HELP: Pool Balance Issues

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Another thought; could I be storing algae in the solar tubes on the roof then when things start to clean in the pool the heater pump turns on and tops up the algae levels? The heater pump turns on intermittently through the day as the temp differential grows.

Thanks.
 
Rexyboy said:
25 Celcius (77F) a foot beneath the surface. Isolate the solar pump?
Click to expand...
I was mainly interested in what temp since low temps would inhibit algae growth. Your pool if warm enough to grow nasties... So I'm not sure why you are seeing so little loss of FC.

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I had a period of a few days during my pool cleanup when things weren't moving very fast. Part of the problem was that I had to clean the filter so often I didn't run it 24/7. When I got the water clear enough it would run overnight, the process sped up a bunch. Be sure you're running 24/7 and you're cleaning the filter often enough.
 
Are you seeing the pressure rise on your filter?
Is the wastewater icky when you backwash?

What color is the algae on the side of the walls?

Can you post pictures of your pool situation?

I personally don't see how it could be only minerals. At least at this point, knowing the fact that you earliersaid you can't even see the bottom of the deep end. Metals just color the water, while remaining clear. Like Kool-Aid.

Now when you get the water cleared up, if then it's crystal clear but green, even after a few or 3 days more at shock. Then I would look at metals as the cause.
Also, I would only leave it at mustard shock levels for 24hrs to minimize any damage to the pool. Toss all you stuff that comes in contact with the pool into the water for an hour, to kill any algae spores that may be on them.
 
I just did my first backwash in a couple of days and it certainly gave a flood of dark green algae water so it must be doing something. After rinsing I added another couple of cups of DE. I am not seeing a huge rise in pressure that makes me think I should be backwashng mor often.

The algae on the side walls is dark green (not brown). I have held the FC at 18ppm all day and my wife tells me that it's cleaner/ clearer. To be honest I think she is trying to remain optimistic as I can't see it.

I definitely agree that it is not minerals (yet) as there is clouds of algae when I brush. I can't post photos as my PC doesn't have internet yet in the new house (iPad only).

I will leave the filter on overnight and drop back to 12-14ppm FC which will hopefully have made a dent in the algae population. Stay tuned.

Thanks.
 

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I just did my first backwash in a couple of days and it certainly gave a flood of dark green algae water so it must be doing something. After rinsing I added another couple of cups of DE.
Click to expand...
You should backwash whenever your psi rises by about 20%. To let it go longer than that is quite inefficient.

You are working against yourself adding DE right now. Let your water get ALMOST clear before you introduce DE, if at all. Sand alone is perfectly capable of making a pool crystal clear in almost every instance. Adding DE when combating algae growth only plugs the filter more quickly, causing you to backwash more often.
 
Rexyboy said:
Another thought; could I be storing algae in the solar tubes on the roof then when things start to clean in the pool the heater pump turns on and tops up the algae levels? The heater pump turns on intermittently through the day as the temp differential grows.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I have no idea what is recommended when trying to clear a pool with solar - I would assume you need to be running water through then quite a bit to keep chlorine levels high.

EDIT:
However, there isn't any light so it would be more or less a temp place at best. It couldn't grow and without that I would think you would be seeing more die back. I guess if you had Mustard Algae it might cling on since it could hide from the high FC in the dark tubes and then as it floors through the pool it could maybe get enough light to survive.

Have you posted full results lately? This has me a but stumped. Pics?

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Rexyboy said:
After rinsing I added another couple of cups of DE. I am not seeing a huge rise in pressure that makes me think I should be backwashng more often.
Click to expand...

How much is not huge? How much does the system start at before you ads the DE in the first place?

DE as stated by duraleigh is more for fine cleanup not bulk algae removal.

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I think we made some progress overnight. The clarity doesn't seem to have improved greatly but the colour has changed to a blue tinge. There is a definite improvement.

This morning I gave the sides a good brush and there was noticeably less algae on the walls. The plan is to let the FC drop from Mustard Shock (18ppm) down to just above shock level (14ppm) and to continue to hold till perfect clarity.

The fly in the ointment is that I am off traveling from today and have to hand the pool maintenance over to the better half. I have given her the instructions, let's see how we go. She will only be able to test and dose before and after work hence targeting above the recommended shock level of 12ppm. I have also turned the SWG back on to try to help minimize the daily drop.

The test results as I have them:
pH - not tested lately
FC 16.5 (this morning)
CC 1
TC 17.5
TA 120
CYA 25 ish

Once I get on top of this I will need to get onto the other issues:

- High TA
- Black spot algae
- low CYA ( for salt pool)

Anyway, one problem at a time.

Thanks.
 
While shocking, save on reagents - only test FC and CC. pH will be unreliable at a high FC, and the rest of the values wont change enough for you to worry about now. As soon as the pool is clear, you can retest everything else and continue to balance from there.

Good to hear about the progress. I think it's time for you to break out the POP and give the filter and FC time to do their thing. POP (pool owner patience) is by far the cheapest tool is your bag of tricks, but it's the hardest to use correctly:wink:.

You're definitely on the right track.

Sent from my Exhibit II using Tapatalk.
 
Rexyboy said:
Once I get on top of this I will need to get onto the other issues:
.....
- Black spot algae
Click to expand...

Black algae? I don't recall you mentioning this. But I might have missed it in your 1st post.
If you truly have black algae and not staining, you need to read up on it in pool school. They have roots, are very damaging to plaster/concrete and extremely resistant to chlorine. You have to brush the spots with a wire brush. PSchool says how, what, when and why.

As for your iPad. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to post photos on the forum from it. Just take the photos with its camera, save them, edit them if needed, then upload them to your image hosting service by browsing for the image file. Just like you would on any PC/Mac.
The forum limits size though, so you'll have to use an image hosting service.
See this link to help /w that.
how-to-add-pictures-to-a-post-full-guide-with-screenshots-t45050.html

EDIT:
Here are specific instructions (in the above thread) for using the iPad to upload images. I forgot, the iPad doesn't have Flash. My bad.
how-to-add-pictures-to-a-post-full-guide-with-screenshots-t45050.html#p419892
 
It appears that the Black Spot skipped my memory. It may be because I have not been able to see the bottom for a couple of weeks. I understand that it was a persistent problem for the previous owner. I will read up on the Pool School.

Thanks for the tip in the photos. I was trying to upload directly to the forum rather than using a hoster. I will look into that as well. I took a photo yesterday.

Thanks.
 
Just a quick update. I got home tonight to see if the wife had managed to not turn the pool back to a swamp. Good news, there has been some progress.

The clarity has improved and the colour is mostly blue. I can see the bottom of the deep end but it is not crystal clear. There is definitely some work still to be done but I can see he finish line. I am still holding the FC at 13-14.

Thanks.
 
You are doing just fine but take some time and review the shock process in Pool School. Right about now is when a lot of folks quit and hope for a good outcome......that doesn't work.

Keep your FC at shock value like you have been doing, keep backwashing, keep vacuuming, keep brushing. In short keep doing everything you can to get the dead algae out of your pool while continuing to kill algae that may still exist. It may take you another few days but your pool didn't get in it's current condition overnight so it will take some time to get it cleared up.

Once it's clear, you can EASILY keep it clear by practicing good water management.....(adequate FC, Good filtration, and all the parameters within the guidelines suggested.)
 
Just thought I would post a quick wrap up email to let you know how I ended up. The pool is now nice and clear. The filtration took way longer than I expected and I am starting to think that the sand hasn't been changed in a while (remember that I just purchases the house/pool). After Christmas I will get the sand changed so I at least know that that is OK.

I am now starting to drop the FC back to normal (slightly elevated) levels. One thing I picked up towards the end of the shocking process is that if I leave the SWG on while at elevated FC it will happily maintain the level without too much liquid chlorine addition during the day. His was helpful while at work for the day. Not sure if this is not done due to damage to the cell. I would be interested to know.

Thankyou all for your help. I will now start a new thread about my next steps to getting the pool to a maintenance stage.
 

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