New SWG installation, bad pool salt

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Woke up to a non-green mostly clear pool this morning. No visible algae deposits. Brushing kicked up a small amount, but it certainly feels like progress. Water is still a bit cloudy, especially after brushing so I am not out of the woods yet, but the SLAM seems to be working. Still losing chlorine at a fairly high rate so there is still work to do....hoping to perhaps have things worked out in another day or 2.
 
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Awesome. Anxious to hear how things progress. I always wonder, in situations like this, what do non-TFPers do? I guess they call the PB. That begs the questions: What would a pool boy do? #WWAPBD
 
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erikbranson said:
Woke up to a non-green mostly clear pool this morning. No visible algae deposits. Brushing kicked up a small amount, but it certainly feels like progress. Water is still a bit cloudy, especially after brushing so I am not out of the woods yet, but the SLAM seems to be working. Still losing chlorine at a fairly high rate so there is still work to do....hoping to perhaps have things worked out in another day or 2.
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You need to get into the pool and look for more algae. Pool light niches, ladders, etc. My old pool cleaner hoses (Polaris 280), I found algae under the hose nuts. Even after the SLAM, I would run the pool at the high end of the FC range for a while. And brush brush brush!

I had mustard algae for YEARS (because of too much CYA from tablets). But I'm still paranoid it will come back. I run my SWG so I am at the top of the FC range first thing in the morning. I run my SWG 24/7, at low output.
 
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Congrats on the second hand SWG! since you cleaned it, I doubt it contributed to the algae etc. At the end of the day, I think you will be happy to have it. FWIW, my pool is a bit smaller than yours, I don’t have automation, run my VSP pump 24/7, and run the SWG at anywhere from 10% to 60% depending on swimmer load, maintaining FC at min 3.5 to 6 ppm, with a little under 60 CYA (thinking about bumping up CYA and FC/CYA based on all the good results here). I’m running the SWG % about 10% higher than last year, either due to it needs a little cleaning, or more likely, that 2 year old grandchild :). I still keep liquid on hand, and if FC gets to 3 after a grandchild swim, I’ll boost with liquid rather than SWG.
 
Just wondering, is it possible that your gifted SWG grew a nasty batch of algae in the year (or more) it sat unused prior to your taking ownership? :unsure: As you said, this all began with the Clorox pool salt, which came into the picture on the same day you fired up your SWG. I don't have an SWG myself, but is there a way to disassemble it and give it the ol' "kimkats toothbrush attack?" :LOL:
 
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Yesterday was a good day. The pool continued to consume chlorine, but throughout the day it got more and more clear. By the afternoon the pool was crystal clear. My wife and I took a small swim when the levels were slightly under max...it felt great to dive into a clear blue pool again! I performed the OCLT last night and still lost 1.5ppm, so the fight is not quite over yet. This morning I vacuumed, brushed and backwashed. So far I have used 18 gallons of 10% chlorine!

The title of this post is funny because the problem ended up being my first algae outbreak. I think it was part coincidence and part just a combination of factors. Thinking back, I think I may have had the beginning of an algae outbreak before I installed the SWG. I remember seeing a bit of dust when brushing, but I passed it off as pollen. The thing is...pollen season is over. Perhaps if I had continued with liquid chlorine it would have handled the small amount of algae. When I dumped the salt in, the salt unmistakably made my water very cloudy and discolored. I still maintain that I got bad salt, but I think the Polyfil and brushing mostly took care of that within a couple days. During this time I was also raising my CYA for the new SWG and getting used to the new levels and balancing which was a perfect time for a young algae culture to take advantage of me. So my best guess is that all these things came together to work against me.

Re: toothbrush treatment - In this regard I am lucky in that I have an extremely simple pool. No ladders, no robots, no pool lights. I have been brushing multiple times per day. I suppose I could go give the skimmer a toothbrush treatment though! How about pool toys? They have been stored out of the pool this whole time, do you all think they are ok once the pool is ready again or should I somehow clean them?

Re: SWG - I thought about the SWG having some left over algae, but I acid cleaned it according to the instructions and all of the SLAM chlorine has to flow through there the entire time...surely if it had some it has been exposed to the chlorine.

RE: What would a non-TFP person do - I have no idea! This site has been a life saver since we moved into this house. My friends and family think I have turned into a chemistry geek but I keep telling them...im just going off of the TFP website!

Thanks for all the comments, suggestions and encouragement!
 
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I think you had an algae outbreak in process.
Are you using the SWG to assist in keeping the FC up? I know you can't do that for the OCLT, but you are still losing FC overnight. Seems a few days with the SWG running will help keep the FC up and reduce the amount of LC you have to buy. Then do an OCLT in a couple of days. As long as you are at SLAM level or lower, you can swim.
 
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Well, we passed the OCLT last night (or the OCLC "Overnight Chlorine Loss Challenge" as my wife likes to call it :) Only lost .5ppm last night. CCs are .5 or less and the water has never been more crystal clear. I guess I'm done?

As Red Beard suggested above, I will probably keep my SWG running some and keep an elevated level for a while to ensure everything is good for the coming holiday weekend. It felt strange to let the pump rest this morning...lol...the end of an era.
 
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^^^^^^^

This!!! Keep FC elevated for a few weeks. Very easy to do, and benefits are very clear. As a rule most people end their SLAM too early. This is the cheapest form of insurance you can get.
 
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erikbranson said:
Well, we passed the OCLT last night (or the OCLC "Overnight Chlorine Loss Challenge" as my wife likes to call it :) Only lost .5ppm last night. CCs are .5 or less and the water has never been more crystal clear. I guess I'm done?

As Red Beard suggested above, I will probably keep my SWG running some and keep an elevated level for a while to ensure everything is good for the coming holiday weekend. It felt strange to let the pump rest this morning...lol...the end of an era.
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You now need to take a picture and put it in the "How Clear is TFP" thread

How Clear is TFP Clear? Let's See (Pics Only Please).

How clear should my water be? A very common question. Here is mine on a calm morning where I could finally vacuum. Yes I know, I'm still manually vacuuming. It took me 7 years to finally get an SWG, I'm working on a robot. :) So now let's see your water clarity.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Here are some pictures of my TFP pool! FC is down to about 12, so almost back to normal. First picture is before I vacuumed today...if you look real close you can see a bug on the bottom (and my liner wrinkles...lol). Second picture is my vacuum at 9ish feet under water.
 

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erikbranson said:
Hey everyone,

First of all, I have to say thanks to TFP for all your help. We moved in to our new house 3 years ago and I became responsible for the pool in the backyard. The advice here has been invaluable and our pool has remained crystal clear and we have used it TONS. I have been using the liquid chlorine method since then.

Recently, a friend was telling me that they had their pool removed and filled in. He offered me any of his old equipment that I might want. I made a visit and noticed that he had an Intellichlor IC40 SWG. He gave it to me and so recently I set about installing it. I tested it out on the bench to make sure it would power on, and then went about the project of cutting into my plumbing and installing this thing. Amazingly, the install went off without a hitch. After getting the plumbing all setup, all that was left to do was dump a bunch of salt in.

Unfortunately, the pool salt that I bought was Clorox brand pool salt. I read both of the articles in pool school about SWGs and it didn't mention anything about Clorox or "pool salt" being bad..just that it usually cost a bit more. After adding the salt, my pool took a cloudy yellowish/greenish color. Of course, I came here an searched and found all of the Clorox pool salt horror stories.

Anyhow, I added poly fil to the skimmer and ran the pump for 2 days with lots of brushing and the pool cleared up quite a bit. However, its still slightly cloudy. Kids with goggles mention the "murkiness". Now, this is something we could live with, but it is a huge bummer after having crystal clear water for so long. I ran the pump another 2 days with poly fil and it is still pulling some yellow from the water. I have added a picture of the poly fil after the 4th night of filtering. Is there anything else I can do? I don't see any obvious stains on the liner, although the edges do seem a bit yellowed...maybe. Also, I ran a OCLT and only lost .5 so I don't think I have any algae. Do I just keep filtering and hope for the best?

Thanks for all your help!
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When we lived in MN as soon as we chlorinated our intex pool the entire thing turned a redish yellow color. We hammered it with clarifier and used a hair tie to attach a thick gym sock to the return. Pulled that off and hosed it off a couple times a day and cleared the pool up in like 3 days. Nothing else worked.
 
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