Could it be metal instead of algae?

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Chelle

Chelle

0
May 12, 2011
35
South West, MO
6/15
FC 60
Cc .5
PH 7.2
TA 100 (goes from green to clear, not red)
CYA 100
TEMP 72

Geesh! I'm struggling this year.
Five days ago I had a family of teenage boys over to swim. I could tell by the time they left that the water was already cloudy. I immediately bumped up my FC to 25. Within hours the water went from cloudy too dark, dark green-ish red. That was on Wednesday. Thursday morning I got scared and moved the FC up to 60 based on the mustard shock level. I just didn't want to have any downtime. Friday morning the pool change to a green tint instead of a solid green. I could clearly see everything in the pool but it was like looking through green tinted glasses. The pool has maintained the FC of 60 with only a loss of five overnight which I just put back up. This morning, Monday, it is down to 45 and is a horrible shade of yellow orangey green. I do have a bright blue liner and I figured that was affecting how it looked so I took a glass jar of water out of the pool and the water appears to be perfectly clear. I knew my CYA is high and I did do about a 20% water change to get it to the 100 mark, I am trying to compensate for that in my slamming. I read another article on the forum and it got me to thinking, could this be metal and not Algae? Normally when I have algae and I slam it, it turns a cloudy shade of blue, all the dead algae falls to the bottom, I vacuum and the whole thing is over in about 48 hours. This is something very different. Can you help? I'm thinking of having the pool store test for metal? Also the PSI on my filter has been running about 5 higher than normal even after backwash, I am thinking I need to change my sand, it has been about three years. Could the sand be affecting the water color?
I'm posting before and after pics so you can get an idea of the color.
image.jpg
image.jpg
 
Richard320 said:
Green after adding chlorine sure sounds like Iron. That's probably independent of the filter issue.

If your gauge hasn't gone bad (it does go to zero when the pump isoff?) then the filter is probably due for a deep cleaning.

As for the Iron... Check out these pictures and the accompanying links in this post of mine from the other day
Click to expand...

Ok. I definitely see the color similarity. How would I get iron in the water? I'm on city water.
Is the pool store the best way to find out about the iron? Should I buy their "metal remover" product?
 
Why don't you try layering some paper towels in the skimmer basket and see if they turn orange after a few hours? If they do and you throw them away, that Iron is out of your pool for keeps.

The metal remover they sell at the pool store doesn't really remove it. It binds to the metal and keeps it from reacting. It's called a sequestrant and it's like the hard candy shell on an M&M. Eventually it wears off and you have to add more. Why not try to remove it first? Then add a sequestrant for the residual stuff.

Possibly your city or even your house has old pipes. Or there's trace amounts of Iron in the water supply that has concentrated through evaporation and refill. Worst case is that that isn't Iron, it's Copper from using cheap algaecides or you let the pH get too low for too long and it etched the innards of your heater.

How expensive are a half-dozen paper towels? Try it.
 
Okay. I did the paper towel thing and I don't really see a difference, they are slightly yellowed but I don't see where they collected anything orangey red color. I also did the deep cleaning on the filter, that was really gross but clearly necessary. It is something I am going to do more often, for sure! I do have a difference in water today after the deep clean on the filter but it is still definitely yellowed. And it is still raining, I have to assume that this is something in the rain? Or the air? Because all of my numbers look really good and I've maintained the FC above 60 for five days. Can algae grow in that?
Today's pic won't upload. ����
 
FC drift down to 45. Water is crystal clear in a jar, but pool looks yellow. It's better but not best. I'm thinking it may be stained. I have brushed and scrubbed to no avail. AND it's still raining. They say another 12" through tomorrow. I have never experienced any kind of algae like this, this battle is affecting my BBB confidence.
 
you list your CYA as 100, are you sure? have you done the diluted test? the test only goes to 100, if you test it as 100, it could be 100 or it could be 500. take a water sample from the pool, dilute it 50/50 with tap water then use that as your sample. if you CYA is 50, then its 100, etc.

the rain isn't causing algae issues.

have you done a OCLT recently??
 
DaninFLA said:
you list your CYA as 100, are you sure? have you done the diluted test? the test only goes to 100, if you test it as 100, it could be 100 or it could be 500. take a water sample from the pool, dilute it 50/50 with tap water then use that as your sample. if you CYA is 50, then its 100, etc.

the rain isn't causing algae issues.

have you done a OCLT recently??
Click to expand...

It is right at 100 when I can no longer see the black dot. I can try the diluted sample as well.
OCLT? I think that's the over night test?
Day 1 FC 60 ~45
Day2 FC 60 ~55
Day 3 FC 60 ~58
Day 4 FC 60 ~ 62
Day 5 FC 60 ~60
3 day FC drift down to FC 45

CC less than 1 each day. I used bleach to bring it back up to 60 each day.
 
100 is the limit on the test, so yes, try the 50/50 dilution. if it comes out at 50, then 100 is accurate. your FC levels are very high. shock level for CYA 100 is 39. what test are you using by the way?

if your CYA is 100, then would recommend at least 50% pool drain and refill. its going to make life a lot easier going forward.

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Chelle said:
CC less than 1 each day. I used bleach to bring it back up to 60 each day.
Click to expand...

CC should be zero in a SLAM completed pool.
 

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DaninFLA said:
100 is the limit on the test, so yes, try the 50/50 dilution. if it comes out at 50, then 100 is accurate. your FC levels are very high. shock level for CYA 100 is 39. what test are you using by the way?

if your CYA is 100, then would recommend at least 50% pool drain and refill. its going to make life a lot easier going forward.


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CC should be zero in a SLAM completed pool.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you are saying. My test kit is a Taylor k2006. I have replaced all the reagents this year. The CYA test gauge goes beyond 100. My FC is high because I started at 40 and it got worse so I moved to Mustard Algae shock level. It's possible the CC is zero. Honestly it's very difficult for me to tell the difference between the light pink and clear. It seems to go clear after 1 drop. If it was even pink to begin with? And, the water change , I think is the problem, because I drained about 30 % and it filled back up with rain water and has been a nightmare ever since. Prior to that my CYA was well over 150 and my PH was 4.5. :roll:

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Is anybody else getting this muddy, stinky, rain from the hurricane? It's so awful!
 
Chelle said:
I agree with everything you are saying. My test kit is a Taylor k2006. I have replaced all the reagents this year. The CYA test gauge goes beyond 100. My FC is high because I started at 40 and it got worse so I moved to Mustard Algae shock level. It's possible the CC is zero. Honestly it's very difficult for me to tell the difference between the light pink and clear. It seems to go clear after 1 drop. If it was even pink to begin with? And, the water change , I think is the problem, because I drained about 30 % and it filled back up with rain water and has been a nightmare ever since. Prior to that my CYA was well over 150 and my PH was 4.5. :roll:

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Is anybody else getting this muddy, stinky, rain from the hurricane? It's so awful!
Click to expand...

im confused. if you haven't done the diluted CYA test, then how did you get a CYA of 150 previously? the test is only good to a CYA of 100, you may be able to fill above it, but its the limits of accuracy of the test.

I understand you drained 30% before, but you are going to have to do it again, and maybe once more unfortunately. your problems have 0% to do with the rain by the way, your issues are due to your high CYA and correspondingly high FC levels that are very difficult to manage.

what is this mysterious muddy, stinky rain you speak of? was there a meteor collision that hit and is spewing earth into the air?? thought I would have seen that on the news :)
 
DaninFLA said:
Also, your pH isn't 4.5 and not sure how you think you came up with this being the test's lowest level is 6.8 if i recall.
Click to expand...

Actually I had a previous post on here and a TFP member gave me that number because the TA test turned red instead of green and they had me run the test "backward" and they gave me those numbers. I'm not sure how to link to a previous post, but that's where is came from. It all started with the kids having a bad rash like chaffing all over after being in the pool for an hour. They said that it was from the tri color tabs that were used while I was on vacation. I had to add about 40# of baking soda and drain 1/3 of the pool and I did that and then the rain came and I've been struggling ever since. I'm just guessing. As far as the CYA, I was advised that it was at.east 150 because the black drop was covered before it was half way to 100. I'm merely relying on the advice I get from TFP members which has never failed me.
As far as the rain, it's like lake water. It's dirty and it smells. And it has been non stop for days and not stopping anytime soon.
 
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