How long should it take CC to drop when SLAMing?

[skynyrd01810]

Hi Folks,

This is my first time SLAMing, so I apologize if I'm just being impatient, but I am not seeing a drop in the CC.

I started the process a little over 48 hours ago. The water was clear to begin with, but I have had a consistent problem with green algae forming on my liner, as was the case Friday. I found this wonderful site, ordered a TF100 test kit and began the SLAMing process.

The reason for my inquiry is that the liner has been spotless and the water crystal clear since the morning after I started treating. The first night's OCLT was 1.0 and the second night was 0.5. I guess I was expecting a bigger drop if the chlorine was working on a problem. Am I just being impatient? Below are the results of my last test.

FC 20.0 (have kept it between 20 and 24 since starting the SLAM)
CC 4.0
CYA 50
PH 7.4
TA 100
CH 300

The filter is running 7X24. I backwashed and replaced the DE a week ago and have seen very little rise in pressure since. I've brushed the liner daily and there is no visible sediment in the pool.

My next thought was to disassemble the filter, clean the grids and replace the DE with the thought that there may be organic mater trapped in the filter, but I thought I would see a bigger drop in the OCLT if that was the case.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol:

It is not uncommon for CC's to actually go up initially when you begin to SLAM.

That yours is still quite high indicates the FC is still combining with contaminants to form the CC's.

Time, sunlight and continued high FC levels will bring them down to the required .5 ppm very soon.

Your pool is not covered, is it?

Have you noticed a psi increase on your filter since you began to SLAM?

 

[skynyrd01810]

Thanks for the quick reply duraleigh.

No, the pool is not covered and I have not seen an increase in psi. I will continue the process and see if it goes down as the week goes on.

Ironically I have had the pool 18 years and never had a problem until three years ago. At that time we refurbished the pool adding a heater and switching to Sustain at the recommendation of the pool company. Based on what I have read here I will probably switch to BBB when I finish the last of the Sustain.

We also hired a company to fertilize the lawn around that time, and I am wondering if the nitrogen is getting into the pool. I'll be sure to test the water after their next treatment.

Thanks for your help!

 

[duraleigh]

when I finish the last of the Sustain

Don't be penny-wise and pound foolish. That junk is what got you in your current condition, I would not put more of it in your pool or your issues will simply continue.

 

[DKT113]

It will take as long as it takes to kill whatever is growing in the pool. What you are adding is killing what is alive. Depending on the hold it has it could take several days to weeks to kill. There really isn't a timeline. You having a cc of 4.0 means you have something that has a pretty decent hold so it will take a bit. Keep your levels up and fight it and it will clear. I don't imagine you'll be through the process tomorrow but keep your levels at shock level at all times (test frequently) and you will kill it.

Brush your sides clean all crevices. It hides everywhere. With cc's of 4 there is no reason to to the OCLT as you are in the process of killing.
I brushed daily a few times. I cleaned my filter as necessary. Even with a filter hooked up incorrectly ~ being diligent keeping my levels up, brushing the pool frequently, cleaning everything in contact with the water (skimmer box included) & pool toys it cleared decently. Once that filter was hooked up correctly it really hauled backside.

I just read about your Sustain System. I am not really sure about that but I think it's metals. You'll want to read up on that. I have read several posts in the past couple of days where people made a personal choice to get away from the metals and converted to BBB. As far as I know, and the experts will step in here and correct me if need be ~ you can't do Sustain and BBB it needs to be one or the other. I started with Pristine Blue ~ it was metals and I quickly got away from it (health issues concerned me).

You can covert to BBB easily and it will be by far the most economical "system" you will find. For our family I felt it was the healthiest choice too. Health and Safety trumps all in my book ~ but it's great to know that can be accomplished without breaking the bank.

 

[skynyrd01810]

Point well taken. Although now that I have my awesome TF100 test kit, at least I can stay on top of what's going on :-D

 

[danacc]

Did you use Sustain Shield earlier this year? That product interferes with the CC test, causing the result to look too high. I'm suspicious that is what is happening to your test. If so, you'll need to ignore the CC test, and go by the other 2 factors along with what "feels right". Fuzzy, I know.

See chem geek's posts in this thread: help-switching-from-sustain-system-to-bbb-t65635.html#p540168


Also, I haven't seen complaints of metals from Sustain; people are switching because of the cost. (Edited to add: Sustain does not seem to use metals. It's a chlorine-based system. The issue is with expense and with Sustain Shield which causes the CC test to be inaccurate, so you don't have as much visibility to what is going on as you do with BBB. There's no evidence of a health risk, or other reason to switch to BBB before using up the product you've already bought.)

 

[skynyrd01810]

Thanks for the reply and link danacc. Yes, I did add the Summer Shield about a month ago. Perhaps that is my issue.

 

[Isaac-1]

If you will do a forum search on sustain shield you will find some information that it includes some uncommon slow release chlorine compounds that show up as CC using the standard chlorine test. In time they will likely break down, until then there has been a suggestion of waiting a few seconds on the FAS-DPD test after the sample turns clear for it to turn back pink again due to that "slow release" nature of these Sustain compounds, I have not seen any confirmation that this works though.

 

[chem geek]

Unfortunately the waiting does have the sample turn pink, but CC still gets measured, so that technique does not work. So with Sustain you just have to ignore the CC and that's unfortunate since you won't know if you ever get "real" CC to be concerned about. You'll need to look at water clarity and overnight chlorine loss as indicators of problems.