SLAM needed or did I catch it early?

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MJF54

MJF54

0
In The Industry
Jul 5, 2014
40
Southeast, WI
We were somewhat lax with the maintenance this past week due to medical issues and recovery from surgery. Long story short, I checked the pool Friday afternoon with the solar cover still on:

Friday 6-25, 3:00pm

FC - 0.5
CC - 1.0
PH - 7.6
CYA 50

I added 34 oz Liquid Chlorine to bring the FC up to 6,

Saturday morning 6-26, 11:30 am:

FC - 0.5
CC - 0.5

When I removed the cover, the pool had splotchy algae on the floor. Added 34 oz of 12.5% chlorine to raise level to 6 ppm and dosed an extra 20 oz. to try and knock back the live stuff. Pool was clear, we swam in it. Vacuumed and brushed and scrubbed the stairs. Water was still clear but a touch cloudy..

Saturday afternoon 6-26, 4:30 pm, Checked levels again

FC - 13.5
CC - 0.5
CYA - 20 ???
PH - 8.2 ???
TA- 110

Saturday evening 6-26, 8:00 pm, Checked levels again

FC - 11
CC - 0.5

I did not add any more chlorine as I figured with us swimming and 90 degree partial sun that loss from 13.5 ppm to 11 ppm was normal.

Sunday afternoon 6-27, 3:00 pm

Pool had small growth of algae, (significantly less than yesterday) water is clear and not cloudy. I vacuumed and brushed again and tested. Water was still mostly clear, less cloudy than yesterdays result after vac and brush.

FC - .05
CC - .05

I dosed at 60 oz. 12.5% liquid again to try and knock back the growth.

I'll check the #'s again early morning tomorrow, the Mrs. is recovered from her medical issues and can do some additional testing and dosing while I am away tomorrow.
If I find any algae in the morning, then is it time to SLAM?
I hope we can catch and correct this in time for the holiday next weekend. I'll report back in the a.m.

All thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

Mike
 
MarianParoo said:
Every indication is that you will have to SLAM, but it seems like it will be quick. Take your FC down to 7.2, and go for it in time for the holiday.
Click to expand...
I'm sure that this is a typo.... bring your PH to 7.2 for the SLAM.

MJF54 said:
We were somewhat lax with the maintenance this past week due to medical issues and recovery from surgery. Long story short, I checked the pool Friday afternoon with the solar cover still on:

Friday 6-25, 3:00pm

FC - 0.5
CC - 1.0
PH - 7.6
CYA 50

I added 34 oz Liquid Chlorine to bring the FC up to 6,

Saturday morning 6-26, 11:30 am:

FC - 0.5
CC - 0.5

When I removed the cover, the pool had splotchy algae on the floor. Added 34 oz of 12.5% chlorine to raise level to 6 ppm and dosed an extra 20 oz. to try and knock back the live stuff. Pool was clear, we swam in it. Vacuumed and brushed and scrubbed the stairs. Water was still clear but a touch cloudy..

Saturday afternoon 6-26, 4:30 pm, Checked levels again

FC - 13.5
CC - 0.5
CYA - 20 ???
PH - 8.2 ???
TA- 110

Saturday evening 6-26, 8:00 pm, Checked levels again

FC - 11
CC - 0.5

I did not add any more chlorine as I figured with us swimming and 90 degree partial sun that loss from 13.5 ppm to 11 ppm was normal.

Sunday afternoon 6-27, 3:00 pm

Pool had small growth of algae, (significantly less than yesterday) water is clear and not cloudy. I vacuumed and brushed again and tested. Water was still mostly clear, less cloudy than yesterdays result after vac and brush.

FC - .05
CC - .05

I dosed at 60 oz. 12.5% liquid again to try and knock back the growth.

I'll check the #'s again early morning tomorrow, the Mrs. is recovered from her medical issues and can do some additional testing and dosing while I am away tomorrow.
If I find any algae in the morning, then is it time to SLAM?
I hope we can catch and correct this in time for the holiday next weekend. I'll report back in the a.m.

All thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

Mike
Click to expand...
There are no 'normal' or 'acceptable' levels of algae. The reason that the algae is still showing up is because you have not yet eradicated it.

This pool needs a proper SLAM: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

Just because you cannot see the algae does not necessarily mean the water is clear of algae spores. To truly determine if there is organic matter in the pool is to perform an OCLT: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/136-perform-the-overnight-fc-chlorine-loss-test-oclt

If this were my pool I would not hesitate to start the SLAM, especially if I want clear water for the holiday weekend.

For Saturday afternoon you posted FC & CC levels of .05ppm, is that a typo for 0.5ppm?

What are you testing with, and how do you normally chlorinate?

You will need a confident CYA level so you can know your proper FC shock level for the slam: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock Lets hope it is closer to 30ppm rather than 50ppm, it will keep the initial FC dose amount down.

Stop dancing with the algae, and get to killing it!

Dom
 
Thanks guys,

I really new what I had to do but was trying to do the dance. Figured I could corral it. I ran the filter all night. This morning had a couple of small spots, water clear, could definitely read a dime if I threw one in.

Pictures from this morning, the test result pictured is the CC test:

Pool 6-27-16 - Google Photos

Here's this mornings results using the TFT T-50 kit.

Monday 6-27, 8:00am

FC - 6.5
CC - 0
PH -7.8
TA - 120
CYA - 20

The chlorine I added yesterday should have brought me to 9.5 FC, and this morning down to 6.5.Definitely a fight going on in there. Good news is the CC seems to have dropped so I have it on the run.
I will drop the PH and start the SLAM in a little bit.
The CYA has been around 50 since opening in late May, why the drop? Should I add stabilizer now or wait till after the SLAM?

I'll update as I go,

Mike
 
Update on SLAM progress

Monday 6-27, 10:00 am

Added 21 oz of chlorine to bring to SLAM level of 10.
Added 18 oz MA to reduce PH to 7.2

Monday 6-27, 1:00 pm

FC still at 10

Monday 6-27, 5:00 pm

FC - 9.5
CC - 0.0
PH 7.2

Added 4 oz Chlorine to bring level back to 10ppm.
Pump running 24/7

I'll check before bed and try an OCLT in the a.m. I think I got it. My guess is the extra doses I added Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon got me up to SLAM even though the PH was a little high for the SLAM.
I picked up stabilizer today and if I pass the OCLT tonight I'll adjust the CYA up to 30 and then aerate to drop the TA and raise the PH.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I got it early.

Mike
 
Sounds good Mike, stay the course.

How's the water look, no visible algae, even when brushing?

You are brushing, right?

Looking forward to those OCLT results.

Dom
 

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Sorry for taking so long to update, here is the result:

I could not pass the OCLT for a couple of days but the pool was looking great.
So we stayed the course and kept the SLAM level up and the PH down and brushed a couple times daily.
Thursday morning we passed to OCLT and I started to let the CL drift back down.
I ran a full range of tests Saturday morning and used pool math to adjust all my levels.
CL is now at 5
PH added 10 oz washing soda to bring up to 7.6
TA was at 90, added 14 oz baking soda to bring to 100
CYA was at 20, added about 12 oz stabilizer to move towards goal of 30. (It calls for 16 oz, but I'll work up to it)

Pool sparkles like it should! Fired up the heater and we are back in business for the weekend!

I have been a TFP convert for 3 years now and am a full believer. I never got upset or confused during this little episode. I knew if I followed the program we would be fine, and we are.

Thank You All!
 
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