Totally Confused

[Julia'sPool]

Hello everyone!

First, thank you for freeing me from the pool store. This is my third year using TFP.

Quick background: Tried to open pool at the end of April, found my skimmer was cracked. Landlord took 4 weeks to replace (can't complain, he is great, if slow). Had a total black swamp. Started SLAM. Prior to SLAM test results:

• FC 0
• PH 7.5
• TA 80
• CH 70
• CYA 0--black dot never went away. I have a slow leak (another problem for another day) and opened to find over 1/2 the water gone, so I wasn't surprised.

So I added stabilizer in a sock suspended over return. I added 1/2 what pool math told me to, because I've made mistakes with stabilizer before. Then started the SLAM.

2 days into it, I've gone from black to blue. But now, I am not using much chlorine. We are vacuuming and brushing at least two or three times a day. I am only losing 1 or 2 ppm of chlorine every hour (in past years, I've lost a lot more when SLAMing after opening). Then this morning I tested and I lost no chlorine overnight. But my pool is still blue and I can't see the bottom.

So my thoughts are:

My testing chemicals are no good, just ordered new ones.
I fouled up the CYA test. It has been raining, so I haven't had a sunny day to retest.
Or it is something other than algae clouding my pool.

Any suggestions? Or just continue with the SLAM?

And before you ask why my pool was such a mess when I opened, my pool has a deck built by a previous owner, and it makes it near impossible to put the cover on for the winter. This year we rigged it and it stayed on until January, when a storm not only blew it off but froze it solid with half the pool exposed. It was full of leaves and debris when I opened it.

 

[Patrick_B]

You just need to continue the SLAM. This is often the part that tries your patience, but part of the deal. It sometimes just takes a good while for them to clear. Getting there is one of the criteria for passing all requirements of SLAM.

 

[Julia'sPool]

You just need to continue the SLAM. This is often the part that tries your patience, but part of the deal. It sometimes just takes a good while for them to clear. Getting there is one of the criteria for passing all requirements of SLAM.

Thank you for the quick reply. I will continue to SLAM.

I was just confused because every other time I SLAMed my chlorine consumption was a lot higher, sometimes with all of the free chlorine consumed overnight.

 

[Julia'sPool]

Nevermind. My daughter just reminded me that this is the first time we opened with a 0 ammonia reading. ( I use my aquarium tester, which is drops, not test strips).

The past years I had ammonia to deal with.