brown "dust" on pool bottom

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tracyd

Well-known member
Aug 11, 2013
52
North Kingstown, RI
I have brown "dust" thats all over the pool floor and in the corners of my pool. Its not slimy, it can be swept away very easily then settles to the bottom again. Im thinking this cannot possibly be algae as the water is clear and I've maintained my chlorine diligently. I have not had CC in weeks. Could this possibly be pollen? I have many trees in my yard-large oaks/pines and who knows what else. I have a Taylor 2006 kit and these are my results.
Ch 3.5
CC 0
Ph 7.6
Alk 40
CYA 30
 
Check your ladders, lights and stairs. I also had no CCs nor any visible signs of algae, just a light dust on my floor every few days. Pulled the ladder, no algae on the outside, but the inside was chocked full, cleaned it using a 50/50 bleach water solution and the "dust" went away.
 
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Im just confused. I thought I had a handle on this pool chemical thing. I thought you couldn't get algae if you kept FC within target range? When I opened my pool I had a CYA at 0- how does that happen? When I closed my pool it was very high.(like over 150) Where did it go? Someone mentioned soil bacteria and ammonia? My pool sparkled last week. What happened? Im going to clean my ladders like pepsiholic recommended. This happened last year and I almost lost it!
 
Some pools get the CYA to ammonia conversion, and I think some pools lose CYA due to water displacement over the winter if they had a lot of heavy snow. When you open the pool for the summer you should let the water circulate for an hour before testing. Uncirculated water can also give false test results. Run an overnight chlorine loss test to see if you need to slam the pool. Cleaning the ladder is also a good idea.
 

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Unfortunately, it is still possible to get an algae bloom on rare ocassions even with your FC in range. The cya test is only accurate to within +/- 10 points either way. Target your minimum for 1 point FC higher perhaps from your cya reading.
 
I would need to slam the pool with a CC of 0? My CC has maintained 0 since I SLAMMED and did the OCLT a month ago. Actually it may have been 0.2 1 time. I test everyday and maintain my CL diligently. I may need to SLAM the pool again? I will do whatever the recommendation is but Im just very confused right now. I want to understand whats going on.
 
Hurricane Arthur is over RI right now, we are to expect 3 inches of rain. I think Ill take the ladders off-clean them, brush the pool, add clarifier(this dust seems very light/hard to vacuum) and start from scratch. I'll backwash this dusty substance to waste, then test and add the appropriate chemicals. Ill probably SLAM the pool. Does this sound like a plan?
 
The OCLT will tell you if you need to slam or not. If the FC holds within 1ppm overnight then you do not need to slam. Go ahead and check the CYA level again just to confirm it is at 30 ppm.
 
Yes, CC is constantly created and broken down. That's why .5 CC is not considered a problem. It is possible to test 0 CC and half an hour later test with .5 CC and a little while after that have 0 CC again. CC is the waste product of chlorine consumption. When CC levels are higher they take longer to break down and you see the side effects of "chlorine smell" and itching, burning eyes.
 
I have a similar situation. My observation and comment is, I live in farm country. They're cutting wheat, working ground and replanting right across the road. I attribute some of my dust to that. Also, before I started adjusting to the TFP method I heavily treated with dichloro granules. When I dump my polaris bag, there seems to be a white-ish and gray sediment. Since I stopped using granule and just treat with BBB. I'm getting less waste off of the bottom. I snorkled my vac hose around today. Mixed results, worked ok in the shallow end but I'm too buoyant to stay on the bottom of deep end.
Pool is cloudy but clearing. I'll check my ladder tomorrow.
 
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