Preparing to SLAM

Jul 18, 2017
28
Grosse Ile, MI
I'm sharing my test results from last night. This is an average from several strip tests I have. My TF100XL should be here tomorrow or Saturday. I'll obviously retest before I start. But it looks like I need to hit the pool with some CYA sooner and get the pH down.

Also, we have storms in the forecast all weekend. Aside from making it "less fun" is there any reason to put this until they pass? I'm sure we'll get more debris and sweeping will need to be well timed.
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Yikes... Hopefully you can get it under control quickly. My slam took almost a week and my water started crystal clear. Are you gonna increase cya before the slam, or are you waiting to test with the new test kit first?
 
Grey gloomy skies will work to your advantage. There will be less FC-robbing ultraviolet light.

In the meantime... that algae is still growing. It could end up saving you several gallons of bleach if you get some FC in there now. You don't even have to go all the way to shock level. Just get some bleach in there to stunt it until you can go for the big kill.
 
Grey gloomy skies will work to your advantage. There will be less FC-robbing ultraviolet light.

In the meantime... that algae is still growing. It could end up saving you several gallons of bleach if you get some FC in there now. You don't even have to go all the way to shock level. Just get some bleach in there to stunt it until you can go for the big kill.
I'm doing the best I can. It's disappearing almost immediately. With TC so low, I'm not sure it isn't the low CYA as much as all the algae.
 

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Thank God I found a better way to clean the filters! A piece of PVC holds it above the ground on a couple chairs. Then I gave up on the special filter attachment and used a nonpowered spray wand for cleaning RVs and siding. Just the right spray.

I'm hoping for some clarity in the morning. More than that, I'm hoping that the 5.5g of bleach remaining gets me through noon tomorrow. 22.5g in since last night.
 
Yesterday and this morning. Another filter change and I think I'll be seeing the main drain again. It's drizzling out, so brushing is going to be an unpopular task today.

Also, the SLAM instructions say to have twice what you'll need to get up to the SLAM level. I'm way past that in less than half a day. My first addition was 7 gallons and I've added 8.5 gallons since then. I'm going to get another 2 cases today hoping that it will last a few days. Is that normal?
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Yesterday and this morning. Another filter change and I think I'll be seeing the main drain again. It's drizzling out, so brushing is going to be an unpopular task today.

Also, the SLAM instructions say to have twice what you'll need to get up to the SLAM level. I'm way past that in less than half a day. My first addition was 7 gallons and I've added 8.5 gallons since then. I'm going to get another 2 cases today hoping that it will last a few days. Is that normal?
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Can be. But I already see a lot of progress. Keep taking pics from the same vantage point and you can see the stairs emerge from the murk.
 
Getting closer. I finally have the family contributing to the process. My wife manages the brushing. She sweeps half of the deep end and one of our boys (7 & 9) sweeps the shallow. I exchange filters, giving her time to brush the main drain, and have the other kid carry them to the cleaning station at the other end of the pool. I take my chair and we get to cleaning. We all finish at about the same time.

Okay. Some questions.

We're at 35 gallons of 10% in this bad boy since Thursday. I put 6g in today. I'm really hoping this lets up soon. But also, is there a way to estimate the pH? That has to have raised it quite a bit. Would it help at all to add some muratic to lower the pH? It seems like letting it get too high would be bad.

My filters are substantially less dirty. Should I still clean them once a day whether they need it or not? It's a pain.

I'm sure there's a pile of leaves and sticks near the main drain that I can't reach with my brush, net, or vacuum. It's getting smaller every day, but I'm sure it won't clear until that's gone. At what FC is it safe for me to wade in and try to sweep it up? If I could see it, I might be able to lunge over the diving board to it, but right now I'm just guessing.
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You've got a gigantic pool, so you're going to use a whole lot of bleach. No way around that. People with pools half your size can easily use 35 gallons.

As for the filter, watch the gauge. You're wasting time and water cleaning it before it's needed.

You can't do much about pH now because the high FC reacts with the reagent and makes it read falsely high.
 
Day 7

It hasn't gotten noticably clearer in 3 days. The color is fading but it's just as hazy as it had been. My filters are only about half through the cycle. Changing them hasn't seemed to help. The SLAM goal is 12. I'm waking up to 10FC and .5CC. it seems like clearing is what's left.

Could this be calcium? I started with it at 500. Am I stuck with draining and refilling if it is?
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You've come a long way from 7/21 pic of nasty looking green water. I see improvement from the pic on 7/23 too. Calcium doesn't cause a cloudy pool, algae does. You are killing it faster than it can reproduce now and it would be a good time to check behind any lights that you have and anywhere else algae can hide. Couple weeks back someone reported a bunch of algae on the back of their weir door, that stuff is sneaky.
 

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