Newbie from Melbourne, Australia

[vtsyrlin]

Hey Dippa,
Can't help you much with your algae problem (luckily many people on this forum can) but I am also local here in Melbourne.
Brand new first pool and trying to get my equipment sorted. Anyway, I am not going to try and hijack your thread.
So good luck with your algae, hope you get it sorted soon.,
incidentally, what do you think of Chemi/Saltigem combo?
ditto on Waterco glass filter/

Cheers
Vlad

 

[Dippa]

Dippa, you should have no green in the pool. Green = algae. You need to perform a "SLAM" via the SLAM link below in my sig to kill the algae, but you can't adjust and properly test the high FC (20) required until you receive your K-2006C test kit. Your SWG is not capable of generating enough FC to complete a SLAM, so you may want to start shopping around for a good price on liquid chlorine (regular household bleach) which is the primary sanitizer we rely on for a SLAM. Read the SLAM page closely, and once your kit arrives you can start the SLAM. Until your kit arrives, you may wish to consider adding one gallon of bleach to your water each day to help keep the green from getting much worse. Oh, and go ahead and lower pH slightly to about 7.2-7.4 BEFORE starting the SLAM.

Hi Texas Splash
just want to check the liq chlorine I have is the 12.5%, so the one gallon you are recommending is which strength?
Thanks Dippa

 

[Dippa]

Hi Vtsyrlin
I had my pool build completed last December and the Chemigem/Saltigem installed in Jan 2015. All was good until June when my pool turned green and it's been a struggle since. I'm now getting a better understanding of whats going on with the help of TFP. The SWG cannot cope with an algae outbreak and despite doing 2 "Shock" treatments it's only given me a temporary break and algae returns or really never left as advise given by pool shop not good.
Until I completely get rid of algae ( after I do the SLAM) and balance the water I will then see if the chemigem/Saltigem is effective. Last week I spoke to a friend who has the chemigem system and has told me he has to nothing to his pool this year, hasn't added acid for a long time but I'm using 5lts every 2 weeks.
The Filter has been good.
cheers Dippa

 

[Dippa]

Hi, being new I have a question about SWG that use ORP to regulate FC. I'm not sure if I need to start a new thread?

I was under the wrong impression that there is a linear relationship between the two. When my system was set up I was told to leave it set at 650 and at 100% output. I was never told I would need to add chlorine. For the last few weeks I have been calling the service centre of the SWG to see why I was getting algae at 650 and told them that at 710-750 I had better control and pool test FC were 3-6ppm. I was told to keep CYA at 60 and raise ORP to 750 if that controls sanitation of pool.
I have also read that other SWG don't use ORP but function on running time and percent of output ie 70% or level 7 out of 10.

my question is can I find a relationship for my system if I monitor the ORP reading and doing a FC level check with my K-2006c when I get it?
i have read many of the older treads on ORP and can see it's not a preferred system.
Has anyone trialled to see which is the best way to use SWG?
i have an automatic pH probe and automatically feeds my acid to the pool.
Thanks Dippa

 

[Space Ape]

There is no reason your system cannot work. If your solar heating is flushing once a day do you think it is possible you are getting an algae bloom in the heating system which is then being dumped into the pool?
Probably the only way to find out is to put the heating system on and see what happens. If you are going to solar heat it you may want to have the ORP set at 750 anyway.

Either way go through the SLAM process.

The only other thing i noticed is that your probe is not horizontal in the pipe. You wont be getting good water flow over the probe, especially if you have your multi speed pump running on low. Having installed many ORP probes i know that having them vertical can certainly cause issues. Remember gravity effects water and the pump is pulling it along so it has no reason to go up into your probe when all it wants to do is stay low and get into the pump. It could well be causing the issue entirely and i would suggest you move it so it is horizontal and getting good flow.

Also on the issue of multi speed pumps - you may not be getting good flow around the pool, which would explain algae forming in dead spots like the corners. This is another thing i have seen before. By the look of it your skimmer box is on the long edge of your pool. This could mean that the extreme ends of the pool are not getting flow. I have solved issues similar to this in the past by just re-aiming the return jets to create a good flow around the pool. It would not be the first time i have seen a pool builder just screw the returns in and not adjust them at all, or aim them up so they create a 'water flow' effect on the surface. To be honest i am not a fan of variable speed pumps as i think the 'low' setting on the more recent models is ridiculously low. You could also test this by just setting it to run on medium or high and seeing how things progress over a few days.

To your final question about ORP and its relationship to chlorine... no not really. Various factors effect it like the PH, temperature and bather load. I find with ORP when it is cold and nobody is swimming you will have low FC level, and summer with 5 kids in the pool it will go up. Once this speed hump is passed you should not stress about it too much. As long as you test it and it is within a decent range of FC you are all good.

Let me reiterate the main point here, your probe is probably not getting good flow. I highly recommend you re-position it for good flow.

 

[Dippa]

Thanks Space Ape
I do see what you mean with the probe position but cannot address this at the moment but will follow up with pool builder after I SLAM or is it something that a handyman can do?
I have a multispeed pump and was told to run min 8hr in summer and 6hr in winter at medium speed. So in winter I usually did 8hr at medium but also did try to keep it at 8-10 hr at low speed to get a similar volume exchange per day. .
So maybe the slower rate is as you say . As a rule I use med speed min 8hrs. At the moment I'm doing 10hrs. I have been flushing the solar heating everyday for a few hours per day and I think it's helping.
Yesterday and today I added 3.8lt (1 gallon) of liq chlorine 12.5% and only had a small bit of green along the side of the long ledge. Also brushing twice a day. Will continue to do this until I get the test kits.
The SWG ORP is set at 750 but is reading above it, now at 780 so it won't turn on. I'm not sure if I should disable the ORP and just run it as a percentage of operation and add to to FC which should be 10 or above .

 

[Space Ape]

It is possible to do it yourself but it might be challenging as i cant tell from the pictures how much pipe you have to play with. If you can get the builder to come and fix it then i would do that as it is really not your problem. If you were to change it yourself i would get a coupling, cut the pipe before the probe fitting,trim a bit of excess pipe off and and fit the coupling there. You can undo the barrel union on your pump to make this easier. When you glue the coupling in simply re-orient the probe so it is horizontal.

You can run the SWC separately but as it says in the SLAM instructions you are better off using liquid chlorine.
Really if that probe is getting poor flow you have little chance of it working well. And my best guess is that the whole time it is running there is just an air bubble in the probe housing, the same as your pump lid.