Is pink slime and white water mold a problem in chlorine pools also?

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anthonypool89

anthonypool89

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Aug 26, 2016
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Berks County, PA
OK....I once again am battling the slime and water mold in my baquacil pool. The walls and tiles feel all slimy and slippery, my new filter grids basically turned pink from the slime that was in there a few days ago (cleaned it up real well and now the pressure is up again after only 2 days).

So I am again seriously contemplating going back to chlorine as much as I really don't want to. I must now ask - being that I have been looking at several things on the net that indicate pink slime is a naturally occurring bacteria and white water mold is a fungus and neither are caused by any one particular sanitizing system. Thus, I'm reading that they can grow in any type of pool including ones using chlorine. Is this true? I totally admit that the problem seems more indigenous to biguanide pools, but why wouldn't it also show up with chlorine?

I can't help but wonder if my recent problem - which appeared rather suddenly once I started having the issue with springtails in the pool - is somehow linked. The filter has been full of thousands of these things the past few times I cleaned it. Could the presence of all that bug-stuff in the filter be contributing to the other problems? I need to be more convinced that, if I DO convert to chlorine, that I very likely will NOT have any future problems with slime and mold.

Thanks for any suggestions...
 
Ditto, I've never seen either one in any pool except for baq pools. So, between us we've written almost 60k posts and we've both read a lot more than that. I think we've seen most of them. :)

I can also tell you that my pool has been clear and we've never missed a single day of swimming since we filled our pool in 2012. And it is open year round.
Here is the entire list of chems that have ever been put in my pool.
Salt
bleach
Cyanuric acid
muriatic acid
Borax

I've never bought a single chemical at the pool store. That is why I love TFP and why I am still here.
 
recent post about it probably due to letting fc get low.
Pink Slime

i have seen some posts here but did not search for them, you can do that if interested, on using a product called ahhsome to clear it up. i have not used it myself but in your case i probably would if the slime/mold is so pervasive.

even if you decide to convert (and i can tell you i am glad i did), there is a decent chance you have some of it in your pipes and chlorine alone may have a hard time breaking up any biofilm that might be present. i spent a little time upon opening this spring to attack what i thought was mold in my return lines. whether that was successful or not is unknown, but my chlorine levels this year have been much easier to maintain. correlation or cause and effect, cant tell, dont care.
 
The answer is - yes, you can get pink slime and water mold in any body of water.

The reason why it is not seen much in chlorine pools is because chlorine very effectively kills those two types of waterborne pests. Pink slime only shows up as a "pink" mass when the bacteria that causes it is allowed to proliferate and form a biofilm (hence the pink color). Since most chlorinated swimming pools are kept chlorinated (most of the time), it is rare for these problems to arise.

Baquacil pools are more prone to these issues because it is all too easy for the sanitizer levels to get too low and then biofilms will form. Once biofilms form, they are impenetrable by most sanitizers. There are many scientific studies that show biofilms can exist in chlorinated water all the way up to several hundred ppm of chlorine with little to no penetration of chlorine into the biofilm mass. Baquacil will be even less effective. This is also one reason why hot tubs should be periodically purged with a biofilm remover (like Ahh-some) because the sanitizer alone is not effective at removing these films and hot tubs are more prone to generate bacterial colonies than algae.
 
Becoming more and more tempted to convert. Just brushed the pool 3 times - first time didn't even touch the slippery feel of the walls. Still have to do the tiles and grout. Removed all pink slime from the skimmer door with a toothbrush just a few days ago and today it looks like I never did it.

I see that Baquacil makes a product called "line cleaner" that has the following ingredients: Potassium Peroxymonsulfate: CAS No. 10058-23-8, Potassium Bisulfate: CAS No. 7646-93-7, Potassium Sulfate: CAS No. 7778-80-5, Mangnesium Carbonate: [FONT=proxima-nova, helvetica, sans-serif]CAS No. 546-93-0. The use of this stuff can (temporarily at least) turn the water green and also calls for flocculent following the application. Might this product be worth a try? I'm just getting a bit tired of chasing after various things that claim to eliminate mold and slime and yet don't in the long run. Softswim "Assist" was the only product that really seemed to do the job and, of course, it's no longer available. The aquafinesse tablets had been working quite well up until just the other week. Perhaps no connection whatsoever, but things really started to go downhill once the pool got full of these springtails (and still is though not as bad). [/FONT]

[FONT=proxima-nova, helvetica, sans-serif]Thanks to all for the replies. I really appreciate it. Time to clean the filter (yet again) today and see how things look in there. I'm starting to think that this summer might turn into one of those where I wind up cleaning the filter every few days. If such is the case, by the time the end of the swimming season rolls around, I'm more than ready to close. It's such a relief between October and May to NOT have to constantly worry about filter pressure increase, although last year I had really long filter cycles and very little problems with slime and mold...nothing like recently. [/FONT]
 
Here is what MPS/KMPS is

Potassium Monopersulfate
Potassium Peroxymonosulfate
A non chlorine oxidizer or 'shock'. It is acidic and will cause lower pH and TA. It adds sulfates to the water. Will not break down CC but helps prevent it from forming when used on a regular basis. It will interfere with TC and CC tests unless special reagents are used in testing since it WILL test as CC! A good choice to use in indoor pools that are not exposed to sunlight but really has no advantage in an outdoor pool. It is only an oxidizer and NOT a sanitizer and should not be used as such.
 
anthonypool89 said:
... "line cleaner" ...
Click to expand...
that is what i used several times when i got pink slime/white mold. it is for baquacil pools. one of the problems is that using it also requires addition of the peroxide shock and cdx. it was costing me about $100 each time i did the treatment. that got old fast, especially when it was only temporary, that is, did not last the entire season. probably the main reason i converted to chlorine.
 

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So let me see if I have this right....with the TFP method the only thing that needs to be added to the pool (barring unusual circumstances I suppose) is bleach or some other liquid (or dry) chlorine, muriatic acid to lower pH (I still like dry acid better), and borax to increase pH. Is that it? So no algicide needed with the TFP method? What is used to "burnout" the pool? Back in the day, I used to buy bags of stuff from the pool store called "burnout".....
 
I don't even know what burn out the pool means. We do recommend adding polyquat 60 algaecide when you close the pool as a precaution. But not any other time. I've never put algaecide in my pool. Just maintain chlorine above minimum for your CYA at all times to prevent algae, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. If you don't then SLAM Process the pool to kill any algae that might grow and resume.

Dry acid is more expensive and adds sulfate to the pool which will build up and damage concrete and metal surfaces over time.
 
Pooldv,

What I'm referring to came in 1-lb bags........still used I believe.

Full Description:
BioGuard Burnout 73 Shock
Pool water is subject to a build-up of a wide variety of organic contaminants including swimmer wastes, such as perspiration, ammonia compounds, and natural and synthetic oils and lotions. If left untreated, the build-up of these contaminants can lead to the development of noxious odors, irritating water, and unsightly water clarity problems.
These organic wastes serve as nutrients for bacteria, algae, and other organisms, and should be removed from the pool on a regular basis to prevent their build up. Burnout 73 will effectively reduce organic contamination in swimming pool water resulting in increased water clarity.
Burnout 73 Shock Features:

  • Granular Chlorine Shock Treatment for Pools
  • Restores sparkle and clarity to pool water
  • Buffered sanitizer, oxidizer
  • Destroys organic contaminants
  • Quick dissolving
  • Can be used in all pool types
  • One bag treats 16,500 gallons
  • 1 Lb Bag
Ingredients:

  • Calcium Hypochlorite 73%
  • Other Ingredients 27%
  • Available Chlorine: Minimum 70%
Dosage Amounts:

  • Shock Application - Add 1 pound per 16,500 gallons of water
 
jblizzle said:
No algaecides, clarifiers, flocs, potions, etc. And no "burning out" the pool whatever that means.

99% of problems are solved with more chlorine.
Click to expand...


So the chlorine serves as both the oxidizer and clarifier? It's been SO long since I've used chlorine I can't even remember a time when I didn't use a separate oxidizer/clarifier (hydrogen peroxide) and sanitizer/algaecide, along with just a plain algaecide, and then more recently CDX, aqua finesse tablets, and of course pH increaser or decreaser as needed. I think if I am to continue with biguanide I really should switch to a sand filter. Far fewer problems from what I've heard. DE filters and bigaunide are apparently not the best combination.
 
anthonypool89 said:
So the chlorine serves as both the oxidizer and clarifier? It's been SO long since I've used chlorine I can't even remember a time when I didn't use a separate oxidizer/clarifier (hydrogen peroxide) and sanitizer/algaecide, along with just a plain algaecide, and then more recently CDX, aqua finesse tablets, and of course pH increaser or decreaser as needed. I think if I am to continue with biguanide I really should switch to a sand filter. Far fewer problems from what I've heard. DE filters and bigaunide are apparently not the best combination.
Click to expand...

Chlorine is an oxidizer and a sanitizer, it is not a clarifier. In a properly cleaned and clear pool, polymeric clarifiers are almost never needed. Algaecide is also never needed because chlorine very effectively kills most species of algae.

The BurnOut product is simply high available chlorine calcium hypochlorite. Shocking (or burn out) is not a regular process in a properly maintained chlorine pool. Some pool "professionals" will say you need to treat combined chlorines (CCs or chloramines) by shocking weekly, but they are wrong. In a properly chlorinated and clean swimming pool, CCs will never build up to any level that requires raising the free chlorine levels up to shock values. The weekly "shock and floc" routine is a symptom of a pool that is NOT properly maintained, not a pool that is well maintained.

This is where TFP takes the industry to task - they lack the appropriate understanding of water chemistry and the relationship between chlorine and cyanuric acid (stabilizer) and so they concoct all of these "fixes" for a problem that is entirely their own fault. If they better understood the details of water chemistry, then pool care becomes incredible easy....but, then again, there's not profit to be made in easy pool care....
 
Hi Matt,

Thanks for the info. I did mean to say that chlorine was both oxidizer and sanitizer...not sure why I said clarifier. Interesting about not needing to do the burnout. I can attest to the pool store personnel saying that you must do this weekly. I can remember buying those bags of burnout by the case load. Ironically, when I initially switched to biguanide, I found IT to be much easier than using chlorine. I used to use these chlorine sticks (called "stingy sticks" by bioguard if I remember correctly) and the proper dosing often called for half a stick, so I'd take these things - which were about 6 inches long and around 1.5 inches thick - to the workbench and literally saw them in half, nearly gagging all the way through the process. Then, upon winter closing, I was told to have the water tested since "winter balancing is different than for the swimming season" (pool store and product quote), so I'd have to add this special winter shock, etc. The biguanide system turned out to be simply adding the same initial dose of stuff that is used to start up in spring. It got to the point in the last few years where I don't even have the water tested for closing. Actually, I don't anticipate going back to the pool store ever again for any water testing.

On a personal note, I think part of all this is that - at 61 years old and having run a pool for the last 28 years - despite my absolute love of swimming laps every day or as often as I can, sadly I'm just really starting to get tired of the work that goes with it (along with a good bit of other yard work that goes with the decent-sized property I have to manage!) No matter if it's chlorine or biguanide, I think I'm just getting a bit weary of all of it. Equally sad but true if I want to be brutally honest with myself is that I'm almost starting to more and more enjoy the off-season when the pool is closed - between October and May - almost as much or even a bit more than the actual swimming season - since there is nothing to worry about. When I open the pool, especially this year, while I looked forward to it, in the back of my mind there were reluctant feelings like.....ok...here we go again....what problems will crop up this year? During the swimming season, I'm constantly vigilant about what the filter pressure is, how the water looks, what the chemical levels are, etc. Another factor is that, since the pool was renovated and I know how good the water CAN look and feel - like after the fresh fill was put in, I'm all the more bummed at times like this when the water is really cloudy, doesn't smell good, and there is the slime/mold issue to contend with.

I wish I could remember how I felt about things when I WAS still using chlorine and things were going well. Of course, I was only in my mid-30s and virtually everything was easier. Once I got into a 'chlorine demand' situation a few years into chlorine, I got totally fed up with it, stopped using it along with a friend of mine who also still runs a biguanide pool, and never really looked back until the past few years when I've started contemplating using it again after coming here and reading how nearly everyone says how easy things are. It has me increasingly curious. Today I must have spent 5 hours working on the pool and yet only about 30 minutes actually in the pool. Something is a bit wrong with that picture! A 55+ community that has a clubhouse pool that I can use any time with NO maintenance responsibilities whatsoever is looking better and better! As the old saying rightly goes, "it don't get any easier"!

All that being said, thanks so much for your posts. I really appreciate it and will give it all serious thought. Tonight I will use the very last of the Softswim Assist tablets. They are THE gold standard for treating water mold and slime in biguanide pools. Unfortunately, they are no longer made.

BTW...just read through the instructions on how to SLAM....sorry but it sounds complicated and made me tired just reading it!
 
pookiesunshine said:
recent post about it probably due to letting fc get low.
Pink Slime

i have seen some posts here but did not search for them, you can do that if interested, on using a product called ahhsome to clear it up. i have not used it myself but in your case i probably would if the slime/mold is so pervasive.

even if you decide to convert (and i can tell you i am glad i did), there is a decent chance you have some of it in your pipes and chlorine alone may have a hard time breaking up any biofilm that might be present. i spent a little time upon opening this spring to attack what i thought was mold in my return lines. whether that was successful or not is unknown, but my chlorine levels this year have been much easier to maintain. correlation or cause and effect, cant tell, dont care.
Click to expand...


Can Ahhsome be used in biguanide pools? I did some research on this product but didn't find anything that specifies what sanitizing systems it is compatible with....sounds interesting though and has good reviews. Thanks for mentioning it.
 
Your experience with chlorine was the pool store rollercoaster. That is not at all representative of the TFP method of pool care. Just go read some testimonial threads. They all say the same thing, "I had no idea it could be this easy"
 

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