White blobs

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tuffturf

Member
Jun 26, 2022
12
Ohio
Recently purchased home with indoor pool. It is separate from the house, built inside a building. There are only 3 windows in it so it gets very little sunlight. Chlorine, Alkalinity and PH all within normal limits and we have been swimming in crystal clear water for about a month.

I have a submersible pump connected to a series of DIY solar heater that output water at about 25 degrees warmer than the water temperature. Today we moved the solar heater and must have jostled them a little and I noticed white globs spitting out of the hose. I scooped them with the net and they are very sticky and gummy. Almost feel like wet caulk when you squeeze it. When you do squeeze it, it is hard to get off of your fingers and leaves them very sticky.

I noticed a few of these globs along the waterline and scrubbed them with a sponge. After awhile I had to get a new sponge because the first one was too sticky and wouldn't rinse off.

I pulled the submersible pump and this stuff is all over the bottom mesh and up into the blades and lining the hose that is attached to it. It's very hard to remove.

All levels look good, Verified with test strips and by 2 local pool supply stores. New sand in filter, And the water is still crystal clear Any ideas what this white paste might be?
 
tuffturf said:
All levels look good, Verified with test strips and by 2 local pool supply stores.
Click to expand...
That is our concern #1. Test strips are simply horrible with their extremely vague ranges of colors. Pool store testing (and advice) isn't much better, coupled with expensive products that almost never work. We would encourage you to test your own water. It's very easy and much more reliable with the right test kit. We recommend one of two options - the TF-100 (link in my signature) or Taylor K-2006C. The TFF-100 has Taylor products in it, it's just packaged independently at a better price. Reviewing a full set of water test results would be our first step.

Some things you might do now however is update your signature with all of your pool and equipment info. See mine as an example. Also tell s how you chlorinate the water on a daily basis. Finally, please review and bookmark our Pool Care Basics page as it has tons of great articles that will apply to you. We don't like to guess at water chemistry issues, so with the right set of test results I'm sure we can help.

Welcome to TFP! :wave:
 
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Welcome to the forum :wave: Texas Splash sums it up nicely Test strips and Pool Stores are completely unreliable to test your water.

Is there any chance that white stuff could be improper caulk that was used on that makeshift solar? Your issue might be white mold but I have no hands on experience so I will let others help.
 
Thanks for your responses. I have a friend with a liquid test kit. I'll have him test to compare with my readings. I balanced the water using the test strips, then took a sample to both stores on the same day. The numbers were all surprisingly close.
Meanwhile any idea what this might be?
Here's my numbers:
10,000 gal. fiberglass indoor pool
FC 3.2
Total Chlorine 3.4 (edited)
Alkalinity 120
PH 7.4
CYA 30 (indoor pool)
Calcium 320
I try to maintain FC around 3

Alkalinity was originally very high. I had to add nearly 3 gallons of acid total to get it to 120

Although this stuff feels like caulk, there was no caulk used on anything near or attached to the pool. I removed the mesh filter from the bottom of my submersible pump and tried to wash it in the sink, The sticky residue is almost impossible to remove. Soap, alcohol , vinegar. Nothing cuts it

Ironically, if it wasn't for this build up at the submersible pump and attached hose. I would say the water looks perfect and feels fine to swim in.
 
Last edited:
Are you certain about that combined chlorine? If it’s that high my first guess would be some type of algae or contamination in the water. Though I wouldn’t rely on it if you’re not testing with a proper test kit.
Test Kits Compared
 
wireform said:
What is that kit ?
Click to expand...
He said he couldn't remember the number but it is made by Taylor. It may be a couple of days before I can get it.

Meanwhile assuming the numbers are correct or close to correct. Does anybody have any ideas what it might be?

The only thing I can find close is white water mold, but everybody describes it as looking like tissue paper or flakes floating on the surface and no one mentions it being sticky.
 

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What are the hose fittings made of?

Looking for something that is breaking down. A plastic or other that would be resistant to the cleaners you stated.

Does a solvent break it down? The easiest is WD40.
 
They are just standard PVC irrigation fitting with a shark-bite type hose connector on each end. Then a garden hose connects to the heaters and another garden hose goes back to the pool. Although the hoses are coated, it isn't starting at the hoses. The biggest build up is on the bottom intake of the submersible pump .
 
Can u post some pics of the goo?
Also, “trying to maintain a fc level of 3ppm” is a bit risky as the minimum for your cya level is 2ppm. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room for high bather loads or a missed dose.
Aim for the high target 🎯 on the FC/CYA Levels & replenish fc before ever reaching minimum to ensure you’re always good to go.
You really need your own test kit (Taylor k2006 or tf100) to properly maintain your pool, relying on strips, your nice friend, or the pool store is a recipe for disaster. It’s also not practical or even possible to do some of the things that rule out/take care of problems without your own kit - like an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test or SLAM Process.
 
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Here's a couple of photos the first is a small amount of what I scraped off of the bottom (input) of my submersible pump. The second is what built up inside the hose adapter output at the top of the pump.
 

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It could be some sort of biofilm ??
the only way to be sure that it’s not something organic/growing in your pool is to do a proper Overnight Chlorine Loss Test at target fc levels for your cya. FC/CYA Levels
This requires that you have an fas/dpd test at your disposal which is included in one of the two test kits recommended.
Test Kits Compared
This whole setup poses another question as well, are you regularly swimming in the pool with a submersible pump hooked up & running?
 
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