It's been a long battle with algae

[Jack Strap]

I'm new to this form and just completed my first round of tests with the new test kit. Here are the results;
FC 2
CC .2
Ph 7
TA 200 ( has been this high all year so far)
CH15
CYA I put about 1/2' of water in the measuring tube and the dot disappeared?! To low for reading?

Water temp about 87.

Here is the quick back story; I put the pool in five years ago and had no trouble for 5 years, i have had some serious medical issues and last year I did not keep it up correctly. Last August got what I believe was a case of pink mold, went to the pool store a bunch of times, added a bunch of chemicals as they advised and couldn't seem to completely beat it, closed the pool a week early, changed out the sand in the filter this year before the season started.

Developed what appears to be a case of mustard algae, white looking powdery substance, not slimy and not sand, when you touch it turns into a cloud. Every time I spotted it, vacuum to waste and added chemicals, brushed as per pool store instructions. Cleaned and shocked the pool, ran the filter on recirculate for a few days and it grew back indicating that it's something organic (I think). Every time I see it I vacuum to waste and I have been doing a lot of shocking, I don't know what I'm doing and it appears the pools store folks don't either, since I have not been able to beat it, ready for a new era the trouble free pool way, read up on mustard algae, seems like I need to follow the instructions for 5 days of SLAM then one extra day of super slam, I'm just not sure if I need to do anything else first like correct the TA or CYA, any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Your CYA level is very very high. I recommend replacing water to get the CYA level down to around 60. Fighting algae when CYA is really high is extremely difficult.

You can get a slightly better idea of just how high the CYA level really is by doing the CYA test on a mixture of half pool water and half tap water, then multiply the result by two.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

CYA I put about 1/2' of water in the measuring tube and the dot disappeared?! To low for reading?

On the contrary- its wayyyyy high. Take a look at that tube and notice the markings. The less water you add until the dot disappears means the turbidity of the water (the CYA) is high, and if you have to add more before that dot disappears your level of CYA is less. High CYA often comes as a unexpected "benefit" of using pucks or certain granular products. It adds up and adds up, but only leaves if you exchange water for fresh CYA-free water.

 

[Jack Strap]

Thank you for the quick reply, I did the test with 1/2 tap water and did not make it to the 100 mark so it's super high. Having never emptied out the pool before, do I just use the filter pump and set to waste? That seems like a lot of work for the motor.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the quick reply, that part of the post was awkwardly worded, I meant the water level in the tube was so low I could not get a reading because all the markings on the tube were higher, I just repeated the test with 1/2 tap water and came just shy of the 100 marker on the tube so it looks to be over 200. The pool calculator said to take 70% of the water out, that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 10K gallons, any suggestions on how to pump out and dispose of that much water?

 

[JasonLion]

For an above ground pool, you can simply disconnect the return hose from the filter and a fairly large amount of water will flow out of that hose.

 

[Richard320]

Gravity is your friend. Siphon it.

If you have a pool vacuum hose, it will flow a whole lot more than a garden hose.

 

[Jack Strap]

I have been considering a SWG for some time, since I'm draining 80% of the water from the pool, i'm thinking this is the time to do it, should I make any special preparations like scrub or disinfect it prior to the re-fill given that I've had an algae problem?

 

[Richard320]

I have been considering a SWG for some time, since I'm draining 80% of the water from the pool, i'm thinking this is the time to do it, should I make any special preparations like scrub or disinfect it prior to the re-fill given that I've had an algae problem?

You don't want to drain the pool completely, or you run the risk of the liner shifting.

If you have a manual vacuum, I'd use it as the base of the siphon and vacuum any debris out via siphoning.

Your best bet is to set the CYA to a reasonable number and get the water balanced and take it to shock level and run the overnight loss test to be sure things are all fixed. If it passes and the other two tests are good, you're done with the SLAM in one day. If not, you got a day's head start on it. Then add the salt. Then switch to the SWG. But get it all clear and balanced as a bleach pool first.

 

[Jack Strap]

Will do, thank you very much, is 80% too much water to take out, I was going to leave about 10" in the bottom.

 

[Divin Dave]

As a FYI, it may take more than 5 days to complete the SLAM. Might take less. Only by testing with a reliable test kit, can you know when the slam is finished.

Good luck! Seems like you have a reasonable grasp on what to do.

 

[Iciee]

Drain as much as you can. Easier to add more water then to redrain a second time after filling it back up. Ask me how I know lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[joegus]

Just be careful you don't drain it down too low Jack. With an above ground pool, you risk the sides collapsing. The pool walls are designed to withstand pressure from the water pushing out. Without the water, a good wind could blow them in. I'd keep at least 10 inches in the bottom and as Richard pointed out your liner could shift which could cause wrinkles on the bottom too. Good luck.