HELP, I haven't been able to use my pool since opening.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
As you move from green to grey to white to blue to clear, you will just need to keep watching your pressures. The closer you get to blue/clear, the longer the filter will last without needing attention.

I only backwash/clean/dump the DE when the filter gets plugged up in less than 30 minutes. I tend to eeek every last filtering ability out of the DE. Once you get done and your clear, do only last change it will last a long while. My last DE change was back in June. I am seeing about an 6 PSI increase with 6 hours of filtering each day this week. I may do a DE change this weekend, but with daily bumping, it's going great. I just bump it when I going out to test my FC/PH each day.

Cloudy and high chlorine is just one stage and a good one to be until you get to the point where you can see the face of a coin at the bottom of your pool, like my avatar shows.
 
hokie pride algae issue

I backwashed, vacuumed and yet I still have these tiny green particles clumped up layering the bottom of my pool. I lost so much water and I even broke the ears on my filter trying to bump it. Luckily I have another set which I have to be more careful with. Anyways, I can't get rid of these particles. I was told it was dead algea. My filter seems to be going on the blitz trying to suction all of it. I believe it's all dead but is it ok to use the pool and let it cycle out over time. My filtr has been running everyday for two months with me trying to kill algea. I need help.
 
Water is currently sparkly but that dreaded green stuff is on the floor and I can see every little speck of it. What I do NOT understand...no matter what I do I can't get rid of it.... why I can't brush it up, DE in my Hayward EC65 will not catch it, I'll backwash AND rinse, and the pool will look clear, except for the cloud which occurs once I disturb it. Started again this morning because I don't know what else to do. I brush that thing at least 5 times a day, if not more.

If that was dead algae, would it not turn white? It still brushes up greenish clouds. I'm so close to ridding my pool of this stuff. I have vacummed it to waste and tried briushing it. It just clouds up and dropps back to bottom. My filter, is a wreck. I broke the handle where the pump handle connetcs to the filter. Luckily there was an additinioanl side to switch it to. My filter continues to lose pressure when I tried leaving it on overnight.

Please help me understand why I cant get these green specks off the poool floor. The water is clear and chlorine holds but I see green specks on the steps and floor everytwhere. I can't seem to get rid of it. I used thi algae clear to kill it off but I was told it was all dead if I used it properly!
 
1) You've been posting all over the place with the same questions in hokie pride algae issue and at the end of Pool Opening - Ice/Algae Issues this year - Opinions Please and have an earlier thread uncovered pool and need help that precedes this one. It is difficult to know where to post answers to your questions and it is harder on the moderators to have to consolidate threads.

2) There is no indication that you have purchased a proper test kit, either the TFTestkits TF-100 or the Taylor K-2006. Without a proper test kit, your numbers may be completely wrong and it will be very difficult to help you on pool water chemistry issues including clearing algae. You cannot do a proper SLAM procedure without a FAS-DPD chlorine test kit since you won't be able to measure your higher FC levels with other kits. Also, you have no idea how high to raise the FC level if you do not accurately know your CYA level.

3) You seem to be using algaecide so seem to be following pool store advice and mixing it with advice from this forum. That is unlikely to work since many pool chemical products have side effects or are not effective for particular issues. Is the algaecide you used InTheSwim Algae Clear? It looks like this is Polyquat where the ingredient is Poly{oxyethylene(dimethyliminio) ethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene dichloride} at 60% concentration, is that correct?

4) You give no indication as to whether your pool is vinyl, fiberglass or plaster and whether it is colored. Please put that info in your signature.

It sounds like perhaps you have yellow/mustard algae. If your pool is colored (say, blue vinyl), then yellow+blue looks green. Is the algae (if that's what it is) mostly on the shady side of the pool or is it just settling where there isn't much circulation or in seams?

Do you have trees or plants nearby that could be blowing pollen into the pool?

Does your pool have a floor drain or pop-ups? If not, then the bottom circulation may be poor and the chlorine may not be getting to the bottom of the pool to kill the algae there.

How many returns do you have? Point them diagonally downwards to create a circular swirling motion around the pool and towards the bottom where the algae is located.
 
1) You've been posting all over the place with the same questions in hokie pride algae issue and at the end of Pool Opening - Ice/Algae Issues this year - Opinions Please and have an earlier thread uncovered pool and need help that precedes this one. It is difficult to know where to post answers to your questions and it is harder on the moderators to have to consolidate threads.

Yes, I have been posting all over but it wasn't on purpose. I have spent over $1,000 on pool chemicals ove rthe summer and used my pool once this season. I have pumped off a lot of water today, broke my filter {luckily I had a second pump fingers to switch the handle to}, got the telescopic vacuum handle stuck in a severly extended position, filter contnues to lose suction and I've run it for two months straight changing DE like it was nobodies business and yet still have this dumb algae in my pool. I'm frustrated and just bought this home with a pool out of season. When I forst had it opened algae covered the bottom and I probably got rid of half of it. I'm sick of it and don;t understand what else to do to get it to dissappear so I can stop running ,u filter. By the way, I have 3 pool stores around me and none of them want to come help. They just want to sell me SH*& and talk on the phone like it's some hotline. REALLY? Because of you all I made progress but not finished. The algae on the bottom is yellow colored but won't freaking go away.

2) There is no indication that you have purchased a proper test kit, either the TFTestkits TF-100 or the Taylor K-2006. Without a proper test kit, your numbers may be completely wrong and it will be very difficult to help you on pool water chemistry issues including clearing algae. You cannot do a proper SLAM procedure without a FAS-DPD chlorine test kit since you won't be able to measure your higher FC levels with other kits. Also, you have no idea how high to raise the FC level if you do not accurately know your CYA level.

This test kit is on order!

3) You seem to be using algaecide so seem to be following pool store advice and mixing it with advice from this forum. That is unlikely to work since many pool chemical products have side effects or are not effective for particular issues. Is the algaecide you used InTheSwim Algae Clear? It looks like this is Polyquat where the ingredient is Poly{oxyethylene(dimethyliminio) ethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene dichloride} at 60% concentration, is that correct?

Yes! This is correct!

4) You give no indication as to whether your pool is vinyl, fiberglass or plaster and whether it is colored. Please put that info in your signature.

Pool is plaster in ground!

It sounds like perhaps you have yellow/mustard algae. If your pool is colored (say, blue vinyl), then yellow+blue looks green. Is the algae (if that's what it is) mostly on the shady side of the pool or is it just settling where there isn't much circulation or in seams?

Settling where not much circulation!

Do you have trees or plants nearby that could be blowing pollen into the pool?

There can't be that much pollen in the area. I do have a few trees and bushes around the pool and outside of it!

Does your pool have a floor drain or pop-ups? If not, then the bottom circulation may be poor and the chlorine may not be getting to the bottom of the pool to kill the algae there.

Can't tell if it has a floor drain! Too much algae flakes! Shouldn't the algiside have killed it!

How many returns do you have? Point them diagonally downwards to create a circular swirling motion around the pool and towards the bottom where the algae is located.

How do you point them? I have two returns!
 
Is the plaster white or is it colored/painted and if so, what color?

If your plaster is white and since the material is settling where there is little circulation (as opposed to growing in shady areas), this sounds like this isn't yellow/mustard algae (that's good) and is either green algae that isn't getting bleached out by chlorine or it's something else that isn't getting filtered out. A photo would help us identify it.

If your returns are eyeball or directional returns (see "adjustable return eyeball" in the Visual Encyclopedia of Pool Equipment and this catalog page), you either put your finger into the eyeball and move the direction of the eyeball or you rotate the outer part to change the direction of flow.

If you can't even see if you have a floor drain because you have so much debris, then you've still got clearing to do, but until we get your test numbers we won't know if the reason is that algae is still alive (say, because your CYA is very high and your FC isn't proportionately high enough) or if it's just a circulation/filtration problem.
 
Algacide will not kill algae. The intent of algaecide is to prevent algae from growing in the first place. Much like wetting down a piece of paper with a squirt gun may prevent it from catching fire, however once the paper is burning a squirt gun would be useless to put it out.

You should decide which advice to follow, TFP or the pool store and stick to it until the pool is clear. The pool store will cost more money and may or may not work. Since you have a test kit on order, I would advise you to stock up on plain unscented bleach and hold off on doing anything else to the pool until it arrives. Once the test kit arrives run a complete set of tests and post the results here. At that point we can help you take control of the situation.
 
Update:
It rained and I lost this summer. Alage grew back terribly. All my efforts were lost. The pool stores will not come help me at all. I wasn't aware how terrible they are at helping people. They never intended to help, but waste my time. I'm willing to listen to all here. I'm ready to just give up and close it. I have a lot going on at this point and not a whole lot of time to deal with it anymore. I need advice on how to close it, especially in this terrible condition.

Unscented bleach, what % is it normally. 6.5%? My next question is do I fight it, then close it or let it ride and deal with it next summer.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
:nopic:
They mean more than just showing us the water, sooooo many things can be gleaned from photos.

I would fight this thing and get it cleared up before you close. Leaving algae in there all winter can cause all sorts of problems even damaging your pool surface and/or equipment.
Not to mention it'll cost you more money in the end to fight it come spring, when It's even more embedded: stronger and multiplied to even greater numbers.

You can do this thing and beat this puppy with our help. :goodjob:
 
HokiePride said:
... My next question is do I fight it, then close it or let it ride and deal with it next summer.
Click to expand...
Close it. Let it ride and deal with it next summer.

It's almost Labor Day, your swim season is almost over, and you've got other things to do - new baby'll be here any day, right? Hire a local pool company to come out & close your pool - winterize it and put the cover on. Over the next 6 months, read Pool School and get a better understanding of how pools work. Hire that pool company to open your pool on April 15 and you'll be swimming before Memorial Day.

Cheers!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply