FOAMY FILM ON TOP OF CLEAR WATER - SALT POOL

[musiccityrando]

Have a 25,000 gallon Above ground pool. Last season used a PermaSalt System and just installed a new Hayward Aqua Rite Salts system over the memorial day weekend. Since we opened it, we have a foamy film on the top of slightly cloudy/clear water. The skimmer fills up with foam and it will not go away and it is so thick it clogs the skimmer.
I used a 30% algecide and liquid chlorine to kill the algae a week before we installed the salt generator.
I have also added a 6 lb bag of baking soda to bring Alkalinity up.

We have had the water checked professionally and it is as follows:

FAC - 0
TAC - .5
PH- 7.4
ALKALINITY - 130
CALCIUM HARDNESS - 100
Total Dissolved Solids - 2000
Salt - 4,000
Copper/Iron - 0

Any help would be appreciated as the pool guy has never seen anything like the attached picture before.

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to the forum!

That is some serious foam. I suspect your algaecide is the source, combined with your SWCG producing bubbles. If you still have the bottle, post the first part of the technical name from the ingredient list and let us know how much you added. For future reference, algaecide is primarlily a preventive tool, and isn't very effective against blooming algae.

You need chlorine now, and a lot of it, both to maintain the water and to help oxidize whatever is causing the foam. You don't mention your CYA level, which is important to maintaining sufficient chlorine with your SWCG.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

That foam is probably the algaecide breaking down. It should go away with time and chlorine.

You're not alone. Check out some of these older threads

 

[musiccityrando]

The algecide brand was Aqua Chem, but I do not have the bottle. I have read all of the older threads Richard posted, but do not see anything about what to do with the foam. Should I skim it off the top or break it down into the water. Also, is it safe for the kids to swim in or should they wait a week? I will get the CYA tested this afternoon, but what is the best way to get the chlorine level up (ie. liquid shock, Clorox, etc)? Also, how much should I add? The pool guy tried to sell me Pool First Aid, but that was just a last ditch effort because he didn't know what else to do.

 

[Richard320]

The algecide brand was Aqua Chem, but I do not have the bottle. I have read all of the older threads Richard posted, but do not see anything about what to do with the foam. Should I skim it off the top or break it down into the water. Also, is it safe for the kids to swim in or should they wait a week? I will get the CYA tested this afternoon, but what is the best way to get the chlorine level up (ie. liquid shock, Clorox, etc)? Also, how much should I add? The pool guy tried to sell me Pool First Aid, but that was just a last ditch effort because he didn't know what else to do.

If you can skim it off, do so. Anything you can remove manually from the pool - leaves, branches, sludge, foam - will reduce the amount of chlorine needed.

The best way to raise FC is bleach or liquid "shock." Same stuff, different concentrations. Whatever works out cheapest by %-oz.
bleach-prices-2013-t58266.html

You'll need to know the CYA level to determine what FC shock level is for your pool so you can calculate the doage using http://www.poolcalculator.com/

 

[JohnT]

Aqua Chem makes a copper algaecides and a 50% algaecide that would very likely cause foaming. Stick with algaecides that start with the word "poly" in the chemical name in the future.

 

[ping]

Do not swim until you can see the bottom of the pool. You never know when someone is drowning when you can't see the swimmer.

 

[musiccityrando]

The CYA is at 0, so I am guessing I need to add something. What do you suggest?
Also, when the kids swim in the pool, the foam goes away. Everyone is safe, I just didn't know about the chemicals hurting them.

 

[harleysilo]

The CYA is at 0, so I am guessing I need to add something. What do you suggest?
Also, when the kids swim in the pool, the foam goes away. Everyone is safe, I just didn't know about the chemicals hurting them.

If you have no chlorine in the pool, which your testing shows, the pool isn't really safe to swim in. I suggest you get your own test kit, and read Pool School.

Read this on test kits pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison
Read this on fixing the foam pool-school/shocking_your_pool

You also need to read the rest of pool school.

Regarding CYA, it's also called Stabilizer, and using the http://www.poolcalculator.com/ you can determine how much you need to add per this pool-school/recommended_levels , and then you can put that in a regular old sock and hang it in front of a pool return. However i would wait to do that until you've finished the shocking process!