Help! Pollen or Mustard Algae???

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*JLS*

*JLS*

0
LifeTime Supporter
May 12, 2014
67
Central Georgia
Pool Size
19500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
We opened our pool for the season last weekend, water was so clear!. Ran pump for a few days with message to clean the cell on SWG. Cleaned the cell which started the full production of chlorine and then the next day the water appeared to have a yellowish/greenish tint from a distance, pretty much overnight. When looking closer it appears that the tint is only because of a film on the walls that appears to be pollen and/or dirt. It brushes away in a cloud. The water itself is still clear. I don't notice much buildup on the floor of the pool, primarily on the walls only. We have high pollen alerts in our area right now but the dusting on things outside is minimal compared to a few weeks ago before the cover came off the pool. Does this sound like mustard algae or just pollen buildup? I'm confused since it only seemed to happen AFTER the SWG was operating properly. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
 
I'm not that far from you and I would say this time of year pollen. Increase the pump time and brush the pool.

If your want confirmation, do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test.
 
Pollen is very common this time of year. Pollen settles on the bottom of the pool with no preference for light/dark sides of the pool, and never on the walls. Mustard algae almost always starts on the more shaded side of the pool and usually appears on both the floor and the walls.
 
I only have the testing strips, which I'm hearing are not reliable. This is only our second year with the pool and had no problems at all last year, hence not having a reliable testing kit. I did test earlier this evening with the strips and the free chlorine level was almost nonexistent but I'm not sure that we've been running the SWG long enough to have much chlorine yet (and it rained pretty heavily today). I'm new to this so I'm hoping I don't sound too terribly "pool" illiterate. I will order a good kit tonight - what are your recommendations for the best one?
 
The best kits are the TF100 and the Taylor K2006.
Upfront, the K2006 is a few dollars less than the TF100. That means you will need refills more often.

The TF100 is basically the K2006 on steroids. You can do lots more tests before its refill time. Its the best bang for the buck.

The K2006 is available at several places online.
the TF100 is only available at www.tftestkits.net and one other place on teh west coast, but I dont recall which website its on. *you can get the K2006 at tftestkits site too*

teh TFtestkits site has a free shipping special going on right now if you buy x dollars worth of stuff.
If you want to take advantage of hte free shipping, I would recommend perhaps getting teh Taylor K1766 Salt Test kit too. That salt test kit is very handy for us SW pool folks.
 
Thanks you all, I'm about to order now. In the meantime until the test kit is delivered, should I just continue sweeping and vacuuming and maybe add something for an initial chlorine boost to see if that helps? I'm afraid that whatever this is may permanently stain my liner.
 
Do you have any chlorine test at all? You definitely need to make sure your chlorine level is up around 6ppm. You can add bleach if you need to. Plain concentrated store brand bleach. No scents, easy pour or anything. We get Kroger brand 8.25% at grocery store.

PoolMath can help you figure out how much of what to add to get desired levels.
 

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Update: we've been brushing the walls and floor daily and this method seems to be working. My guess now is that it was pollen buildup. No chlorine loss overnight and the levels are coming up to normal now (based on the testing strips) after continuous running of the SWG for a few days. I really appreciate everyone's input! Oh and I don't notice any staining so far, it's almost back to sparkling!:cool:
image.jpg
 
Vince-1961 said:
It's comforting to see someone else having too much pollen. See the last several entries my thread in the forum "just getting started" called "pool start up march 2015 just for posterity's sake" (or something like that) for my pollen story.
Click to expand...
Just finished reading your posts - We seem to have the exact same problem for sure. Good ole Georgia springtime! I agree that it's comforting to know I'm also not alone in this. I'm considering not even taking my cover off next year until the pollen is all gone!
We've made a lot of progress just by brushing. I also read on another post that it's good to use a skimmer sock (or regular pantyhose) while sweeping to better catch the fine particles. However we've yet to try that and are still seeing good results. Good luck to you!
 
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