Is this algae?

[Howeman]

Howdy everyone, been a BBB'er for the last couple seasons. don't feel I quite have the hang of things but feel i'm getting better this year thanks to everyone on this site. however, finding some strange substance in my cartridge filter this year and some foaming of the water, which I haven't experienced in the past. Can anyone identify what's in the pic? I've been testing and adding chlorine the last few days. Considering a SLAM, just am waiting on my CYA reagent to arrive in the mail. I had 16oz coming from amazon but they up and cancelled the order on me! anyway, some readings:
FC 9.0 as of a couple minutes ago after adding 360 oz of clorox an hour ago
CC 0 on this test, but seemed to be 2 an hour ago before the addition of clorox
ph 7.8 this has flucuated over the last 24 hrs (7.8 last night, 8 this morning, 7.4 at lunch, 7.8 just now...that doesn't sound right)
TA 85-90
CH 80

Any advice is appreciated but I know i should be testing CYA, just waiting on the mail. Thanks all!

 

[jblizzle]

Probably pollen or something falling out of the trees.

 

[Teald024]

That looks like organic plant matter to me more than algae. Have you done a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test ?

Adding 360 fl.oz of bleach seems like a lot to only get to 9ppm in 12k gallons. What strength is the bleach? Are you using the undisclosed strength or 3%?

For the foaming, what type of bleach are you using? Clorox has started putting special additives in their bleach, labeled with Chloromax Techmology logo. If this is what you are using, it is known to cause foaming. Switching to pain pool chlorine or using non-"new & improved" bleach should fix the foaming in a few days.

 

[Howeman]

thanks jblizzle. we have been getting ALOT of pollen lately, the yellow kind. almost looks like smoke there's so much of it in the air sometimes.

 

[Howeman]

thanks Teald024. it WAS chloromax, no more of that! I bought some of the Pool Essentials liquid chlorine and will use that moving forward. I will also do a OCLT starting tonight. thanks!

 

[Howeman]

So last night my FC was 18.5. This morning it was 15.5. I'm thinking there must be some algae then? I don't know my CYA as I am awaiting the reagent. Once I receive that, I will start a SLAM.

 

[JamesW]

The cartridge looks pretty dirty on the inside. Are you sure that the plumbing is correct Inlet/Outlet?

 

[Howeman]

The cartridge looks pretty dirty on the inside. Are you sure that the plumbing is correct Inlet/Outlet?

Hi JamesW. That cartridege IS nasty. I have since ordered 2 new cartridge filters as this one came with the house 3 years ago and not sure when it was new. I think I understand your question and am pretty certain the pump is plumbed correctly, I mean water is reentering the pool through the inlet jet and coming out of the pool via the skimmer. Pool water looks great, just loosing a lot of chlorine based on my limited knowledge. I'm getting the CYA reagent tonight, will test CYA to determine if there is any conditioner in there, get that to the right level, do an OCLT and then SLAM if necessary. I also ran out of the FC reagent this morning but reordered some a couple days ago so should be getting that soon. I think I'll upgrade to the TFT100 (sp?) at the end of this season. The water final looks great, just losing a lot of FC based on my limited knowledge.

 

[JamesW]

The filter plumbing should be labeled Inlet and Outlet. The Inlet should be connected to the pump outlet. The Outlet should be connected to the return line.

 

[rwood5093]

During the heavy pollen season, my filter goops up with stuff that looks like hard boiled egg yolk. I totally underestimated how bad it would clump up, and mine was similar to yours. It was gross, and oddly fascinating at the same time.....