Gunk...

[Tnt17tnt]

Hello. I'm new here but have scoured the forums for a few months and finally created a account-
Trying to close down the pool since I'm 2 weeks behind the neighbors doing so but wanted to wait until the Average temps were 60'ish.
Last few days I thought I had sand coming back in after I was in the pool cleaning and then a backwash but now I'm wondering if it's algae or mustard. It's very fine and goes away when touched but then settles again. Pics are from last evening and then current. Battling winds and tree pine needles and leaves and about to go skim for a 6th time (leaf net cover I took off to be able to treat and vaccum and shock and then winter cover it).

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Friday evening

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

You cannot judge if you have algae from pictures.

Water chemistry tests from your own test kit and doing a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test will tell you if you have an alage problem.

I suggest you review...

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Thanks. Will do another overnight FC test.

 

[Newdude]

Hey TNT and Welcome !!!!

Trying to close down the pool since I'm 2 weeks behind the neighbors doing so

My neighbors do stupid stuff to their pools and frequent pool stores who rob them blind without ever actually addressing their issues. Or they create problems when there are none, in order to sell them the cure anyway.

I walk my own path from reliabletestingville to supereasypoolcaretown, and don't pay anyone else any mind about it.

I'm interested in your OCLT results because a couple weeks ago I had similar debris for a week from Mother Nature shedding. The fall wave probably made it a little south to you by now so it doesn't have to be algae. (But the OCLT is always how you tell)

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Hey TNT and Welcome !!!!

My neighbors do stupid stuff to their pools and frequent pool stores who rob them blind without ever actually addressing their issues. Or they create problems when there are none, in order to sell them the cure anyway.

I walk my own path from reliabletestingville to supereasypoolcaretown, and don't pay anyone else any mind about it.

I'm interested in your OCLT results because a couple weeks ago I had similar debris for a week from Mother Nature shedding. The fall wave probably made it a little south to you by now so it doesn't have to be algae. (But the OCLT is always how you tell)

Thanks.
Waiting on the TF-100 test kit as this Taylor

DPD Deluxe Test Kit I​

believe from Leslie's isn't very accurate and FC and TC barely register results. As in 0 to 1.0 at most.

 

[Mdragger88]

Its very possible that you simply don’t have any chlorine if your reagents have not expired & have been stored properly.
That kit also doesn’t contain the cya test which is very important for chlorinating properly. See—>FC/CYA Levels
Until your tf 100 comes & you have some good data to work with add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine to the pool each day infront of a running return to keep it from getting worse.
Use PoolMath to calculate amounts.
How are you currently chlorinating the pool?
P.s. - forget about what your neighbors do - they may very well open to a swamp in the spring.
We recommend waiting until the water temp is in the low 60’s & falling before closing & opening before the water temp rises above the low 60’s.

Closing (Winterizing) Your Above Ground Pool

Closing an above ground pool at season’s end should be a fast and worry-free process. Learn the basics of above ground pool winterization in easy steps.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Use PoolMath to calculate amounts.
How are you currently chlorinating the pool?

floating dispenser HTH 1" small tablets 4 in 1 action. 92.4% trichloro active ingredient.

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Its very possible that you simply don’t have any chlorine if your reagents have not expired & have been stored properly.

It's a shame they even sold this and didn't realize it. I just called then telling them 1001 and 1002 are way out of date and they may want to check their other kits- since I purchased late July

 

[Mdragger88]

floating dispenser HTH 1" small tablets 4 in 1 action. 92.4% trichloro active ingredient.

Trichlor tabs add cya along with chlorine. The chlorine gets consumed daily but the cya remains & continues to build, as cya climbs so does the necessary fc level required to keep the pool sanitary as you can see in these charts



Tabs are convenient but using them for daily chlorination leads to problems as things can get out of hand quickly.
The only way to lower cya is to exchange water.
We recommend using liquid chlorine or a saltwater chlorine generator for daily chlorination for this reason & saving the tabs for vacations.
When your kit comes post all your results and we’ll help you get it straightened out.
Until then 5ppm of liquid chlorine daily- nothing else.

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Trichlor tabs add cya along with chlorine. The chlorine gets consumed daily but the cya remains & continues to build, as cya climbs so does the necessary fc level required to keep the pool sanitary as you can see in these charts

View attachment 534757
View attachment 534758
Tabs are convenient but using them for daily chlorination leads to problems as things can get out of hand quickly.
The only way to lower cya is to exchange water.
We recommend using liquid chlorine or a saltwater chlorine generator for daily chlorination for this reason & saving the tabs for vacations.
When your kit comes post all your results and we’ll help you get it straightened out.
Until then 5ppm of liquid chlorine daily- nothing else.

Should I be running the pump 24/7? Still waiting on the kit. Tomorrow it arrives. This current one is driving me crazy...showing no to little chlorine. Good Alkalinity and supposedly CYA close but maybe a tad high. And brown spots a growing again.
I did brush the walls and vaccum well and drained below skimmer 2 nights ago with a partial water exchange.
Will post tomorrow evening with new kit results

 

[Mdragger88]

Should I be running the pump 24/7? Still waiting on the kit. Tomorrow it arrives. This current one is driving me crazy...showing no to little chlorine. Good Alkalinity and supposedly CYA close but maybe a tad high. And brown spots a growing again.
I did brush the walls and vaccum well and drained below skimmer 2 nights ago with a partial water exchange.
Will post tomorrow evening with new kit results

Keep the pump running- clean/backwash your filter when pressure rises 25% over clean pressure.
Add the 5ppm of liquid chlorine each day until you can test to know where you stand & begin the slam process.
Have plenty of fresh liquid chlorine on hand (10 gallons) & a source for more. Be sure to check the date codes.

 

[Tnt17tnt]

First test
Water temp 68 F.
FC 1.0
CC 1.2
PH 7.4
TA 160
CH 310
CYA 90
In the morning will do another OCLT

 

[PoolStored]

Congrats on the test kit!!!

Will be interesting to see OCLT result. I predict with FC of 1 and CYA of 90, you will fail. The stuff you asked questions about in first post is likely Plain Old Algae.

It is very difficult to SLAM with CYA of 90. Can you replace about 40% of your pool water? Even 30% would increase your odds significantly.

You can close, but if you leave the algae in there, it will be a bit of a swamp in the spring.

Read about no drain water exchange here:

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Congrats on the test kit!!!

Will be interesting to see OCLT result. I predict with FC of 1 and CYA of 90, you will fail. The stuff you asked questions about in first post is likely Plain Old Algae.

It is very difficult to SLAM with CYA of 90. Can you replace about 40% of your pool water? Even 30% would increase your odds significantly.

You can close, but if you leave the algae in there, it will be a bit of a swamp in the spring.

Read about no drain water exchange here:

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

I can probably do that. Was looking at pumps earlier or attempting the garden hose trick with defying gravity and to get it out that low. Sounds like a Saturday project after tomorrows tests.

 

[Mdragger88]

Do the diluted cya test to confirm your cya level
Step 8

CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test

Cyanuric Acid (CYA) is the chemical name for what is commonly referred to as Stabilizer … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

This is a little late but
The Overnight Chlorine Loss Test should be done at target fc levels FC/CYA Levels

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Do the diluted cya test to confirm your cya level
Step 8

CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test

Cyanuric Acid (CYA) is the chemical name for what is commonly referred to as Stabilizer … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

This is a little late but
The Overnight Chlorine Loss Test should be done at target fc levels FC/CYA Levels

Morning results were FC 1 and CC 0.
Cya was 60.

Did a CYA dilute And it appears it is 40.

 

[Tnt17tnt]

This is a little late but
The Overnight Chlorine Loss Test should be done at target fc levels FC/CYA Levels

Actually I did do that as well. But the problem was after last nights tests I boo boo'd and added that amount of Chorine so in reality my morning test wouldn't be accurate. Even though it was still very low.

 

[ajw22]

Actually I did do that as well. But the problem was after last nights tests I boo boo'd and added that amount of Chorine so in reality my morning test wouldn't be accurate. Even though it was still very low.

So you failed the OCLT, have algae as suspected, and need to follow the SLAM Process

 

[Tnt17tnt]

Update.