20 days into a SLAM still seeing algae?

[mknauss]

Not that I know of

 

[MBoymer]

Update. Hopped in the pool with snorkel gear brushed by hand with the stiffest brush I could find. Brushed until I noticed the water clarity deteriorated. Going to test the water and see if there is any CC. Can vouch that hand scrubbing a pool is not practical.

 

[Bperry]

Update. Hopped in the pool with snorkel gear brushed by hand with the stiffest brush I could find. Brushed until I noticed the water clarity deteriorated. Going to test the water and see if there is any CC. Can vouch that hand scrubbing a pool is not practical.

You should also test it for calcium as that may be what the brush is scraping off the plaster?

 

[wireform]

Go easy on the brushing it's not aggressiveness that gets the job done but rather easy does it too but without missing any spots. Doesn't take much to move algae.....

 

[MBoymer]

You should also test it for calcium as that may be what the brush is scraping off the plaster?

Funny you mention that. I did that very thing but not sure if it would show...

Thus far, no CC and no change to calcium. Hopped back in and continued scrubbing. I know that I may not see any CC at this point, but I am also pretty certain that it's algae, as chlorine consumption was going up and the brushing in the beginning did make the water "milky".

 

[MBoymer]

Go easy on the brushing it's not aggressiveness that gets the job done but rather easy does it too but without missing any spots. Doesn't take much to move algae.....

Unbelievably there are areas that looked like they had never been brushed. Nothing green and everything is "greyish", but that is all I have ever seen when slamming
I am worried about the finish, however, I didn't notice anything while using a plastic push broom I had in the garage. I did notice that there was plenty of "dust" kicked up. My thinking is that the pebble tec is rough enough that the bristles of my pool brushes aren't getting into every crevice. I use a wall whale attachment and have literally counted coping paver lines to ensure that I am overlapping by half the brush. This should result in literally double brushing the pool. Brush the same spot twice before moving half the brush and you are effectively quadruple brushing the pool. Seems like the only thing left to blame would be the brush itself. I have scoured forums here and found some that say a SS brush is just fine on pebble, and others who caution against it. Pebble tec says never use one so that is an issue as well. I just want to be done slamming, and be rid if the algae once and for all.

 

[MBoymer]

Quick update :
Brushed pool *lightly * with stiffer brush. I remembered that the pro tuff pool pole came with an attachment for a paint roller, or coincidentally a push broom. Ran a light brushing with it and saw a noticeable difference in pool clarity. Still no CC in my testing, but the pool ate about 2ppm in about 3 hours. Seems high to me. Reupped FC and will brush again around dusk. "light test" to follow and an OCLT. Awful bit of effort to determine current issue, but I still think the brush is my issue with pebble tec finish. Suprised no one else has put in any input on the same issue (I can't be the first person with this problem) Will update with OCLT results Tommorrow.

 

[Mdragger88]

The light & the drain covers are suspect…
Do you have any other unused/abandoned lines? It’s hiding somewhere if you aren’t passing oclt.
No cc’s doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no algae even though elevated cc’s indicate a problem.
That’s why it’s only 1 of the 3 end of slam criteria.
Slam on !

 

[Toxophilite]

If you have an autofill can, check there.

 

[MBoymer]

Thanks for the replies everyone. As promised an update...
Brushed again lightly with stiffer brush last night. Water clarity definitely not TFP clear. Interestingly, I used a regular old nylon brush sideways again, and again there was a cloud in front of the light. So still stuff on the walls, but with the stiffer brush, it should be getting better by the day.

Failed the OCLT this AM. So for now I am still going with algae and the issue of a stiffer brush may have been the culprit. Am brushing again this morning and this evening so ill remain at SLAM levels until I pass the OCLT. Will hit all the niches of the pool again and try again tommorrow

 

[MBoymer]

Update:

Hopped in the pool again yesterday to check progress. Looks better but not perfect. Got a few hours of heavy rain last night so no OCLT. Pool looked very good this morning with water clarity going down slightly using stiffer brush.

This got me to wondering about pool brush quality and why the market doesn't have a rating system for pool brushes. I know that nylon "usually does the trick" but what about pebble pool owners? I can't be the only one that has had this issue. (what I can find seems to lean towards a SS brush.)

Selling a stiffer brush for pebble tec owners seems like a niche market. Furthermore, if a pebble pool was brushed using a better brush (that knocks more algae off the walls) wouldn't a slam theoretically be finished quicker? Most brushes come with 5 rows of bristles. I believe that doubling that would make double the contact with the area being brushed. This came to mind after running a brush "sideways" and noticing it seemed to kick up a visible cloud whereas nothing visible was kicked up brushing normally. Dunno, just some thoughts while waiting to pass an OCLT. 😂

 

[MBoymer]

Edit :

Pulled light niche, overflow drain, skimmer wier, and umbrella holder. Maybe some algae, perhaps the worst in the light, all scrubbed and squeaky clean now. Will pull again to keep on them while keeping track of progress