Hi all,
Newish salt water pool owner (came with the house we bought last summer). I was able to maintain it quite well through the summer, and continued to do so over the winter. I had a couple of issues over the winter where the chlorine was way too low, but between chlorine tablets and shock was able to get it back into shape.
This week the FC dropped to pretty much zero. Took a sample to a local pool store and it showed I'm low on salt. Put in the recommended 3 bags, super chlorinated for a few hours, and today the FC was back to normal levels (matching the 4.4 color on my test kit). The only remaining issue is that the water seems to still have debris in it. I cleaned the filter 3-4 weeks ago, and run the pump 8 hours per day. I've been skimming and running my vacuum, and brushing as well. During the day, the water seems clear, but at night when the lights are on, you can see small particles floating, like the water is dusty, if that makes any sense.
It's heavy pollen season here in Georgia, so I'm wondering if that may be the culprit and maybe I need to run the pump for more than 8 hours. But I'm not sure what to do.
Here's the test results from yesterday morning:
FC 0.71
TC 0.71
pH 7.6
TA 93
CH 225
CYA 83
Iron 0
Copper 0.1
Phosphates 748
Salt 2632
As noted above, this evening, the FC was 4.4.
Newish salt water pool owner (came with the house we bought last summer). I was able to maintain it quite well through the summer, and continued to do so over the winter. I had a couple of issues over the winter where the chlorine was way too low, but between chlorine tablets and shock was able to get it back into shape.
This week the FC dropped to pretty much zero. Took a sample to a local pool store and it showed I'm low on salt. Put in the recommended 3 bags, super chlorinated for a few hours, and today the FC was back to normal levels (matching the 4.4 color on my test kit). The only remaining issue is that the water seems to still have debris in it. I cleaned the filter 3-4 weeks ago, and run the pump 8 hours per day. I've been skimming and running my vacuum, and brushing as well. During the day, the water seems clear, but at night when the lights are on, you can see small particles floating, like the water is dusty, if that makes any sense.
It's heavy pollen season here in Georgia, so I'm wondering if that may be the culprit and maybe I need to run the pump for more than 8 hours. But I'm not sure what to do.
Here's the test results from yesterday morning:
FC 0.71
TC 0.71
pH 7.6
TA 93
CH 225
CYA 83
Iron 0
Copper 0.1
Phosphates 748
Salt 2632
As noted above, this evening, the FC was 4.4.
So here at TFP, we can assure you the store testing, products, and advice are not working. We emphasize the importance of proper water testing at home with a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit. In addition, their advice to super shock and add over-priced fluids to the water will not kill or remove your algae issue. Pollen or mechanical filtering are not to blame, it's all about chemistry. There really is nothing I would trust in those store test results. I would say this however, your CYA may indeed be very high and that means your FC cannot keep pace. You can see that on our 
I'd take the pH down to about 7.2. It will rise again soon enough on its own. Water crystal clear down to the deepest part?
