Is this rust?

[jule]

I'm not sure where this post should go, so forgive me if it is and feel free to move it to it's proper place.

In April, our pool was a medium green, the past few weeks it's turned reddish brown. We don't cover it and as a rule get pine needles, pollen and earth creatures in it. Not such a big problem to vacuum to waste.

This year is different. The green tuned to brown and is actually reddish. Have never seen a red algae before. There is some a few inches up the walls and it's powdery appearing. It floats in the water if it's pushed around too quickly, but so does rust?

Unfortunately, my husband left the metal steps in over the winter, something he hasn't done in the past.
Seems like a lot of rust for two legs of metal to create in a short time., but I'm not a chemist.

This liner needs replacing. Was going to do it this year but change of plans pushes that to next year.

So, my questions are: IS this rust? Is there a red algae?
How to know which and what to do about either? If it's rust, is there more to elimination than vacuuming and washing the vinyl walls?

Thanks in advance for your input.
Jule[attachment=0:38nzwdf0]pool3_may242011tn.jpg[/attachment:38nzwdf0][attachment=1:38nzwdf0]pool2_may242011tn.jpg[/attachment:38nzwdf0]

 

[JasonLion]

I can't say for sure, but that looks like red slime, a kind of bacteria that is rare in pools.

Do you have any chlorine in the water right now? I wouldn't expect it to look like that if it is red slime unless you just opened and there isn't any chlorine in the pool.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

This is a baquacil pool (right?), so you chlorine would be zero. Not sure what the baquacil treatment of this would be...vacuuming to waste sounds like a good start, but after that I'm not sure. Can you shock with baquacil sanitizer??

 

[jule]

This was a baquacil pool for many years, converted to chlorine last summer.

Without any chemical additions yet this season
the readings I have using my Taylor test kit are:

PH: above 8.2
Chlorine: Zero
TA: 70
Cal Hardness: 50

 

[JasonLion]

The first steps are to lower PH to around 7.4 or 7.5, scoop out any debris left on the bottom, and get a CYA reading. Then it will be time to shock.

 

[jule]

I did CYA test resulted in a full tube, black dot about half the size but still visible.

I have vacuumed to waste once and most of it's gone and off the bottom. With it still set up to vacuum to waste I am going to give it another go to remove more with that method. I have the power washer standing by to rinse off (delicately, I know) what the vacuum cannot remove from the walls.

Should be refilling with well water by this evening. When it's full I will lower the ph, report back in and go from there.

As an aside...because the pool was green several weeks ago, my husband wonders if it wasn't the pink anti freeze that he flushes out of the lines that turned the algae this color. THAT's never happened before, but he did that about a month ago already and the weather here hasn't cooperated enough to fully fill, balance and open the pool. Plausible?

 

[JohnT]

I kind of suspect it's tannins from the pine needles.

 

[jule]

John T, that's another of my husbands thoughts. There was so many more of them this year than in the past. Pine needles as well as the little pieces of pine cones.

Would be great if it's just that simple. ~ That would be simple, wouldn't it? lol

 

[jule]

[attachment=0:1k00cekg]pool_5302011small.jpg[/attachment:1k00cekg]Update:
Filters are in, pools been running steady since Saturday afternoon. So far have added: Saturday: 20 oz muratic acid to lower PH, Sunday morning 1.5 gallons chlorine.

This mornings results:
FC: 0
CC: initially .5 but after about 10 minutes it reverted in color so added more drops to get 1.5
PH: 7.8 (really more between 7.5 & 7.8 according to color chart
TA: 110
CH: 90 (lt purple) 110 (fully blue)
CYA: 0

Wasn't able to keep up with the chlorine last evening, but will do so today. There were traces of algae/some red stuff where walls meet pool bottom that didn't vacuum well. Not visible now after chlorine addition, but colorless doesn't necessarily mean eliminated.

So, next move is to get CC & FC to correct levels BEFORE adding stabilizer, correct? At what point should I be doing something about the TA and CH numbers that are off?

 

[jule]

Also, the R-870 I have is a container that didn't get opened last summer. Is it okay to use this? It's not fully white, but has a bit of grayish cast to the granuals.


Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

Your CC level is 0.5. The sample will always turn pink again if you leave it sitting for a couple of minutes, and that should be ignored.
CH is 110.

I would start adding CYA right away. With CYA at zero you lose all of your chlorine to sunlight each day, which makes it more difficult to finish cleaning up the pool.

Yes the R-0870 is still good even if it turns dark gray.

 

[Taz]

Jude - Looks like you've made nice progress on the pool! It is pretty amazing what a few gallons of chlorine and filtering will do.

 

[jule]

Tuesday numbers: Finally have chlorine and CYA readings!

FC: 24 <---2 gallons of shock last night because once again I wasn't able to stay with it during the holiday
CC: .5
TC: 24.5
PH: 7.8
TA: 160
CYA:30

 

[JasonLion]

Wonderful

It sounds like you have turned the corner and are just about done. Recommend a through brushing while at high FC levels.

 

[jule]

This mornings numbers:
FC: 4
CC: .5
TC:4.5
PH: 7.5
TA: 110
CH: 150
CYA: 40

Okay, so I still need to get the CF up a little and CC has to be .5 min 2 mornings is a row, correct?
Should I be getting to that before working on the high TA and low CH? ~

Guess I need to do some re-reading. Don't recall if the CYA will drop unless fresh water is added? The range for CYA is 30 -50. Mines gone from 30 to 40 in three days, where as I understood it can take a week or to aquire a reading. I used Pro Team UV Shield enhancer, granuals, so I'm kind of surprised at the quick jump although I have had (except about 10 daytime hours one time) the pump running continuously since May 27.

 

[jule]

oops, meant FC up, not CF.

 

[JasonLion]

You have a vinyl liner, so you don't need to add calcium. TA doesn't need to be adjusted unless you are having problems with the PH going up too quickly.

You don't need to wait for CC to be 0.5 or lower two days in a row. That is only for the end of baquacil conversions.

CYA can take up to a week to dissolve. Sometimes it is faster. The best thing to do is to wait the full week and then test it, so you don't waste CYA test reagent.