New Algae Bloom

[mcdickey]

I just noticed over the last two days that I have what look like several areas where algae is taking hold. I am going out of town for 10 days starting on Thursday so I only have about 48 hours to treat. Should I do what I can over that period or just wait until I get back in town?

Numbers from this morning:

FC 4.2
CC 0
PH 7.2 (currently lowering TA)
TA 100
CH 360
CYA 50-60
SALT 3000

Thanks in advance.

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[mcdickey]

I forgot to add that the water looks very clear. Algae looks like many small black dots up close and when I brush with steel brush it turns into a brown cloud in the water.

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[JasonLion]

With visible algae you need to shock the pool. See the complete instructions in Pool School. Make sure to brush throughly everywhere while the FC is at shock level.

The 10 days away is going to present a challenge. 10 days is tricky to do without algae. Do you have a solar cover? Raising to shock level and putting on the solar cover might work. The other option would be to see if you have someone who could come over and add chlorine.

The final option is to do none of the above and deal with whatever happens when you get back.

 

[mcdickey]

I do not have a solar cover, but I'll see if my brothers can check and add chlorine while I am away. Is it not very likely I can beat the algae in 48 hours before I leave?

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[RobbieH]

Took me 2 weeks to get rid of a minor algae bloom in my pool due to the sellers not taking care of the pool before I took possession.

 

[jblizzle]

The shock process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Even if you did manage to kill everything in the next few days, without staying on top of the chlorine levels for the following 10 days would likely result in algae starting to grow again.

Is there a reason you want to rush the process in the next few days and not wait until you are back and can devote time to clearing it up?

 

[mcdickey]

Thanks for the input everybody. I guess I will just wait until I get back and deal with the algae then. I thought I might be able to deal with it quickly before leaving (since there is minimal algae now), but that does not appear to be the case. Hopefully the algae doesn't get too much worse while I am away I can clear it up pretty quickly when I get back.

 

[mcdickey]

One more note. As mentioned above the water itself looks great and I have 0 CC and almost no overnight chlorine loss. Shouldn't a have an issue with at least one of those variables given the presence of visible algae?

 

[jblizzle]

Well, one could argue that the water does not look good if you see green

If you can see the algae, then you need to go through the shock process.

 

[mcdickey]

I guess you are right.....But why don't I have any CC or overnight chlorine loss if I have algae? And more importantly, how will I know when to stop with the shock process if I continue to get no CC or overnight chlorine loss? Just shock until I visibly can no longer see algae on the pebbletec?

 

[Smykowski]

But why don't I have any CC or overnight chlorine loss if I have algae?

Generally speaking, CCs (monochloramines) are the result of the oxidation of nitrogen compounds such as ammonia, urea, etc. Chlorine kills algae by interfering with the organic cellular processes, the byproduct of which is simply dead algae. For more, read this.

 

[mcdickey]

Ok. I am back from vacation and I began the shock process on my pool Saturday morning. As I mentioned in my previous posts, the water still looked clear and I had no CC's prior to beginning the shock. I did definitely have algae on the Pebble Tec and it had gotten slightly worse during my vacation.

It is 48+ hours later now and I have used 18 182oz jugs of bleach and brushed the pool a total of 4 times. I can no longer see the algae on the Pebble Tec, but when I brush with the stainless steel algae brush I get small white clouds in the water. Prior to beginning the shock the cloud would be green or brown when I brushed. Given that I already had 0 CC and 0 OCLT prior to beginning the shock process how do I know when to stop? My water is already clear. Do I need to keep going until nothing comes up at all when I brush? Or is the white stuff dead algae that the filter still needs to clean out?

 

[jblizzle]

Reread Shocking Your Pool for the 3 tests you have to pass before you stop shocking. (You seem to know them). You should re-verify you are passing all three now.

Odds are the clouds you are seeing is the dead algae.

 

[mcdickey]

Thanks. I will test again for CC when I get home today and will check OCLT tonight and in the morning. If things are as I suspect I will have zero or close to zero on both of those two tests. The third test "And the water is clear" is more subjective. My water already looks clear and I do not see any algae on the Pebble Tec (although it is much harder to see algae on Pebble Tec versus white plaster). Maybe I'll let the FC drop slightly below shock PPM so I can get in with my goggles and do a thorough inspection of the pool. If it looks good after that I think (hope) I am done.