Algae - SLAM (or use Shock?)

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7am 24.5 added 2-1/2 gal since I'd have to be gone all day - should have been enough to raise to 40 (it was calling for 2 gal 1 cu to raise to 37 so I added whole thing)

3:30 pm - 17.5 adding 2-1/2 gal, should raise to just over 32 - will test this evening to make sure it shouldn't drop below 27 overnight if possible?

I can see to the bottom pretty well, and there are a good many leaves left. I'm going to try to get them all out, since I'm guessing they are eating chlorine too. Water looks pretty clear.

I took pics yesterday but could never find my camera cable. Will take some with phone later and post those, but nothing much to see, it's looking pretty good. Except for the debris on the bottom and just slight greenishness (only in the deep end) - the shallow end is blue and the rest of the water itself is pretty blue today - just greenish sediment on the bottom I think.

I can't believe it's only been a few days.

I'm still adding so much chlorine (to my way of thinking) per day so I'll be glad when I can look at lowering the level - soon I hope?
 
Thanks! :)

I had no idea how many leaves were still down there. The piles were deep I guess. I ran the leaf rake and filled up 3-4 bags (my mesh bag is is about 1-1/2 x 2 feet, but it only holds so much weight-wise) and then scooped a few more nets full out with the skimmer net.

Now the water is kinda cloudy again, with lots of debris, just from stirring all that up. From a distance it's still mostly blue though.

I'll do whatever I need to do. It's still too cold to swim, and I know if I stop too soon (or I'm betting) that it will probably just bounce right back into being a problem.

But if I could use less chlorine that would be nice. 5 gal so far today, and I suspect I may need a bit more to keep it up overnight. Hopefully getting that pile of leaves out will help, and I'm going to try to get some more if they settle back down where I can get them.

I'm trying to keep an eye on my testing chemicals, to be sure I don't run out. I'm hoping the leaves will make a difference and I can get a good handle on what's going on and test less often, once I know about what to expect. I've already cut down a little - only tested twice today (though if i'd been home I probably would have done 3 so far) - and will do another one tonight.

Thanks again everyone. My daughter said she can't believe how much better it looks, and really it's only been four days.
 
Key is to maintain the level until you don't have overnight loss. That is when the algae is all dead.

Getting all of the leaves out will help immensely. Give it a good scrub and see what happens tonight. One test after the sun goes down and another before the sun comes up. You want to see zero loss (.5 is acceptable). Anything higher is an indication that the cl is still doing battle.
 
I love reading this thread! Keep on going! You are going to burn a LOT of chlorine since you have all that organic matter in the pool. The more leaves you can get out, the smoother the process will go.
 
Well - unfortunately I was really tired and fell asleep last night before I could do another test. I had also anticipated needing to add more chlorine to keep the levels anywhere near SLAMing.

I woke up late too, just did a test 8am (not much light yet, it's foggy and really there is no sun).

The good news? FC is still 27, and not only that, but the water is decidedly blue. Only blue. (Ok, the liner is showing, lol)

Still a few little pockets of leaves, I'm going to try to get out today. Still some sediment on the bottom and settled cloudiness, which I'm sure when I brush it will make dark green clouds. But about 90% of that is gone. I sure wish that Polaris was up and working. Hard to handle with just a leaf rake, scrub brush, and net.

I'll keep it at SLAM level today, test it overnight tonight.

So ... does that mean if it doesn't lose more than .5 FC tonight, and since the water is clear, I can back off on chlorine levels? I'm not sure what CC is.

And I think I'm not really comfortable going completely down to maintenance levels now after working pretty hard to clear it and seeing it come clean so fast. I have this idea that I might have missed some algae somewhere and it will start growing again right away (and I have no idea if levels less than shock level will even prevent that?)

If y'all don't mind, I'll stay in touch, and get a for-sure for how to proceed. I don't want to get over-eager and mess up at this stage.

And I really will try to get some pics in, though you'll only be able to see now that it's almost clean. Water is still a bit dull, I think, but since the sun is not out I may be wrong.

Thanks again!
 

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3 parameters to stop the SLAM:
CC less than 0.5
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test passes
Clear pool


CC is Combined Chloramides.

Under 5 in the instruction of the TF-100
Chlorine Drop test - If you need to......1) measure Chlorine levels accurately or 2) higher than 5ppm or 3) test for Combined Chloramines…perform the Chlorine Drop Test. (FAS/DPD)
1. Rinse and fill the “Chlorine only” graduated cylinder to the 10mL mark
2. Add ONE heaping scoop of the R-870 powder and swirl to mix. (It may not all dissolve….don’t worry) The solution will turn pink. (unless you have no chlorine)
3. Next, carefully add R-871 solution one drop at a time. Count each drop and swirl until the solution turns back to clear. Multiply the number of drops you added times .5 (14 drops X .5 = 7ppm)
4. Record your results as FC (free chlorine)
5. To test for Combined Chloramines, add 5 drops of R-0003 to the solution and swirl. If it remains clear, you have no CC’s. If it returns back to pink, add R-0871 as before, counting and swirling between each drop. Once the solution returns clear, multiply the added drops times .5 again…..this will be your CC reading. Record it. The total of FC and CC should be recorded as TC (total chlorine)

Here is the detailed explanation of the OCLT: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/136-perform-the-overnight-fc-chlorine-loss-test-oclt

And is your pool clear?

- - - Updated - - -

... and we love it when folks hang around. :)

BTW - if any of the parameters above don't pass and you have a pool light it would be worth taking the pool light out of the nook to see if there is algae behind it. Should be 1-3 Philips head screws to remove the light from the nook.
 
You still have a lot of organic matter in the pool, so hold at slam level. CC is Combined Chloramines. The test for it is step 5 of the Chlorine drop test in your TF-100. I Copy and pasted from their website since I don't have the reagent names memorized (and since I live in Ohio, my pool hasn't been tested in about 6 months...lol)

5. To test for Combined Chloramines, add 5 drops of R-0003 to the solution and swirl. If it remains clear, you have no CC’s. If it returns back to pink, add R-0871 as before, counting and swirling between each drop. Once the solution returns clear, multiply the added drops times .5 again…..this will be your CC reading. Record it. The total of FC and CC should be recorded as TC (total chlorine)

R-0003 has a yellow cap, and the R-0871 is the same reagent (in the bigger white bottle) you use in the FC test. CCs are made when breaking down organic matter (well that's the simplified version). Less than .5 CC means your pool isn't "fighting" anything. Feel free to test for CCs during the slam process to see how its at.

You can finish the slam when

1. Your water is clear.
2. Your CC is .5 or less
3. You lose less than .5 FC overnight when there is no sunlight.

Hope this helps! :swim:
 
Thanks.

I haven't done a CC test yet then. I may do it next time I test, just to get familiar with with process and see where I'm at.

And thanks for the info. I'll keep at it. The green puffing up from the bottom bothers me, and I can't figure out how to clear it, though maybe it's clearing on it's own? It sure seems there is a lot less (hard to be positive, because I haven't been able to see so well for long).

And no light in the pool. I'm worried about the tiny nooks around the drain, and if I'm not getting perfectly around and under the ladder, and so on, but trying to do that. I just realized yesterday that I was skipping the vertical fronts to the pool steps - danggit. They don't seem very susceptible to algae, thankfully.

I know my husband is ready for me to be finished and not spending $15 for chlorine every day or two. At least this should serve as motivation not to let this happen again. If I ever get so sick again, hopefully someone else will take over pool care. ;)
 
1:00 FC 17 CC 1 TC 18?
added 2-1/2 gal to target 32 (supposed to be targeting about 27 but it's going to burn some off)

The CC was actually questionable whether it was .5 or 1 ... the solution turned barely pink when I added the R-0003, and it was hard to tell if 1 drop turned it back clear or not, but I added one more drop to be sure and recorded as such.

And with that I am out of chlorine again, so back to the pool store. At least it's been 2 days since I was last there - I started out going twice a day. ;)
 
Getting close. The key is no organics in the pool, which means no leaves and no green puffs. At the end of the process the pool should be the cleanest you have ever seen it. The key right now is to keep that CL at the SLAM level as much as you can and keep up the brushing. Keep hitting the Algae that is left hard.

Still back-washing regularly? Is it looking better?

The CC is the waste product from the FC attacking the Algae. Interestingly enough the FC will also destroy the CC. (Chem geek can probably explain this much better than I can ... but you get the idea). Given that you still have clouds its not surprising that you have a CC of 1.

Stay the course ... almost there.

Chris
 
I backwash at least once or twice a day. It's hard to say if it's better from one wash to the next, since I do it at varying intervals. I can certainly say it's much better than it was the first day. The color was brownish-coppery at first, and never seemed to get really clear. Now it's the regular slight greenish (usually - sometimes still a bit of coppery-brown) and goes to clear really quickly.

I do tend to run the backwash much longer than absolutely necessary. I am hoping that it will clear the filter better that way, and it's also to offset the rain (none in the past couple days tho) and the water going in when I use the leaf rake.

I'm hoping when I'm all done the CYA will be lower. I'm not sure exactly what it was - somewhere between 65-80, but lower than that seems better?

Mostly I'm just hoping to get the sand really clean. (It is a sand filter, btw, not a DE as I thought in my first post)

And the gauge is not working at the moment, so I'm not sure about that part. :(
 
Spot on. You are following the right path. Don't sweat the gauge, that is a cheap and easy fix later.

You are correct on the cya. With that much water replacement you should see a change in the right direction.
 
And I'm trying VERY hard to get the last of the leaves out. Almost got them all, but there are scattered ones. I wonder if I'm using the rake properly. Sometimes it glides around and picks up clouds of leaves. Other times I fight it, and more of them just sit there or swish away from the base, catching few. Times like that I think there's 50-100 for every one or two I pick up. I wish I had a separate pole with a net, and a couple more arms. I'd rather net them.

Considering I pulled out bags FULL of leaves, right now if I could get them all in the rake, I'd say there's only about 1/2 to 1/3 bag left at most.

They are also sticking around the drain.

Definitely need to get more green off the bottom. Not sure if the Polaris will help if I can get it to run.

We're getting there. :) SO much better looking overall! But the bottom still needs work.

Thanks again. :)
 
Wow.

8pm, FC was 25.5 - I felt bad, because I've been working so hard to clean the bottom, I let the test go much later than I expected. Based on what's happened up until now, I was afraid it might be in the 14-17 range by then. But the chlorine stayed really high. Adding a gallon (just to make it easy) which should raise to 31.5.

Been trying to sweep all the gunk toward the drain, and pump from the drain to waste. Trying to stir up leaves and catch them with a net like they were fish trying to get away (and depth perception at 6-7 feet or more is tricky, LOL). The pool was looking very cloudy because I scrubbed SO much and tried so hard to get all the stuff out, but I think I succeeded in getting out a lot. Still some leaves.

But at any rate, the chlorine held so much better than I expected. I think I'm going to keep at this for a couple more days or so, and then I'll check to see if all says I can stop. It's probably going to take me that long to get the bottom perfectly clean.

Wish I had a scuba outfit and I could go down there and just pick up the darn leaves. :p

It's really getting there though. Thanks so much everyone.
 

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