4 week SLAM Question

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Here's the pool this morning after a ton of rain last night. More rain on the way. 2nd pic shows the dirt or sand buildup. It's very fine, like dust. Could it be dead algae?
The last pic has a drain in there somewhere.
 
That water simply looks like it's never been in a SLAM. Ugh. Really doesn't add-up. Even the most black, dark green swamps react better to SLAM treatments. Even you performed one a year or two ago in under two weeks, so this is odd. But in the end, it's not rocket science. Something simple is being missed. It has to be. Either:
- Chemistry is somehow off, by dosage, testing, or something. When the CYA test is correct, and the (SLAM) FC is matched to that CYA, chlorine wins every time ... unless......
- There is still a live algae growth somewhere still undiscovered. Regardless of the testing accuracy, if an algae colony is missed, it will regenerate and skew the results.

Other than the ladder, which you already ID'd algae and cleaned, I don't see anything else in the water from my view. No light? You mentioned the main drain cover before. Is that main drain line operational? Just wondering is the line itself is not working but possibly holding algae. You mentioned that you can't see in the deep end. Any possibility there's something (debris) still sitting down there?

Of course there's the filter. Usually the filter comes into play more when the water stays cloudy white and can't seem to filter the dead algae. But in your case, knowing it hasn't been opened for a couple years, I have to wonder what's going in there as well. I think you mentioned that you are renters, so that limits what you can do right? This may be something you eventually have to discuss with the owners. While you understand TFP care, they may not, but with those items above verified, there's not much left to check but the filter.
 
Texas - Splash - I hate to say this but do you think a floc treatment may do some good? The green maybe metals?
Click to expand...
I wondered about metals myself earlier which is why I asked that as well, but there seems to be no evidence to confirm. Even in many of our pools with iron, we see better clarity before moving-on to other treatment options. Floc is almost an absolute last resort. I would feel better ruling-out a couple other items before we call-in the Calvary for a vote on drastic measures.
 
This morning
FC -29 - I added two gal of 8.2 bleach last night, figured why not with all the rain coming.
CC- 0
CYA- 20-30

we don't have any lights, I pulled the drain cover and all is well.
I pulled the caps that hold the liner around the main stairs, no algae from what I could tell. I gave it a good scrub. There was a black dust that came out but I think it's from a seal or material under the edge of liner and stairs. When I wiped it with a finger it left S residue. I scrubbed it until it was no more.
I checked all four returns. One is for the vacuum pump, which the valve by the pump had been closed since the pump is inop. Well I opened that valve a couple days ago and flow from circ pump pushed through that piping and pump and came out return. So if there was some contamination hopefully that took care of it.
I'm not familiar with floc, I'll look into it.
I've read a bunch of threads and I do t know what is so different about my situation. I've followed SLAM protocols and I'm still green.
Should I add DE to the sand filter?
 
Your situation is why people should raise their initial CYA using stabilizer instead of through chlorine pucks. With stabilizer you just add amount you need and it's present. With pucks, you're stuck in that below 30 level for long time and never know for certain so you keep testing. The amount of CYA reagent you go through by constantly testing ends up costing as much as just buying the $15 stabilizer.

Also, you keep adding way too much chlorine. You don't need to be that high, and can accomplish SLAM with much lower FC level.

In any event, not sure if you checked inside your filter yet but you may need to open it up to make sure water is filtering better. I don't think adding DE will help in this stage, since your filter should be catching the algae. Plus you should need to backwash frequently catching algae, so adding DE will just be a waste each time you backwash. You can add DE but do so once your pool is cleared up, and it will help with getting a clear pool a little clearer
 
I agree with spinPHD, the additional FC is not warranted at this point as long as your CYA is so low. It really should be a solid 30. Even if your CYA was 40 it wouldn't hurt you too bad considering how warm it's getting. At least that way you know for sure you're at the proper FC level (12 or 16). We don't want you too excessively high which could effect the liner.

Also agree that adding DE won't change what you see in the water right now. That's not just dead algae. For now, I'd increase CYA to ensure you're definitely at 30, perhaps even 40, then let the FC fall to the appropriate SLAM level. That's a good SLAM balance that won't waste bleach but still work as designed. From there, we have to find-out what's holding you back. If there's never been anything else added to the water in the past (pool store stuff), then my gut tells me your filter might be holding something.
 

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There's a good comparison on THIS THREAD (post #49) between another owner's water and yours - almost identical in the beginning. Now we just need to get you over the hump to the good stuff. Let us know if you are able to get into that filter, and if so, what you find. Very, very curious. :)
 
Thanks Texas, I'll give a better read when I have time. Post #49 is encouraging!

I pulled the multi valve and deep cleaned the filter. Took about 30 minutes to clear the orangish,brown water with lots of small debris. The top of the sand looked good when opened, but deep down it was dirty. Piped and glued it back together and backwashed for a bit. Rinsed and back washed again till clear. I've got a sock full of stabilizer in front of a return.
Time to wait and see where this gets me.
thanks again TFP.
 
CtP said:
Here's the pool this morning after a ton of rain last night. More rain on the way. 2nd pic shows the dirt or sand buildup. It's very fine, like dust. Could it be dead algae?
The last pic has a drain in there somewhere.
Click to expand...

To me, that fine dust-like stuff on the bottom is dead algae and would be too fine for your sand filter to catch. If you let your pool sit with the pump off with no circulation and no swimmers, some of the hazy stuff would settle to the bottom..then you could vacuum all of that fine dust stuff to waste. You may have to do this a time or two, but would help out a lot.

Eric
 
satpoolman said:
To me, that fine dust-like stuff on the bottom is dead algae and would be too fine for your sand filter to catch. If you let your pool sit with the pump off with no circulation and no swimmers, some of the hazy stuff would settle to the bottom..then you could vacuum all of that fine dust stuff to waste. You may have to do this a time or two, but would help out a lot.

Eric
Click to expand...

good call on the "waste" option. I sure hope it's dead algae, I've got quite a bit of chlorine in the pool.
I've been vacuuming with the filter inline and it may just keep getting recirculated.
Tough keeping the kids out this time of year. Food for thought on letting it all settle, then vacuuming, to waste. Thanks.

Would the orangish water water that I flushed during deep clean be a good sign of the filter catching the dead algae? If it is in fact orange/brown?
 
As of two weeks ago the pool finally cleared up, crystal clear!!
im not sure what happened, but apparently the SLAM finally worked.
Kind of a mystery why it took so long.

thanks again for helping me with this process.
 

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Well done!

I've just gone through the first week of SLAM, and I'm not really huge gains. So I feel your frustration.

did you end up adding any flock / magic potion. I know it's not really advised but the family is obviously just as frustrated, especially as it's a new pool and we had crystal water put in 2 weeks ago :(
 
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