Is this algae?

[tmrobinson]

We moved into this house two and a half months ago and this pool is about to put me over the edge. I found this site after two weeks of daily visits to the pool store and that not helping at all. I did manage to get the pool pretty clear with everything I learned here after a couple weeks of doing things myself. About a month ago this "stuff" showed up and I can't get rid of it. It's not really in the water, the water is clear, but it is on the sides and bottom of the pool. I have been vacuuming every few days since like I said it's actually on the bottom of the pool and not in the water. I do end up stirring it up a bit though and the water gets green but I just wait a few days again for it to sink.

Here you can see that the shallow end isn't too bad but the deep end is green

A lot always settles on the slope going into the deep end.

I just tested the water too and this is what I got with my Taylor k-2006
FC 2
pH 7.4
TA 50
CYA 35

 

[woodyp]

Read up on the SLAM process in pool school and get started on that. FC of 2 is not gonna get you where you need to be. See the chlorine/cya chart there as well. Brush as well as vacuum.

 

[jblizzle]

If it keeps showing up after being brushed off, there is really nothing else it can be. You need to SLAM the pool. [slam:j0cd7mgp][/slam:j0cd7mgp]

 

[tmrobinson]

Ok thanks, I did the whole process of shocking before to get it clean it just didn't look like this the first time, the water itself was green then so I wasn't sure if that is what I should do again.

Also, I was reading about adding DE to the sand filter, where can I get DE?

 

[techguy]

I would vacuum as much of the debris to waste (not the filter). Sand filters can be slower to filter out fine debris. This is assuming your fill water is clean and cost-effective.

The more you remove before adding the Chlorine, the less time you will spend adding chlorine. Do you know if you have any metals in your water?

 

[tmrobinson]

I would vacuum as much of the debris to waste (not the filter). Sand filters can be slower to filter out fine debris. This is assuming your fill water is clean and cost-effective.

The more you remove before adding the Chlorine, the less time you will spend adding chlorine. Do you know if you have any metals in your water?

I was going to vacuum earlier but my hose burst so I had to go get another so I could raise the water level as I vacuum since it's low already, I will try and get more out tonight. I don't know about metals in the water, we are on city water no well. Our filter seems to be quite slow and doesn't seem to filter out this stuff at all, it is really fine which is why I have been vacuuming it (always to waste) and why I was curious about adding DE. Like I said we just bought the house and have found that the previous owner was not exactly truthful on some things including stuff to do with the pool so I really don't know how old the filter is either.

 

[techguy]

Sand is typically millions of years old so the number of years it been filtering a pool is not important. Have you backwashed the sand and confirmed it's not clumping or channeled? Instructions on how to do these are listed in the Pool School (link in the top corner).

You can add DE to a sand filter but that process should be saved for the last stages of a SLAM, after the algae is dead and you are holding FC.

 

[Smykowski]

DE won't clear a pool with living algae. You need more chlorine for maintenance, but you need to SLAM the pool first.

 

[tmrobinson]

Ok, I just checked the FC level again, it has been two hours since I did my first check and raised it to shock level and it's still there. This is why I wasn't sure if it was algae, the level doesn't drop fast at all.

 

[jblizzle]

Keep SLAMing, brushing, and filtering.

 

[duraleigh]

+1 what jblizzle said

 

[tmrobinson]

will keep up with everything and see how it goes. Filtering is not a problem, that thing has been running 24 hours a day since we moved in. The pool guy told me we could eventually move to just a few hours a day but we have never hit a point yet where I felt safe doing that.