A pool that hates chlorine

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Bperry said:
Your kid is totally fine. No need to wash any more than normal. The stabilizer in the water holds some chlorine in reserve, but the chlorine tests don’t know if it’s reserved or not. That’s why the FC/CYA ratio is so important to get right.
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Got it! I think I might have one more round of CYA test left so I'll try one more tonight and see how close I can get it. No matter what it's on the high side so in reality, it'll err on the safer side. Thanks for the tip!

Other thing is it's been pouring torrentially all day so after all this algae stuff is done, the rest of the chems will be a bit of a wreck! :)

Saturn94 said:
Unless you are performing an OCLT, with FC that high you can use a 5ml sample instead; 1 drop would equal 1ppm. That will really save on reagents.
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Well, I just did that and measured 31 ppm FC (< 1 CC) which gives me a FC drop of about 0.75 ppm / hour which is the lowest I've seen, as I've been averaging closer to 2.75 ppm / hour! Hope that's a good sign!
 
FrankieKat said:
Got it! I think I might have one more round of CYA test left so I'll try one more tonight and see how close I can get it. No matter what it's on the high side so in reality, it'll err on the safer side. Thanks for the tip!

Other thing is it's been pouring torrentially all day so after all this algae stuff is done, the rest of the chems will be a bit of a wreck! :)


Well, I just did that and measured 31 ppm FC (< 1 CC) which gives me a FC drop of about 0.75 ppm / hour which is the lowest I've seen, as I've been averaging closer to 2.75 ppm / hour! Hope that's a good sign!
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It’s a good sign. Always starts out $$ and drops to 0.$ eventually. Unfortunately it’s the last 20% that sometimes takes the longest.
 
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FrankieKat said:
Well, I just did that and measured 31 ppm FC (< 1 CC) which gives me a FC drop of about 0.75 ppm / hour which is the lowest I've seen, as I've been averaging closer to 2.75 ppm / hour! Hope that's a good sign!
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This morning's FC came in at 18 ppm, so that's -13 since 7:30pm last night, which is just under 1 ppm / hour which is still better than it was before! I'll keep scrubbin'!
 
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FrankieKat said:
This morning's FC came in at 18 ppm, so that's -13 since 7:30pm last night, which is just under 1 ppm / hour which is still better than it was before! I'll keep scrubbin'!
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I may have missed it but did you ever disable your UV system? Those things eat chlorine.
 
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Bperry said:
I may have missed it but did you ever disable your UV system? Those things eat chlorine.
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Oh no, I didn't. I'll turn it off now...

So does that eat chlorine under regular operation, and I need to specifically offset that? Normally I have the 3" tab chlorinator on (which is off now so as not to add any more CYA), so would that be generally what's done? That UV/ozone filter claims to "turn pool water into drinkable water" so figured it would be helpful in ridding the algae but aparently isn't much help.

Water is looking super clear right now. There also isn't that chlorine smell so strong either so assume that's a good sign. Am running low on the 871 so I might have to economize on the FAS-DSD tests until my shipment arrives on Tuesday.

Will also try removing those lighting housings and give the skimmer another thorough cleaning. Will also figure out of I can get to those drain covers - they appear to be plastic so not sure if they just pry off or there's a screw somewhere.

Otherwise there's just not a lot of other places for algae to hide... the side lining is vinyl and the corners are rounded so no real corner nooks. I brushed it yesterday plus the Dolphin is just constantly running at this point.

Making progress! Thanks!
 
RedScare said:
BTW, that torrential rain should help with the CYA level. So, that's a good thing.
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Yay! The water level is higher than I've ever seen before so that'll give me plenty of extra water for backwashing without having to re-add any. Maybe this leaving it uncovered is a good thing and I can save on my water bill having to top it off! 😁
 
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RLP said:
Your conduit for the light is probably 1" pvc.

They ran my conduit 18" below grade to my equipment pad, before I knew better. So my conduit is constantly filled with pool water that doesn't get circulated . Yours may be the same.

100' of 1" pvc holds around 4 gallons of water. The algae could be hiding there.
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I removed one of the lighting fixtures and saw quite a bubbles so it was almost like it was water tight before and just filled up the conduit. Visually it looks pretty squeaky clean. Based on that, would you recommend I do the others or skip as to not create a new problem?
 

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If you have that one open already go ahead & pull it out (carefully) & give a look inside. If all looks clear I say leave the rest alone. The gasket is likely sealing them well.
 
I’ll just leave these here…

Ozone Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

UV Systems - Further Reading

www.google.com www.google.com

Alternative sanitizers and "chemical free" pools--The Truth!

Pool owners frequently seek out "Chemical Free" alternatives to pool water sanitization. Many claims in favor of these systems and methods have been made (usually by the manufacturers of such systems) often without adequate scientific proof of their efficacy. Let's take a look at them and see...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Might have found a suspect. The end bumper from the retractable cover. See pic. Now, this never directly touches the water since it's always a few inches above water level. Does this look like the bad guys or just dirt?
 

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FrankieKat said:
Might have found a suspect. The end bumper from the retractable cover. See pic. Now, this never directly touches the water since it's always a few inches above water level. Does this look like the bad guys or just dirt?
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Who knows- give it a good scrub 🫧
 
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Try to take the puck/tablet out of the holder. The stuff will build up and it will leak out into the pool.

Use GREAT care when opening the top as the fumes may come up and slap you in the face. Make sure you have eye covering to be on the safe side. You can let it dry out to use at a later date.
 
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FrankieKat said:
Oh no, I didn't. I'll turn it off now...

So does that eat chlorine under regular operation, and I need to specifically offset that? Normally I have the 3" tab chlorinator on (which is off now so as not to add any more CYA), so would that be generally what's done? That UV/ozone filter claims to "turn pool water into drinkable water" so figured it would be helpful in ridding the algae but aparently isn't much help.

Water is looking super clear right now. There also isn't that chlorine smell so strong either so assume that's a good sign. Am running low on the 871 so I might have to economize on the FAS-DSD tests until my shipment arrives on Tuesday.

Will also try removing those lighting housings and give the skimmer another thorough cleaning. Will also figure out of I can get to those drain covers - they appear to be plastic so not sure if they just pry off or there's a screw somewhere.

Otherwise there's just not a lot of other places for algae to hide... the side lining is vinyl and the corners are rounded so no real corner nooks. I brushed it yesterday plus the Dolphin is just constantly running at this point.

Making progress! Thanks!
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The UV thing is snake oil for an outdoor pool. It just destroys chlorine which likely explains a lot of your loss.
 
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Bperry said:
The UV thing is snake oil for an outdoor pool. It just destroys chlorine which likely explains a lot of your loss.
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Copy that! It's off now. 👍
kimkats said:
Try to take the puck/tablet out of the holder. The stuff will build up and it will leak out into the pool.

Use GREAT care when opening the top as the fumes may come up and slap you in the face. Make sure you have eye covering to be on the safe side. You can let it dry out to use at a later date.
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Oh yeah, made that mistake before. I usually hold my breath, pop it open and walk away for a minute or three.

Re-stocked liquid chlorine from Walmart and this time got the 23 170 (June 20th)... newest they had.

2:45pm: 26 ppm, partly cloudy and a calculated loss of 1.5ppm / hour. However I've scrubbed extensively and turned off the UV since this morning so I'd hope the next full measurement to reflect that!

Upon closer inspection of the drain assemblies, they are most definitely screwed in, so lacking adequate diving gear I'd say it's a bit out of reach at the moment. Besides, Dolphin is mildly obsessed with the drains anyway so they do get a fair bit of scrubbing!
 

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Think of it this way - the UV from the sun degrades chlorine during the day. The UV system Is basically artificial sunshine for your pool. And since when does sunshine alone prevent algae?

At least that was my thinking in not putting in a UV

Indoor pools are another matter…
 
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