Algae or dirt debris?

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Anjayla0021

Anjayla0021

0
May 12, 2017
128
S. E Michigan
We have not been able to swim in our pool for a few weeks due to cold temps and medical reasons (boo!). When I went to go vacuum the pool last night I noticed a "ring" of color around the inner perimeter of the pool. I could tell if it was Algae or possibly dirt debris as there are some leaves in the pool, but nothing too bad. We have been lucky all summer and our water has been perfect so I have not had to do any adjusting/adding of anything. I quickly checked the numbers, everything was within range except the PH was high...8.0. As I vacuumed, the colored matter went away. The FC last night was I believe 8.6. I added 52oz of bleach to bring it up a bit and ran the pump all night.

This morning, pool looks good. I rechecked all my numbers:

FC: 10.6
PH: 8.0
TA: 90
CH:70
CYA: 80 (maybe even 70, this test is always difficult for me)

So a few questions....should I shock the pool? Fix PH? Do one before the other? I have never had to adjust my PH before and understand you can buy muriatic acid form home depot. Any tips handing the stuff? The word Acid scares me.


A bit confused about pool school too...It states that my Target FC should be around 6 which seemed very low to me. I have always tried to keep mine upwards towards 8-10. And 31 as a shock number seems very very high?

Any advice would be great, I am still a newbie learning the ropes of my first year of being a pool owner!
 
I handle acid the same way I do bleach, both can harm you. I pour it with part of the bottle in the water and slow enough so there is no splashing. You can wear goggles but do not wear a respirator. The smell is bad but it is a warning sign to you that you need to leave the area. I have poured 4 gallons in this season and have not caught a whiff of it yet.

For a SWG pool the FC target is lower because you are always adding chlorine when the cell is running and the swing us non SWG folks see each day is higher so we need to target a higher number to avoid going below the minimum.
 
Since you tested last night and got a pH of 8 while the FC was *below* 10ppm (the cut off of where FC messes with the pH test) you can trust that pH number and you need to get some Muriatic Acid in there.

Then you can start a SLAM if you desire. Or wait till tonight and run an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test (OCLT) to see if there *is* something growing in there. Here are the directions: Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Maddie :flower:
 
So a few questions....should I shock the pool? Fix PH? Do one before the other? I have never had to adjust my PH before and understand you can buy muriatic acid form home depot. Any tips handing the stuff? The word Acid scares me. A bit confused about pool school too...It states that my Target FC should be around 6 which seemed very low to me. I have always tried to keep mine upwards towards 8-10. And 31 as a shock number seems very very high? Any advice would be great, I am still a newbie learning the ropes of my first year of being a pool owner!
Click to expand...

Let's try to tackle these one at a time:

1) No, you should not shock your pool, just use liquid chlorine.

2) Fix PH, yes. Go to Lowes to Home Depot and purchase Muriatic Acid in the paint section. Also, get a 32 oz. measuring cup in the same section. Then purchase gloves, eye protection and mouth guard if you have never worked with acid. It is really not that bad, but you will get the hang of it. Put on a sweat shirt and jeans + everything else. Pour enough to lower PH to target based on pool math into container. Now to make things a little easier, take a 5 gallon bucket and fill up to about 4 gallons and add the acid slowly. Then pour in front of a return. Or if you are comfortable with how AftonJeeper recommended.

3) Your minimum is based on your CYA. Add enough during the day, early morning or late at night, that will be consumed in 24 hours. I always target 2 ppm higher than minimum for additions.

4) A shock level of 31 is not high as most of the chlorine is bound to the CYA. It is always safe to swim up to shock level.
 

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Oh its been 24 hours since I have added it....I should add my water levels were low so I had to add some water to the pool after I added the acid and then of course today it rained ALOT. Would that have anything to do with it? My FC at 13 is higher than I usually have it.
 
Ok it looks like I got my PH to calm down, but still have some concern for the brown color patches on some parts of the liner. I don't know if it's just dirt since when I vacuumed over it, it disappears. The water itself looks nice and clear. Any suggestions? I could post a picture if that would help?
 
Anjayla0021 said:
Ok it looks like I got my PH to calm down, but still have some concern for the brown color patches on some parts of the liner. I don't know if it's just dirt since when I vacuumed over it, it disappears. The water itself looks nice and clear. Any suggestions? I could post a picture if that would help?
Click to expand...

Can the pool pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test?
 
I will do it this evening and have results tomorrow morning. So just to confirm, I would just turn off the SWG, get the FC number in the evening when the sun goes down and then again in the morning before the sun comes up again? Does it matter if the pump runs through the night or should that be off too?
 
No, having the pump off will not effect the test. You lost about 1ppm. I would raise the pool to shock level and keep it there today by testing and bumping the chlorine back to shock level every 2 hours. Run another OCLT after 24 hours of shock level.
 

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