White Water Mold on Pool Surface eating chlorine, coming bac

[jrenae123]

I opened my pool as I regularly do and started to get what they call tissue paper foam or white water mold, it started out minimal then covered the whole pool, my pool store has been having me shock 5 lbs per day it started to go away after 5 days we were leaving town so I shocked it with 15 pounds before we left, came back it was clear, then started to come back again, shocked with five pounds fine, then next day started to come back again. My pool store said everything is fine with my chemicals but the mold is eating all more chlorine. I can't afford to keep shocking 5 pounds per day how to you get rid of this "white water mold"? Pool store is at a loss except to tell me to keep chlorine at 10 which they know I can't do because the mold is eating all of it. She said at least 5 other pools in the area of also complained of it but mine is most severe. please help with ideas!!!
Thank you

 

[tnthudson]

Hello and welcome!
Are you sure you have a chlorine system? The white water mold I got was when I had a Baquacil system.
Please let us know what type of Sanitizer system you are on (Chlorine or Baquacil or Bromine, for example)...and please post the latest test results that your pool store gave you (or your own test results if you have a test kit)...specifically FC, CC, pH, TA, CYA results
thanks!

 

[jrenae123]

Thanks for responding she didn't give me the test results because she said the PH and everything else was normal, I will have it tested again tomorrow and tell you my results. Yes my pools is definately chlorine I take care of it myself we have an automatic chlorinator and I've been using chlorine shock to try and kill it. I know I've read it's very rare in chlorine pools so unless it's something else it looks like wet tissue paper, weird thing is I vaccumed tonight on waste and then started refilling the pool again and some of it came back and then went away about 20" later. I"ll email you after I get my numbers tomorrow.

Thanks
Jennifer

 

[JasonLion]

What kind of "shock" product are you using? I am worried that it might be dichlor, which contains both chlorine and CYA, and thus you may have raised your CYA level very very high. Even very small amounts of chlorine will normally kill white mold. The CYA level must be extremely high.

 

[AnnaK]

Jennifer,

Are you sure this is mold? From your description of it looking like wet tissue paper, the fact that you've added shock repeatedly and have vacuumed but still it returns makes me wonder if this is airborne cotton fluff, tree seeds.

Aspen, poplars, some birch, autumn olive and, of course, cotton wood trees are shedding their flowers right now in many parts of the country. When they settle on water they do look like wet tissue paper. In the skimmer basket they'll look slightly yellow, possibly a result of exposure to chlorine, and will have a fibrous texture, like worn out thin flannel or felt.

Do you have these cottony tufts flying around where you are?

 

[jrenae123]

I am using Regal Calcium Hypochlorite Shock, I'm going to the pool store to have them retest the waters right now and will then give my numbers.

Yes we do have the trees in this area that are blooming and floating in the air, but when the stuff gets in the skimmers it foams up and looks like bubbly soapy water. it's just weird that one day last week this white tissue paper stuff covered the whole pool. I"m not sure it's white mold but that's the only thing my pool store could think of it being, although shock usually kills it and doesn't continually eat up the chlorine according to her. She's at a loss.

Thanks

 

[AnnaK]

Either this mystery substance is already in the water or it comes in from the outside, like residue from farming or industrial operations. I'd take a sample of water and set it aside, see if this stuff develops in it.

You'd want a clear container such as an ice tea jug that can be covered but lets light in so you can create a closed environment that mimics the pool environment. IMO it would help to now whether the substance is in the water or in the air.