White Flakes for a Newbie

[perryeising]

Hi there. We have had our AGP for three weeks, and we are seeing a white flake on the surface that looks like the flakes inside of a snow globe. When you touch them, they fall apart. The walls and floor of the pool are not slimy. We have a sand filter with an in-line chlorinator, and we are using 3" slow dissolve tablets. The pool was filled up with our tap water, and over these past three weeks, we've gotten everything is in balance except our CH, which is still low. We are working on getting it higher a little at a time. In addition to balancing the chemicals, we also added a cap and a half full of Leslie's PoolPerfect PhosFree at the recommendation of our local Leslie's Pools to prevent algae. They've told us to add this amount weekly for maintenance, and they said if the white stuff was an algae, it would sink to the bottom, and then we'd have to vacuum it up. It doesn't' appear that any of the white flakes sank to the bottom, but we vacuumed the next day after adding the PhosFree, but the white flakes are still there. Would anyone know what this is and/or if it's something we should worry about? We feel like new parents again and would appreciate any advice. Thank you. Our current chemical readings are below:
FAC: 2
TAC: 2
CH: 140
CYA: 30
TA: 100
pH: 7.6

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol:

Your CH is fine. Don't put any more in.

The flakes are probably a by-product of some unnecessary things going in your pool....including the PhosFree which you don't need now and never did.

Elevate your chlorine level to about 6-8ppm and run the pump 24/7. The flakes will almost surely disappear.

read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School......It'll teach you more about what's going on and help you understand you do not need that stuff you are tossing in your pool.

What does your water look like?

 

[perryeising]

Dave, thank you for responding to my post so quickly. We had the flakes before the PhosFree. I'm wondering...when we first put the product in to raise the CH two weeks ago, we had to dilute it in a bucket before putting it into the pool. The product was white and flakey, and at first I thought that perhaps we didn't mix it enough before pouring the solution into the pool because that's when we first started getting the flakes. Now I'm thinking, wouldn't they have been filtered out by now? At first we ran the filter four eight hours per night, and in the past week, we've run it for 12 hours.

The water looks perfectly clear (I wish it was warm enough here on Long Island to go in it!). Everything is in balance, so I am going to take your advice and run it for 24/7 for the next few days and raise the chlorine.

Thank you again.

 

[J20832]

With a vinyl liner, you shouldn't ever need to add (or buy) CH. I haven't bought any for three years and just gave away a 20 lb. bucket I thought I needed "back in the day". FWIW, I gave it to a friend with a plaster pool that actually needed it!

 

[perryeising]

Thank you for the advice. It's a learning process. Now let's hope the white stuff gets filtered out.

 

[rjg202]

I had little white squares which I beleive were from pucks. After a few weeks of BBB I noticed they were gone. I would see them in my light at night. I am thinking they were some type of binder or something in the puck since they appeared as perfect squares.

 

[Bama Rambler]

While I don't think it's causing the flakes, your FC is a little low.

Can you post a pic of the flakes?

How long are you running the pump?
Are you getting good skimmer action?
Is the eyeball pointed where it creates good surface action?

 

[perryeising]

I've attached two pictures of the white flakes on top of the surface. They can be seen in the shadows in the pictures. I'm starting to think they are from the chlorine pucks. I started noticing them when I put the brand, Blue Seal, in. It's a local manufacturer sold by our local pool chain. We have been running the pump (with the in-line chlorinator attached) for 12 hours this past week. I've been getting the flakes for the past two weeks. I ran the pump during that first week for 8 hours, and then I went to 12 hours this past week.

The skimmer is working well, and the pump/return outlet is working well. The eyeball is down and to the right.

Thank you.

 

[Bama Rambler]

You're probably right about it being a binder in the tablets. You might try aiming the eyeball up just where it disturbs the surface.

 

[perryeising]

I'll give it a try. Thank you