Nature 2 system on agp
- Thread starter gtrum60
- Start date
Can you post a pic? If your FC is holding, it is unlikely it is algae. How often are you running your pump now? And are you running it during the day now?
With some help I can probably send a pic--but my help isn't here right now. The best way to describe it is like a smearing vein. I've been running the pump mostly 24/7 but a couple of times I have not had to add any chlorine at night so I'll keep it on 12 hrs. Today is the first time it has not run during the day because it was cloudy.
Just realized that I vaccumed to waste earlier and brushed most of it up so not much would show up on a pic.
I'm hoping this might be dirt, but it seems that is how it has started in the past. I was told at the pool store that with a sand filter not to backwash too often because it works better that way. What are your thoughts on that? I' m not sure what the proper pressure should be.
What does this dirt on the bottom of the pool look like. Does it grow in specific spots or all over the bottom. If it is Mustard algae, it will grow on the shadier side of the pool, and mostly on the sides of the pool not the bottom...If it is green it probably is regular algae. If it looks like particles of sand piled up in the crevices of your pool, it is more than likely pollen that has gone through your filter and spit back out...it sits on the surface, and gets skimmed and then runs through the filter, and back out, or if you haven't run your filter frequently enough it settles from the surface onto the bottom. This has been a long standing controversy on this forum over the past year...Some say the sand like particulate is mustard algae, others say it is simply dirt...I acutally got a sample and looked at it under a microscope and it appeared to simply be tree pollen...Is your FC holding pretty well over night. If it were algae, you would see a pretty good FC loss overnight. If it is just pollen on the bottom FC will hold fairly well. Like I said...I thought I had mustard algae last year...first year pool owner...but realized it was just dirt (pollen).
Thanks, this has been so confusing over the past three years. It looks brownish and settles mostly in the center two thirds of the pool. I have never had a problem with a drop in chlorine level like everyone talks about. But I have had high phosphate levels in the past. The beginning of the year it tested almost zero at the store. The pattern is what confuses me. Its like a smear in some areas. Would pollen do that?
gtrum60 said:
Is it staining the liner, or is it more like when you brush over it the dirt kind of dissapates in the water. Then settles again in the same place...on my pool, 24 ft round...It settles mostly in the inner two thirds of the pool, mostly because the return is positioned so that there is a constant flow of water around the outter third, it doesn't settle there. I would again venture to guess that this is nothing more than the pollen that is settling on the bottom. I didn't get this until right around the end of June last year...but I was vacuumeing every day. This year I haven't had the opportunity to vaccume as often due to the weather. So I think I noticed it earlier. Do you have lots of trees around your yard...I have several trees that are in my yard or my neighbors yards that are easily 75 yrs old or better. Therefore I get a lot of tree pollen all summer long. Most likely this is what it is.
That sounds like my pool. It does take some effort to get some of it up. Really just one tree around--not too close. The stuff take dissapates in the water does fall back in the same spot--within no time at all it is back on the bottom.
gtrum60 said:
Does it concentrate more when no one has been in the pool for a few days? That is when I get it...When we are in and it stirs up...usually it goes away for a few days and it gets filtered...But if it isn't pollen it could just be dirt in the air...open fields, farm land or other dust sources. Get a skimmer sock and you will be surprised how much that will keep things from getting into and through your filter. They turn black...but then the gunk doesn't end up on the bottom.
Oh thanks so much. You are right about accumulating more when we are not in it. And we do live on a farm. Lots of pasture around us. I'll try the sock, never heard of it. Do you backwash often--I was told not to. Should I just watch the pressure and if so what should it be? Thanks for the moral support it can really aggravate.
gtrum60 said:
Try using the skimmer sock, and see just how much of the Crud it collects as opposed to running through your filter. Farmland...that'll do it...especially when the wind is up and it is dry. I have a cartridge filter and I do not back wash at all...Most people with sand filters that are on this forum report that they backwash maybe two or three times a season. backwashing too much actually makes your sand filter less effective. My pressure runs between 16 and 20 psi, but it varies for different filter types and different systems...Check with the manufacturers specs in the owners manual or on line. That will tell you for sure.... Just open up a big case of POP (pool owners Patience) and keep vacuuming the bottom of the pool...It's just dirt...don't sweat it...especially if you don't see large drops of FC overnight.
I am beginning to relax a bit. Especially since the water has never looked so sparkling clean--that ought to tell me right there that I don't have a problem. I had no idea that you could wait that long before backwashing. I was probably doing it once a week. I'll be checking on the sock this week. Nobody at the pool store was ever as supportive as ya'll have been, I think I was becoming paranoid about this whole pool business. I'm looking so forward to having one season to enjoy it. Thanks again.
I found some green stuff on the walls of the pool today. I tested the water at 5pm and it 7ppm.
My question is could it be that my cya being still at 60 it requiring more bleach than 7ppm to keep that from growing? I stopped at 60 because we get sun all day. I am going to add enough right now to get it up to 10 and brush it. The water still looks great. What do ya'll think?
My question is could it be that my cya being still at 60 it requiring more bleach than 7ppm to keep that from growing? I stopped at 60 because we get sun all day. I am going to add enough right now to get it up to 10 and brush it. The water still looks great. What do ya'll think?
gtrum60 said:
With a CYA of 60ppm, you need to raise your FC up to 24ppm and keep it there until the stuff stops growing...If you have green stuff, then you need to shock. That is all there is too it...It may take a week for you to get the algae all cleaned. More POP! What is your water temperature?
Do you think I should lower the CYA more. I thought I read somewhere that living in the south with lots of sun this number would be okay. Are saying I should keep the shock level at 24ppm for a week or it will take that long to clear up? I was keeping the day level at 5ppm and at night raising it to 7ppm. That obviously wasn't enough.
It is okay to keep posting on this site? I was wandering if you just keep on the same topic. I guess most people get it figured out a lot faster. Oh the pool is 85 degrees.
It is okay to keep posting on this site? I was wandering if you just keep on the same topic. I guess most people get it figured out a lot faster. Oh the pool is 85 degrees.
gtrum60 said:
I don't think you should lower it but be aware that by having it at this level, keeping it at a target level will not kill algae...That will only prevent algae from growing again once it is all killed. You need to get shock up to what I said before 24 ppm I think, and then keep it there until it doesn't fall off overnight. Once that is done and you have kept the filter running 24/7 you should be ok...it may take as much as a week to kill all the algae from your pool. But that is what shocking a pool does...it keeps the chlorine level up high enough to kill any algae that exists and any new blooms that might grow. You have to keep it up until all organic material has been killed. a pool at 85 degrees probably does not make a difference...if it were over 90 I would say turn the heater off and that would help kill the organics...but 85 is fairly normal. Get the shock up!!!
I am not a moderator...so I can't make that decision about continued posting...My experience however has been keep posting until you get it solved.
Yep, I agree with Beave. Keep posting in this thread until all is solved. 
Also agree that you need to shock your pool and, based on the CYA/Chlorine Chart, 24 is shock level for CYA of 60.
Continue brushing, filtering and shocking until you meet the three criteria that lets you know you are done:
1. You hold FC Loss to 1ppm (or less) FC overnite
2. You test CC .5 or less
3. Water clear and sparkly
Be careful with the overnite test. If you have any discrepancies (as in prior post), redo the test the next nite to verify.
The skimmer socks/screens will catch lots and lots of 'stuff'
I buy mine at WallyWorld.
Also agree that you need to shock your pool and, based on the CYA/Chlorine Chart, 24 is shock level for CYA of 60.
Continue brushing, filtering and shocking until you meet the three criteria that lets you know you are done:
1. You hold FC Loss to 1ppm (or less) FC overnite
2. You test CC .5 or less
3. Water clear and sparkly
Be careful with the overnite test. If you have any discrepancies (as in prior post), redo the test the next nite to verify.
The skimmer socks/screens will catch lots and lots of 'stuff'
I buy mine at WallyWorld.