Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time....

[SirThomas]

my 1st post, discovered you in Costco Mag.

Have 36k, IG, Gunnite, Sand-Pentair Triton TR-60 60 gal/min 300 lbs sand (new sand), 1.5hp single speed 3450 rpm pump, pool built aprox 1970, dolphin robot cleaner.
Outdoor pool, surronded by trees. Atlanta, GA. 30327 pool temp now 81 have heater for pool but rarely use.

Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time. If i leave for a week, the pool turns GREEN.

FC - .5 have two floaters with 6 3" 94% tabs each. also put 2 3" tabs in each skimmer (2) Can't keep FC up, add shock but wont stay up
CC - .5 Leslies test indicates TAC total available chlorine
PH - 7.6 Added soda ash 2 days ago
TA - 200
CH - 310
CYA - 100 Have not changed water in 10 yrs. (drought) this yr. lots of rain, should drop?
Borates - do not use.


Nitrates - 20 ppm (Leslies says way too high...see rec of fresh n clear, aprox $850.00!!!???)
Phosphates - 300 ppm
Metals - copper / iron - 0 / 0
TDS (total disolved solids) 750


Leslies Pool Supply rec.
1/2 gal. Muratic acid
220 lbs "fresh n clear"
62 oz Algae control

Been fighting this pool for 2 years now. Ready to fill with dirt and start a garden...
20 oz. Phos Free to reduce Phosphates

 

[BoDarville]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

Welcome to TFP

Your pool's persistent algae can be summed up by a combination of inadequate chlorine levels combined with a high CYA level. If the water has not been changed in 10 years and if tabs have been used for this entire time, the CYA level is likely greater than the 100 ppm recorded in your test results given that the CYA view tube only goes up to 100 ppm. Tabs add CYA along with chlorine. The chlorine gets used up as part of doing its job of sanitation. However, the CYA accumulates.

Also, chlorine is depleted each day - this is normal, especially during the swim season. You must test FC levels daily and add chlorine as needed. Plain regular unscented (not splash-less or "Outdoor" or "High-Efficiency") liquid bleach is the recommended chlorine source since it has no CYA or other unnecessary/undesirable additives. The amount of chlorine needed to maintain proper sanitation is dependent on the CYA level, as shown here: Chlorine CYA Chart

Recommend a drain & refill of your pool's water as it is the only practical way to lower the CYA. In order to determine how much of the water needs to be replaced, we need to get a handle on your actual CYA level. Suggest retesting CYA using the steps in the CYA - Cyanuric Acid section of this post: Extended Test Kit Directions. Scroll down about half way down the page to get to the CYA - Cyanuric Acid section. Go to Step 9 and follow those directions. This involves using a 50/50 mix of pool water and tap water to determine if your actual CYA is greater than 100. Repost your CYA test results using this method and it will give us a clearer indication of the % of water that needs to be replaced.

Nitrates - 20 ppm (Leslies says way too high...see rec of fresh n clear, aprox $850.00!!!???)
Phosphates - 300 ppm...
TDS (total disolved solids) 750

These items are irrelevant. Again, your pool is suffering from low chlorine and high CYA. That's the root cause of the issues you are having.

220 lbs "fresh n clear"
62 oz Algae control...
20 oz. Phos Free to reduce Phosphates

A classic case of being "Pool Stored". These product are unnecessary and will simply drain your wallet.

If i leave for a week, the pool turns GREEN.

If you travel frequently, you may want to look into adding a Salt Water Generator (SWG). This might be a better option for you vs. manually dosing with chlorine.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

Don't dilly-dally around-just order the TF-100 test kit which allows you to get ACCURATE test results and gives you the information you need to treat your pool properly. Pool stores aren't renowned for accurate results. You can find the link to the test kits in Pool School. If you're *serious* about taking charge of your pool you'll be testing often at first-get the extra large size of reagents for a better deal.

Leslie's and other pool stores aren't really in the business of helping you manage your pool cheaply, right? Its in their best interest to convince you that you need to buy lots and lots of products (and empty your wallet a bit) whether they're appropriate or not.

Once you get some valid test results, everyone here can help you tweak your pool and make for a much more satisfying pool experience. I'm quite proud of how nice my pool water stays, never had an algae outbreak and spend very little in the scheme of things compared to those who just blindly trust pool stores to tell them what to do.

 

[SirThomas]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

ok,

will not "dilly dally" and get right on the acurate CYA # today. Then will repost soonest

Thanks for the swift reply!!!


Thomas

 

[Richard320]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

Welcome!

You've been Pool-stored in a big way.

But with the proper test kit, and reading Pool School and threads here, you'll get things under control soon enough and be done with the pool store except when you need some obscure bit of hardware. Living well is the best revenge. Or, perhaps, a sparkling pool is the best revenge.

Check out this bbb-saved-me-over-1-400-in-the-first-full-year-t54033.html

 

[SirThomas]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

ok,

Tested pool water w/ 1/2 filtered tap water and 1/2 pool water shows CYA is 60. Assuming our Atlanta water does not have any CYA in it, I guess I'm @ a CYA level of 120.

36k Pool ... how much should I drain?

Thanks

Thomas

 

[RobbieH]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

Tap water has no CYA.

In Atlanta, I would think you need to get that CYA level down to 40-50. You are looking at having to replace 2/3 of your water. If you replace 50% and get to 60, you should be in fairly good shape, certainly a lot better off than you are now.

If switching to a salt pool is in your near future (so that you can travel), then recommended CYA level comes up to 70-80. Problem is, the higher the CYA number, the harder it will be to go through the shock process and get rid of that algae. At least Clorox is pretty cheap at Costco.

 

[harleysilo]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

If you don’t know anything about a salt water pool, the idea of switching over to one may seem discouraging. Let me clear up a couple common misconceptions. A salt water pool usually has around 3000 PPM of salt dissolved in it. The ocean is ~35,000 PPM so a salt water pool is really nothing like the ocean. The purpose of the salt is to allow the Salt Water Chlorine Generator (SWG) to operate. The SWG turns salt into chlorine (the very same chlorine that bleach is made of and the very same chlorine that is in the dry pucks often used.

The benefit of a SWG is that once you add the salt to the pool, you don’t have to buy or carry anything else because you will be producing the chlorine your pool needs. Salt (like CYA) doesn’t go away. It only reduces if you physically take water out of your pool, evaporation does nothing.

The drawback of a SWG is the upfront cost. It’s like you are buying several years of chlorine all at once. SWG also cause PH to rise over time, so this can lead to more frequent additions of Muriatic Acid to bring PH back down. This can be somewhat alleviated with the addition of Borates (Boric Acid) to your pool.

A SWG only operates when your pump is running. You adjust them by determining what % of your pump run time they will be turned on. So if your pump runs for 10 hours and you set your SWG to run at 20% it will generate chlorine for 2 hours. Exactly which 2 hours during the 10 that the pump is on varies by Brand.

When switching over to a SWG it would be beneficial if you already knew when/how often you need to run your pool pump to maintain a perfect pool. Then you would just adjust your % of SWG run time until you got the chlorine demand met on a daily basis. If you start messing with pump run time and SWG % then it gets more difficult to dial everything in.

All in all if you have to miss regular dosing of your pool a SWG is great! Once it’s dialed in you can easily go a week without testing, and could go much longer than that (talking about going on vacation, not suggesting this during pool use). There are other options that automate liquid Chlorine addition as well.

Welcome to TFP!

 

[SirThomas]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

As a rough estimate ... how much for a SWG on a 36k in ground pool.

Am very "handy" do most of my own repairs, can or should I install the SWG myself, and who/what brand do you rec.?

Thanks!!!!!

Thomas

 

[harleysilo]

Re: Algae prob. on sides and bottom, sweeping all the time..

I can't recommend any specific .... Perhaps post in the SWG section.

It is recommended to oversize your SWG, by how much i forget....