Marathon SLAM

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Ok, here we go again!! So I passed all the criteria of a SLAM starting on the 15th. Just to be sure I continued the process for another two days.

Yesterday on the 17th, I declared victory, with everything looking good from a SLAM perspective and I set my pump back into its normal cycle.

Today, the 18th I walk out the back door and immediately I'm hit with chloramine smell, the kind that hits you when you stroll into a cheap holiday in with a poorly run pool.

I run the numbers, FC -6 CC - 4 Pump is back on and I hit it with more CL

What gives!!!!
 
Well then my final guess is there is something in the filter. If not, I guess it's up to you, back to SLAM time until cc <= 0.5 or at least a elevated FC with 1-2 daily checks.

That is a strange one.
 
Mr Bruce said:
Well then my final guess is there is something in the filter. If not, I guess it's up to you, back to SLAM time until cc <= 0.5 or at least a elevated FC with 1-2 daily checks.
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I don't think so. It is a DE filter, I just tore it entirely down (again) a few days ago, removed all grids, washed and re-assembled. Also since the pump was not running overnight, nothing was going through the filter anyhow.
 
I've sprayed down the waterfall rocks with a bleach / water mix a few times now just to be safe. I've looked in every nook and cranny that I can see and cannot find any signs of growth, dead stuff or decomposing material.

We got a good dose or rain last night, but in my 17+ years of owning pools I've never seen CC shoot up like that from rain.
 

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Could some "bad" runoff have gotten into your pool water somehow?

On a good note, now you see and understand what happened and know exactly what to do even if you do not know exactly what happened :)
 
The only time I've seen CC shoot up that high was in my pool with an ammonia issue the first spring I took it over. Joking aside, a potty party in the pool would do that too. Or a run off, drain in contamination of fertilizer. Or a dead animal... but that would probably only jump that high if the animal were a couple days in all gross and lodged in a skimmer, not just an overnight casualty.
 
cowboycasey said:
Could some "bad" runoff have gotten into your pool water somehow?
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I guess anything is possible, but we have good drainage all around the pool and house (it was put in and under the house and pool deck when we built) and I've never seen anything head towards the pool. I was just out crawling around with the flashlight checking over the falls and still see nothing.

And worth noting the chloramine smell coming off the water is so strong it is almost unbearable!
 
Is it possible that FC dropped below minimum for a while? There could be bacteria consuming your CYA and converting it to ammonia. I agree with Joel, ammonia is the most likely scenario for that much CC that fast. The most likely source of ammonia is urine or bacteria and CYA.
 
For the last two days of the SLAM my numbers were between 14-16 FC and CC was 0. Yesterday in the AM the OLCT was 14 down from 15 and that was the second night in a row of only a single digit drop in FC.
I'm low on bleach so I need to head out and pick some up and I'm going to grab an ammonia test kit. Will also pick up some CYA as eventually I need to get that number up closer to 40.
 
pooldv said:
Is it possible that FC dropped below minimum for a while? There could be bacteria consuming your CYA and converting it to ammonia. I agree with Joel, ammonia is the most likely scenario for that much CC that fast. The most likely source of ammonia is urine or bacteria and CYA.
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During this 15 day slam only one time did my numbers get low, down to 13 on FC, but it was only there during a max of a two hour window. The rest of the time I have been between 15 and 20+ consistently.

One question if I have a ammonia problem, that eats CYA, could I have refueled it by adding more CYA?
 
Ammonia likes stabilizer, but it's still hard to tell what has happened in your case. Most winter-opening ammonia cases are quite obvious. For now, I would maintain your SLAM level and lets see how your pool responds in the next 24 hours. Maybe something very unusual happened overnight. I know the storms that whipped through our area were absolutely brutal and extremely windy. Maybe something from that storm is causing a very odd reaction in your water and its trying to burn it off. Definitely good you caught it so early.
 
So decided to get a second opinion on some numbers and took a sample to the local Leslies, I needed to pick up some CYA anyhow. Good news guy behind the counter actually knew what he was doing and used a full taylor kit to test.

All his numbers matched mine except CYA. His gauge stopped at 20 and he said his best guess was 10. He didn't try to sell me anything which was surprising, his only advice, get that CYA number up.

So I came home, tested the CYA again. My gauge goes to 30, its cloudy at that level but if I look hard, I can see the dot.

I got a sock in the skimmer with CYA, got my CL level to 15 and will hold it there to see how this shakes down. Hopefully it will be back on track in a day or two!

- - - Updated - - -

Also a bought an aquarium ammonia kit from Walmart and I'm showing no signs of ammonia in the water at this point.
 
Update: After starting the slam back up, all my numbers have held consistent. I've passed the OLTC test two nights in a row, I added 2lbs of CYA and have been keeping the FC level right at 15 and it has used very little CL since I gave it the first dose. Water is clear, everything tests good, but I do still have a faint chloramine smell from the water.

Will let it run all day and see what happens.
 

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