Help me help my friend

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VondaP

LifeTime Supporter
Aug 21, 2007
74
West Texas
Pool Size
16000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I have a friend who is a single mom. She has been struggling with her pool for months. She has a 15,000 gallon inground plaster pool with a DE filter. We are in the desert southwest, hot, sunny and at times windy. She uses a pool service (not very competent) as well as taking water to Leslies for testing. 3 weeks ago she had green algae (diagnosed by the service guy). He said their were other issues (doesn't remember what) as well and had her drain close to half of the pool. She refilled the pool and the water was fine for a week or so, but now it appears (I saw it yesterday) to have mustard algae. The stuff is slimy and the water is dull. Leslies suggests using Yellow Out - I have convinced her that, with all of the wonderful help on this board, that she probably does not need it. She only has a basic kit so I took mine over and tested - here are her numbers:

FC 13
CC .5
PH 7.2
CH 125
CYA 45

I don't know why I didn't test the TA - I will do that today. If I'm reading the stickies right, we need to get her chlorine to 27 - keep her PH at 7.2 - but for how long? Does she need to brush, vaccuum? Is it necesary to clean out the filter? Once the pool is under control - she will switch to the BBB method. I have convinced her to do away with the shock and pucks.

Thank you all again for your help.

Vonda
 
If it is really mustard algae you should bring the FC up to 27 and hold it there till 24 hours after the FC level holds overnight. While you are working on that brush the pool once a day looking carefully for places algae might hide (underside of ladder, around underwater light fixtures, etc). Also, clean the filter once every couple of days or more often if the pressure rises 8psi above starting pressure. PH of 7.2 is great for shocking. After you are done shocking you might want to bring the PH up a little. Don't bother measuring the PH during shocking.
 
Jason,

Thank you for your quick response. When you say to clean the filter, does that mean backwash? After the levels remain at 27 overnight do I bring them back to "normal"?

Vonda
 
The pool was recently acid washed, the pool service was supposed to come back and clean the filter. They never have. Anyhow, I noticed in the clear part of the lines that there is green mold. I don't have an answer. Any ideas of how to clean that?

She also has a neighbor that has a huge tree (I don't know what kind) that continually drops leaves and stuff into her pool. Her pump pressure rose to 20 and she said she was told that it should be at 15 or so. This was after the backwash. Any ideas?

Thank you all so much,

Vonda
 
Clorine at shock levels should take care of the green mold.

I would go by the pressure after a backwash and use that as a baseline. When it rises 8 to 10 psi from there then backwash again. Plus backwash at least once while you are shocking. If something is actually wrong with the filter it will become clear over time, otherwise don't worry about it.
 
My filter has a handle on the top of it. When the pressure reaches 10psi above starting pressure, I can move the handle down slowly and then up rapidly 4-5 times and it will make the pressure return to normal and will extend the D.E cycle.

I'm still relatively new to pools, so I'm not sure if this is the case for all DE filters or is just a feature of my particular brand.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable and interject.
 
All DE filters can be "bumped". The idea is to knock the DE off of the grids, along with whatever dirt has clogged the filter. When started again the DE will recoat the grids and the dirt will end up in a different configuration, which will hopefully allow more water to get through.
 

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Thank you so much for the explanation. I have another question. We are currently shocking the pool at 27. This number was based on the CYA of 45. Is it necessary to test the CYA again to ensure that 27 is still where the level needs to be?

Vonda
 
We ran out of the FAS - DPD to check for the chlorine levels. I have one on order but it hasn't arrived. Last night the FC was 29.5 - right now we can't check it. Should we just add chlorine in hopes of keeping the level up? If so, how much?

Vonda
 
That is tricky. There isn't a good answer. You can get a very approximate idea by using dilution and the basic OTO test but it is going to be very very inaccurate at the dilution you will need to use.

Try diluting the pool water four to one with distilled water (or some water known not to have any chlorine) and using the OTO test (five drops gives various shades of yellow) and then multiply the result by five. That will give you some idea of the level up to about 25. If it reads below 25 add chlorine.
 
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