Help - what's going on with my water??

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Not necessarily. You do want to run the pump 24/7 when you are fighting algae, ie right now. And you also want to run the pump for at least half and hour before testing the water. Once everything is back in balance you don't have to run the pump around the clock.
 
@jason, will do - thx.

And The Bleach Goes On:
eq8c47.jpg
 
Jan, have you brushed all the interior surfaces of the skimmer, including the mouth, neck and weir? The pink might be hiding there (out of sight) and also in the light niches.

Any pipes or areas without good water interchange can harbor bio-nasties! If you have a water feature you rarely use, they'll make it their home - the fix is to run that feature for ~1 min./ day to keep the water from becoming stagnant and letting it keep it's hold. Similarly, if it's in the light niche or skimmer mouth, brushing those areas, while at shock level, ought get rid of the stuff. :) On a similar note, be sure to drain your vacuum hose before putting it away.

I think the pink still has a home in your pool and that's why you're having this problem (also, remove and bleach the ladder treads and inside the rails).

Get every nook and cranny of the pool and equipment that is under the waterline.
 
Just checking in to report that we have finally beat the pink beast :twisted: It took three weeks total of keeping bleach levels at shock level or higher. The smell in the water is now gone; it took nearly the last week of the process to get rid of it and I noticed it fading a little each day until it was gone. Now I don't believe for one minute that this biofilm is erased entirely from the pool - we've beat it for now and must stay on top of it each and every day.

Here was a situation where our water was clear and sparkly and chlorine held overnight . . yet as soon as daylight came the chlorine consumption started and we were putting in nine to twelve bottles of bleach a day for the first week to keep the pool at shock level. The manager of the Aldi store had a huge smile on his face when he saw us walking in every day . . :-D . The only other noticeable thing was the odor of the water.

If I ever get pink algae again, I will start out right away bringing the chlorine level to much higher than the recommended - I've learned that it takes a higher level, time, and patience to deal with this, but persistence wins. It's absolutely necessary to keep brushing, clean the filter, and any areas in the pool where biofilm can hide (thanks Waste for reminding me).

Thank you for staying with me on this, and I'm here for anyone dealing with pink algae who needs some direction and encouragement.

Jan, aka Pink Queen :thequeen:
 
Hi all, wanted to post an update for 2012: when we opened the pool this spring we noticed that stinky old stale smell of alcohol in the skimmer, so my husband pumped out the pink RV antifreeze in there and in all of the piping instead of letting it all flow back into the pool. As a result, we only had a slight smell of it in the area for about a week or two and then it was gone. My conclusion is that Walmart's pink RV antifreeze was the cause of the odor in the pool, and we aren't going to use it anymore.

I've also brought the CYA level up to 40-45 (compared to 30 of last year) and the pool is only using a couple of 96 oz bottles of bleach a week. I used to have to put in a bottle a day. Conclusion here is that we didn't have enough CYA in the pool last spring.

Wishing everyone a great swimming season this year!
Jan
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply