Is there a place to send a sample of sediment to finally determine what this stuff is?
I've looked at it under a microscope & I see round objects... but then when I check pollen & algae photo samples, what I see seems like it could be either. The sample I put in a container still has the sediment in the bottom & the water doesn't look any different than when taken out of the pool several days ago.
In the past, it has been fairly obvious when algae was growing because the pool got cloudier. In the past, I've hardly ever had CC over 0.5 or an OCLT drop more than 1. So, when I did have algae, the only way I could tell for sure was water that steadily grew a bit more cloudy every day. Now for weeks, the water has been clear enough to read from across the 30' pool while underwater, if my eyesight happened to be good enough for that, and the FC & CC tests have been fine. I can't even remember the last time CC was above 0.
That all seems to indicate just pollen/dust, but I can't help wondering, especially since my FC & CC tests in the past didn't really indicate algae even when it became obvious that something was growing. If it is algae, it sure is a slow growing type. Maybe the recent rains here in NJ have brought in a lot of very fine dust.
Whatever it is is too small for my cartridge filter, since the pool is only cloudy after trying to vacuum. Once it settles, it is perfectly clear again. This sediment question is the only thing about taking care of my pool that has me stumped & it seems to be a fairly common topic here.
Again: is there a place to send a sediment sample to? Thanks.
I've looked at it under a microscope & I see round objects... but then when I check pollen & algae photo samples, what I see seems like it could be either. The sample I put in a container still has the sediment in the bottom & the water doesn't look any different than when taken out of the pool several days ago.
In the past, it has been fairly obvious when algae was growing because the pool got cloudier. In the past, I've hardly ever had CC over 0.5 or an OCLT drop more than 1. So, when I did have algae, the only way I could tell for sure was water that steadily grew a bit more cloudy every day. Now for weeks, the water has been clear enough to read from across the 30' pool while underwater, if my eyesight happened to be good enough for that, and the FC & CC tests have been fine. I can't even remember the last time CC was above 0.
That all seems to indicate just pollen/dust, but I can't help wondering, especially since my FC & CC tests in the past didn't really indicate algae even when it became obvious that something was growing. If it is algae, it sure is a slow growing type. Maybe the recent rains here in NJ have brought in a lot of very fine dust.
Whatever it is is too small for my cartridge filter, since the pool is only cloudy after trying to vacuum. Once it settles, it is perfectly clear again. This sediment question is the only thing about taking care of my pool that has me stumped & it seems to be a fairly common topic here.
Again: is there a place to send a sediment sample to? Thanks.