know the chlorine is higher, just don't know how high???

My guess is the CYA like you stated is off???? It's the only part of the equation I don't know at the moment.

The only other chemical I have used is dry acid to bring the PH down. It doesn't seem to work all that great, and I'm following the instructions per the test kit I have and adding the right amounts. It's the bio guard lo n slow brand.

Obviously something is off since algae has started to pop up. It's isolated in very small patches. I actually dove down to look at it to make sure it wasn't dirt. Water is sparkling clear.
 
Every time I post, it says it has to be approved?

- - - Updated - - -

Well, that one didn't...lol

I put all the salt in myself and initially I put 2 sticks of chlorine in the filter on the pump side right when the pool was turned on for the first time. I actually did that before I bought the salt and applied it.

Right now the salt reading on the pro logic is 2800ppm.

I've purchased the T-100 test kit. I'll just wait on it to arrive to test the cya.

Something is missing that is for sure. The FC reading on my Pentair test kit only goes up to 3.0 and when I perform the test, the color of the test water is a darker yellow than the color code for 3.0 on the kit. I guess it's higher than 3.0?

The water is sparkling clear and the algae is very spotty. A little quarter size spot here and there. Only in the deep end too. I actually dove down to verify it was algae. At first I thought it was dirt.

Thanks again for all y'alls advice. It is greatly appreciated and I'm very glad I found this Forum.;)

Regards,

BuckyT
 
If you have a SWG pool these kits are what you need. The phosphates kit is not necessary. Just bought because it was cheap and I was curious. I knew zero about testing when I bought these kits but the directions are clear and to You learn. My advise is to buy extra cya reagent when you buy your K2006 kit, you use it up fast.
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Your SWG will cause the pH to drift up, also high FC will cause a temporary rise in pH. Since we don't know how high your FC really is, the pH could be rising quickly from that as well. Dry acid is ok to use, its just more expensive than muriatic acid (MA). Which acid to use is kind of a trade off. Dry acid doesn't have the strong fumes MA has, and won't do as much damage as quickly if you spill it, but it costs more. MA is availible in most hardware stores, it's less expensive, but it has really strong fumes that you don't want to breath in and will damage clothing, skin, stone, and other surfaces if spilled. You can find cheaper versions of dry acid such as the HtH pH down at Walmart and other discount stores.

Until your kit arrives brush the sides of the pool to expose the algae to the chlorine.

Also aerating drives up pH, so if the returns churn the surface of the water that will contribute to pH rise.
 
Hey Bucky, I had my pool put in last year here in Atlanta, fiberglass, and ordered the test kit this summer…I didn't really get into the pool chemistry until I got an algae bloom last week and I have been committed to what this website advises ever since. After the TF100 arrives, follow the guidance on here and you will be great. Look forward to seeing your first numbers
 
Been off line for a while.

My new TF100 test kit showed up and I've run some test. My algae actually went away after a super chlorinated and brushed the pool every day while waiting on my test kit to arrive. But........... I saw two small patches this morning..... May have been there the whole time, but I leave early in the mornings and have been getting home after 7 most evenings since I last logged on..

Here are my first set of numbers.

FC = 7

PH = 7.8

TA = 80

CYA = a little over 50?? Well... Heading towards the 40 mark on the tube.

Also after performing the FC test, I tested for CC's afterwards and there weren't any based on the test.
 
You're correct on a vinyl pool the CH isn't important but if you have new concrete or tile around the pool then it's nice to bring the CH up some for splash out so you don't run any risk of splashed out pool water sitting on your new concrete or grout and damaging it over time.

You might want to bring the pH down. It's OK presently but it's at the high end of the range.

If you can see patches of algae you should also be able to "see" it in that CC test. Are you sure you did it correctly ?? Video how to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHQG4tgQsFE&list=UUNFkPFCkt9Y_YYNAeLtUr1g

Chlorine Drop test - If you need to......1) measure Chlorine levels accurately or 2) higher than 5ppm or 3) test for Combined Chloramines…perform the Chlorine Drop Test. (FAS/DPD)
1. Rinse and fill the “Chlorine only” graduated cylinder to the 10mL mark
2. Add ONE heaping scoop of the R-870 powder and swirl to mix. (It may not all dissolve….don’t worry) The solution will turn pink. (unless you have no chlorine)
3. Next, carefully add R-871 solution one drop at a time. Count each drop and swirl until the solution turns back to clear. Multiply the number of drops you added times .5 (14 drops X .5 = 7ppm)
4. Record your results as FC (free chlorine)
5. To test for Combined Chloramines, add 5 drops of R-0003 to the solution and swirl. If it remains clear, you have no CC’s. If it returns back to pink, add R-0871 as before, counting and swirling between each drop. Once the solution returns clear, multiply the added drops times .5 again…..this will be your CC reading. Record it. The total of FC and CC should be recorded as TC (total chlorine)
 
I did the test exactly the way it said, which is verbatim the way you described it.

My pool isn't green. It looks beautiful actually. Crystal clear, it's just a spot here and there around the deep end of the pool. The spots range anywhere from quarter size to the size of a dollar bill. 3 or 4 spots on average. At first I thought they were dirt, but when I dove down to inspect, it was clearly algae.

It is light green in color.

I'm more concerned with the CYA reading. It doesn't match the ideal reading for a saltwater pool.

When you say, "see it", do you mean floating around in the test cylinder?? I didn't see any thing floating around other than the R-870 powder that hadn't dissolved.

After adding the 5 drops of R-003, it remained clear. Didn't budge.
 
If there is algae in the pool it should create CC so you should be able to tell (see) you have algae that needs treatment from having a CC level over .5

You just need to add some stabilizer (CYA) to get it up there. Have you added any within the last week ??
 

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