I wanted to get this out here before I do anything. I've got something going on and I need help figuring it out. I had this happen a little last year but it wasn't as bad.
Five days ago, I had what looked like algae at the bottom of the pool - little clusters of green patches. This is what I had last year that looked like algae, but it just turned out to be some sort of debris. It is not now, or ever been on the sides of the pool - only on the bottom. I assume it's some type of pollen. Anyway, I vacuumed most of it to waste. Some of it seems to be a little stubborn and didn't want to come off so I just brushed it into the water column assuming that the filter would catch it. When I did this, the water became cloudy. It was a white cloudy - not green. FC was at 6 - where I always keep it and I had no CC's so I was assured that it wasn't some kind of algae.
Now I have a green cloudy water. Yesterday I brought it up to shock level using the charts here (I only use bleach - I'm using the BBB method) and tested last night and this morning. (My CYA is at about 40) I didn't loose any chlorine last night and I got a reading of zero CC's today and last night. I'm using the TFTest kits. Doesn't sound like algae to me.
So, I called the local pool store and he told me that the pool probably had what was called a "chlorine lock" and I need to shock even higher. He then proceeded to tell me about all of these high-priced shock and algaecide products that he wanted to sell me. It all sounded foreign to me but before I do anything, I wanted to run it by the folks here to see what kind of reaction I get. I trust the advice here first.
My theory is that it's likely pollen. I've had the pool open for a while now (not swimming yet) and the pool has pretty much been exposed to the entire heavy pollination season. Whatever it is, my sand filter is not pulling it out. If this is the case, besides adding a diatom setup, is there another way to filter this out?
If there is anything else that you need to know, please ask.
Five days ago, I had what looked like algae at the bottom of the pool - little clusters of green patches. This is what I had last year that looked like algae, but it just turned out to be some sort of debris. It is not now, or ever been on the sides of the pool - only on the bottom. I assume it's some type of pollen. Anyway, I vacuumed most of it to waste. Some of it seems to be a little stubborn and didn't want to come off so I just brushed it into the water column assuming that the filter would catch it. When I did this, the water became cloudy. It was a white cloudy - not green. FC was at 6 - where I always keep it and I had no CC's so I was assured that it wasn't some kind of algae.
Now I have a green cloudy water. Yesterday I brought it up to shock level using the charts here (I only use bleach - I'm using the BBB method) and tested last night and this morning. (My CYA is at about 40) I didn't loose any chlorine last night and I got a reading of zero CC's today and last night. I'm using the TFTest kits. Doesn't sound like algae to me.
So, I called the local pool store and he told me that the pool probably had what was called a "chlorine lock" and I need to shock even higher. He then proceeded to tell me about all of these high-priced shock and algaecide products that he wanted to sell me. It all sounded foreign to me but before I do anything, I wanted to run it by the folks here to see what kind of reaction I get. I trust the advice here first.
My theory is that it's likely pollen. I've had the pool open for a while now (not swimming yet) and the pool has pretty much been exposed to the entire heavy pollination season. Whatever it is, my sand filter is not pulling it out. If this is the case, besides adding a diatom setup, is there another way to filter this out?
If there is anything else that you need to know, please ask.