I've been posting the last week here and in some of those posts some folks are saying I may have algae. How do you know if you have algae?? What does it look like? Is the clarity of the water any indication?? My water is crystal clear and I can't see any signs of algae, but I don't know what it looks like.
Algae....How do you know if you have it?
- Thread starter dubele
- Start date
One sign that you may have algae, even if it is not yet visible, is when you experience a sudden loss of chlorine. Just keep in mind that this can be caused by other organic contaminants besides algae. Left unchecked, algae will eventually make itself visible - usually the water will first get cloudy for no other apparent reason before it makes itself more visible in the classic way . Green algae is the most common kind with black and mustard algae being less common. If you suspect you have algae, but it is not yet visible, you may want to check behind the pool light and around ladders as these provide good hiding spots for algae.
Check out our algae articles for more info:
Check out our algae articles for more info:
Hi dubele,
I believe I was one of those that suggested you may have alage, even though your water is clear.
Algae is a single cell plant which is so small you can't see it without magnification and it multiplies quickly.
Not until is had multiplied to the extent that your water becomes cloudy or turns green do most people realize they have it.
Classic initial signs that you have algae are
1. Your pressure on the filter rises somewhat quickly
2. You cannot keep FC in the pool
To determine if your pool has orgainics/ algae
perform an overnight chlorine loss test so as to remove sunlight burn off from the FC loss equation
If you loose more than 1 ppm FC overnight, then there are organics in the pool which are consuming your FC
I believe I was one of those that suggested you may have alage, even though your water is clear.
Algae is a single cell plant which is so small you can't see it without magnification and it multiplies quickly.
Not until is had multiplied to the extent that your water becomes cloudy or turns green do most people realize they have it.
Classic initial signs that you have algae are
1. Your pressure on the filter rises somewhat quickly
2. You cannot keep FC in the pool
To determine if your pool has orgainics/ algae
perform an overnight chlorine loss test so as to remove sunlight burn off from the FC loss equation
If you loose more than 1 ppm FC overnight, then there are organics in the pool which are consuming your FC
I suspected that I had algae because I was constantly turning up my SWCG to try to maintain free chlorine. The pool was clear throughout. The overnight free chlorine loss test (OCLT) confirmed that something, likely algae, was eating it up. Whatever I had, the SLAM was the answer and took care of the problem. Better to catch it early.
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