12 days of Slam

[Chrissykr]

I tried to get a pic of my skimmer. The liner is behind the skimmer face plate. I tend to get gunk in there so I separate them as much as possible and run a toothbrush in there as well. Excuse my grody hand. I fertilized flowers this morning and use marker dye.

 

[bff]

Good Evening,

I pulled off all the returns and scrubbed them-and they were dirty!
There were 7 of them with differing levels of filth. Is this algae? It's slimy and scrubbed right off. Could this be my problem?

Today on left and yesterday on right. It looks a lot more blue in the picture, but I'm not seeing much difference-maybe a little. I'm going to try to take my pics at the same time every day.

Brenda

 

[bff]

I tried to get a pic of my skimmer. The liner is behind the skimmer face plate. I tend to get gunk in there so I separate them as much as possible and run a toothbrush in there as well. Excuse my grody hand. I fertilized flowers this morning and use marker dye.

Thanks Chrissykr! I did get behind the skimmer face too! I didn't know that came off until I got down there- It was dirty, not as bad as the returns though.

Brenda

 

[bff]

Also, there is definitely some staining in that brownish color on the returns, skimmer face and pool steps. I'm not completely surprised given the state my pool was in before! We will be replacing all the stained parts soon.

Brenda

 

[Chrissykr]

I see a difference in the pics. Yes to the slime. That is the biofilm and that is why you need to keep at the brushing and keep on cleaning those same items. I would do It twice a day. You have to keep on that biofilm. Did you get in the pool? If so did you feel any slime on the liner anywhere? I know it seems repetitive but it is important. The same with brushing at least twice a day. I once read on here “Don’t dance with the algae...Kill it!” that is my mantra whenever I have to do a SLAM.

 

[Chrissykr]

I can’t help with the staining if it is metals. The experts here know how to take care of that. I do get A little iron in my water at certain times of the year and it shows up on my steps, returns, skimmer etc. I just use Magic Erasers to clean those things and it works awesome. The Magic Eraser will cloud the water if you use a lot of them so I just try to keep up and every few weeks I get my toothbrush and Magic Eraser and clean my problem areas as part of my maintenance.

 

[Prickly]

Hi,

Thank you for the advice. It sure would be a faster fix and we would love to be swimming right now!
Yes. It's a lot of time and effort, but I just can't see myself draining and refilling the pool at this point. If I can't turn this pool around we might consider it for next year. I am really worried that draining might damage my pool or cause some other problem.
Do you think that it won't clear?

Brenda

The tarp method should not damage your pool as long as you supervise it. I bought a pump to remove the water and put it in the deep end. Then I put a tarp over the pool that was large enough to line the entire pool with extra length to overhang on the deck on each side (my fiberglass pool is 12 x 23 feet and my tarp was 30 x 50 feet). I pumped out the water underneath while filling on top of the tarp so the water level never actually dropped at all (which is what could cause damage if you allow it to get low enough). The tarp didn't even have tension on it because it floats on the water below while you fill above. I was nervous about it but it worked very well. Your misery could be over in less than a day! There is a thread on here somewhere documenting the process with pictures. That might help you visualize it

 

[Prickly]

Reducing CYA, the Tarp method

Hi guys, Recently I found out that my CYA level was way too high, somewhere between 250 and 300. Having to replace around 80% of the water, doing it in one go would be too dangerous for my old vinyl liner, and multiple drain and refills would waste a lot of water. Searching on the forum for...

www.troublefreepool.com

This is the post I read before embarking

 

[bff]

Thank you Chrissykr!

It's encouraging to know that I found a source of algae at least! I will keep at those areas and great idea about the magic eraser!

I did get in the pool yesterday- the bottom wasn't slimy. (I didn't go down to the bottom in the deep end it's too cloudy!)

Brenda

 

[bff]

Thank you Prickly,

It sure is tempting to get this ordeal over with in a day! Thank you for the information- I will check it out.

I can't refill the pool with my well water as we're in a drought here. We would have to get a tanker in- how would that work with the tarp method?

Brenda

 

[Phelps.joel.a]

I dont know that you can use the tarp method. Unless you rented a gas powered pump (and even then), I dont know that you could keep up with the flow from a tanker. Plus with a tarp method you are looking to add water at the same time and rate as your are pumping it out. Given the size of your pool, you would have to get multiple tankers out and then coordinate the pumping to coincide.

Just my $.02.

 

[bff]

I agree Joel. As tempting as it is, I just don't think I can drain it this year!

 

[Chrissykr]

How’s it looking today?

 

[Prickly]

Thank you Prickly,

It sure is tempting to get this ordeal over with in a day! Thank you for the information- I will check it out.

I can't refill the pool with my well water as we're in a drought here. We would have to get a tanker in- how would that work with the tarp method?

Brenda

You would have to roughly balance the incoming and outgoing flow rates. If you get a powerful pump to suck out your water it could be possible. Maybe there are tankers that have draining equipment as well? Alternatively, the tanker could turn the water off and on if the fill gets ahead of the drain. You could likely drop your water level at least a couple feet before the tanker arrives (I'm not sure what the safe drop level is for your type of pool - for my fiberglass I was told a couple of feet is fine).

 

[Phelps.joel.a]

the tanker could turn the water off and on if the fill gets ahead of the drain.

Most drivers (at least around here) would only be willing to do that to some extent. Depending on how fast you can pump, they could be having to adjust the output flow from the tanker quite a bit. Unless you are tipping them, or paying extra for that service, I wouldnt expect a driver to be willing to do it much.

I am not fighting the same kind of problems, but I am doing an in place exchange (pumping at the same time as refilling). I wonder if this would be beneficial, given the circumstances?

 

[Prickly]

The pumps can remove water quite quickly. I intentionally slowed my removal down by attaching it to a garden hose instead of the wide hose it came with because I wanted it to keep pace with my incoming garden hose. This 1 HP pump will remove 6600 gallons per hour

RIDGID 1 HP Stainless Steel Dual Suction Sump Pump 1000RSDS - The Home Depot

This Professional Grade Dual Suction Stainless Steel 1 HP RIDGID Pump is assembled in the USA for performance that lasts. The 1000RSDS will deliver dependable, energy-efficient, ultra-quiet performance

www.homedepot.com

 

[bff]

Hi Everyone,

I had to go in to the office today- daughter was on pool patrol all day!

I retested the CYA after adding the recommended amount and now my CYA level is 50! That's OK, as I was dosing for 50 anyway. It doesn't seem to be losing a ton of chlorine during the day today or yesterday.

I just brushed, vacuumed and checked all the returns etc. for algae buildup- none yet! There doesn't seem to be much difference in clarity (maybe a little?).

When I reach my arm down the side of the deep end it does feel a little slippery- like if I could just get in there with a big sponge I could wipe it away. If I could see the bottom, I would go in and do it!

Anyway, here's today vs. yesterday.

Today on left, yesterday on right. They were both taken around 5:45 PM --I don't think the pool was really as blue as it looks yesterday!

Brenda

 

[JJ_Tex]

I retested the CYA after adding the recommended amount and now my CYA level is 50! That's OK, as I was dosing for 50 anyway.

Hey Brenda, glad you upped the FC to match the CYA of 50. I looked at your logs again and they were 20 a week ago, then 40, and now 50. Have you been adding stabilizer, or a product with CYA (trichlor, pucks, etc)

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

I wanted to mention another spot I found algae hiding in my pool and it was the steps. The edges of the bracket thingies that holds the liner in place at the steps? I found a lot of black gunk hiding in there. I used a toothbrush to get it out and dispensed bleach into the crevasse with a syringe, not sure how necessary that step was, but I know that part of my pool doesn't have much circulation because things always get stuck there.

 

[Chrissykr]

I wanted to mention another spot I found algae hiding in my pool and it was the steps. The edges of the bracket thingies that holds the liner in place at the steps? I found a lot of black gunk hiding in there. I used a toothbrush to get it out and dispensed bleach into the crevasse with a syringe, not sure how necessary that step was, but I know that part of my pool doesn't have much circulation because things always get stuck there.

mine is a strip and it gets a lot of gunk and every time I get algae starting that is the first place I check. If your feeling slime then you still have active algae. That biofilm forms a protective coating. Every time you brush you break that film allowing the chlorine to break it down.

I think you can see the steps better today than yesterday even though the picture was more blue from yesterday. Keep brushing! Your arms will be in great shape when this is over. I have a routine can brush my whole pool in 20 minutes.