SLAM process

[Mamamartini]

Dumb question...

I am currently slamming my newly acquired pool. It was cloudy when we bought the house, but blue. You could sort of see the bottom of the shallow end. We neglected the pool while moving and needless to say, it required a SLAM. Here's the question...does my water need to be clear before I progress to the OCLT and/or the "0.5 CC or less" confirmation? Would I just be wasting product from my kit by doing those things before the water is clear? Could the water be cloudy, yet sanitary/safe to swim in?

Thanks!

 

[duraleigh]

That's a pretty good question. Here's the idea...

In this case, your only reason to do the OCLT is to confirm the end of the SLAM. However, your cloudy water automatically means you cannot meet the three criteria for ending the slam which is..

1. Your pool water is sparkling and there is no visible algae (dead or alive)

2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less

3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.

So, no point in doing an OCLT until you THINK you have completed the SLAM.....then perform the OCLT to confirm it.

 

[Mamamartini]

What if the cloudiness is unrelated to the algae? I'm sure that's unlikely, but I'm just curious.

Thank you for helping me!

 

[pooldv]

Algae and bacteria are by far the two most common things that cloud water. The only other thing I can think of right off is calcium and it clears up in a day or so on its own. Maybe lots of swimming with sunscreen and lotion but that would clear up in a day or two as well. You would need to tell us what you added to your pool to make it cloudy. Then we could help fix it. Pools never cloud up on their own except for bacteria and algae due to insufficient chlorine levels.

 

[Mamamartini]

No swimming with sunscreen/oil...really not much swimming at all due to just moving in. I'm not sure what the previous owner put in, but he neglected it as well. I think I'm just being impatient during the SLAM process.

I will test the calcium in a bit, but it's always been about 200-225.

 

[pooldv]

Calcium in the water doesn't cloud the water even above 1000 ppm. Only when first added.

 

[duraleigh]

Could the water be cloudy, yet sanitary/safe to swim in?

Yes. The last half or so of a SLAM is mostly filtration so you are sanitary even though your water is still cloudy. As always, you should be able to see the bottom so you can swim safely.