Chemical levels for new plaster pool

[old_monk]

Can someone help me here? See the cloudy dirty cotton ball kind of these circled in red, what are these? Saw some yesterday on deep end and brush vacuum them. Seeing some today in shallow end and took this picture. Lot of pollen and other stuff coming down lately, not sure if its that.

 

[ajw22]

You are in tree droping season. All sorts of debris fall into the pool from trees.

Your pool cleaner should pick it up.

 

[old_monk]

Understood, but this is not algae in early stage? I'm keeping FC in 3-4 range, it does drop occasionally for short time to 2-2.5 when bright sunny.

 

[ajw22]

Understood, but this is not algae in early stage? I'm keeping FC in 3-4 range, it does drop occasionally for short time to 2-2.5 when bright sunny.

Could be dead algae which shows your chlorine is doing its job.

 

[Mdragger88]

Try to catch it- if it poofs away it may be algae if not it may be cottonwood or something similar. Deploy a skimmer sock & see what you catch.
Dipping below 3ppm (min for cya of 40) certainly risks algae

 

[MITBeta]

If you think it could be algae, run a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to rule it out.

 

[old_monk]

I'll do OCLT tonight (with all the spring elements coming down from trees, my pool is not devoid of organic matter - is OCLT still worth it?).
edit: for what its worth, I added chlorine to 4ppm level last night after sunset and it read 3.5ppm at 10am with sun out. So not sure of OCLT need?

I'm following NPT protocol for 28 day startup, they recommend FC at 1-3ppm and CYA in 30-50 range. Why would they recommend 1-3ppm if that risks algae in a new plaster?

 

[bobloblaw42]

Can someone help me here? See the cloudy dirty cotton ball kind of these circled in red, what are these? Saw some yesterday on deep end and brush vacuum them. Seeing some today in shallow end and took this picture. Lot of pollen and other stuff coming down lately, not sure if its that.

View attachment 566589

Looks like the pollen that settles in my pool and that I catch in my skimmer sock.

 

[Bperry]

I'll do OCLT tonight (with all the spring elements coming down from trees, my pool is not devoid of organic matter - is OCLT still worth it?).
edit: for what its worth, I added chlorine to 4ppm level last night after sunset and it read 3.5ppm at 10am with sun out. So not sure of OCLT need?

I'm following NPT protocol for 28 day startup, they recommend FC at 1-3ppm and CYA in 30-50 range. Why would they recommend 1-3ppm if that risks algae in a new plaster?

Adding chlorine to 4ppm is not the same thing as measuring 4ppm. So dont conclude anything based on that.

Finish your 28 day startup. If you have organic matter on the plaster I’d get that removed asap.

 

[Mdragger88]

I'm following NPT protocol for 28 day startup, they recommend FC at 1-3ppm and CYA in 30-50 range. Why would they recommend 1-3ppm if that risks algae in a new plaster?

They aren’t concerned with algae- only the finish as it cures which can be bleached out with high fc levels.
Following the 3ppm is more feasible at a cya of 30 as the minimum is 2ppm but you’re at 40 now & the minimum is 3ppm.
This means you must dose frequently to stay above minimum & ride the line.

The NPT instructions actually say on the 3rd day raise fc between 1-3ppm (there’s no cya on this day so higher than 3ppm would be very harsh)
Then Cya of 30-50ppm is added on day 4 & there are no stipulations mentioned for days 4-28 about fc level except to not shock the pool.
* i am not advocating to raise fc above recommended levels with reckless abandon only that obviously once cya is involved 4 or 5ppm is much less harsh than 3ppm with zero cya.
Aming for lowest end target fc level for your cya as listed in
FC/CYA Levels shouldn’t present any danger to your finish & would help you prevent an algae problem . Aka swinging from 5 to 3 each day.
You’ve got like 4 days left! You’re almost there!