White Mold?

[Brent_Ontario]

Hello all,

I have been reading a lot of the posts here all summer and have gotten a lot of good information.

I have recently been having a lot of trouble with my pool over the last 3 weeks. I was away on holidays for two weeks, and when I came back, my pool was quite cloudy. (White cloud). The top few feet of the pool is clear, and below that is where the cloudiness starts.

When I initally got back, my pH was quite low. I have managed to bring back my chemicals to proper readings, and have been keeping the chlorine quite high. (Have had the water tested at two pool stores and everything is within good readings including calcium levels).

I have recently noticed little flakes of white floating around that look like tissue. I have read this can possible be white mold from the plumbing lines?

Any idea or advice? If it is white mold, how do I get rid of it?

Pool is:
16 x 32 inground
Vinyl liner
sand filter
avg depth 6'

Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

Could you post a full set of test numbers?

 

[Brent_Ontario]

Test Numbers

Chlorine - 5
pH - 7.2
Alk - 120

I don't have the numbers for calcium.... Both pool stores said they are ok..?

 

[JasonLion]

You need to shock the pool, but to know how high you should take the FC level you need to know your CYA level.

 

[Brent_Ontario]

Sorry - dumb question but will they be able to tell me what the CYA is at the pool store if I take a water sample in?

Is there a best method to 'shock' the pool?

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, most any pool store should be able to test for CYA.

To shock the pool you first lookup the FC level you need to aim for based on your CYA level. You can do this using my Pool Calculator, see the link in my signature. Then you need some way to measure FC and CC at reasonably high levels. That usually means getting a FAS-DPD test kit. And finally you want to have a stockpile of chlorine on hand since missing a day means you are basically starting over from scratch.

The key to shocking the pool is to measure the FC level, add enough chlorine to bring it back up to your goal, and repeat that process at least three times a day and preferrably more. Keep this up until the FC holds steady overnight and the CC level is zero. While this is happening you want to brush the pool once a day and clean/backwash the filter at least every other day or as needed based on the filter pressure.

 

[Brent_Ontario]

Cool.. Thanks for the info Jason.. I'll try it out.

If it is white mold - will the shocking of the pool get rid of it?

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, appropriate levels of chlorine will kill off white mold. White mold is kind of rare except in baquacil pools, but whatever it is shock levels of chlorine will take care of it.