Another Mustard Algae vs Pollen Thread...Sorry

[uloset]

Anyway I've been reading up on MA and have a question by what people are defining "wall" as? I had some yellow/green stuff on the slops of my pool, but it ended right at the crease where the actually 90 degree wall begins and not much on the bottom either. Whenever my filter is newly charged (and it was) the returns really push and I also get slit accumulation on this same slope below the returns. I also don't get a much settling in my deep end as my one return is pointed right down there and always churns that area up.

These facts also lead me to believe it is probably pollen. It was on the sunny side of the pool, which would be odd, but not impossible for MA. Also it showed up around the time of a huge wind storm (again this points towards pollen as well). I know it is a little late for tons of pollen, but we have an American Linden/Basswood tree in the front yard that just flowered around the same time. Also my pool only loses 2ppm or so a day and my CC have been .5 or less, though I know MA may not lower FC or increase CC bellow mustard shock levels.

What do you guys think.

 

[jblizzle]

I think it sounds more like it could be just some pollen/dirt/dust after the windstorm as well.

 

[ping]

Does not sound like MA to me and is most likely pollen.

 

[uloset]

Well I did an OCLT last night with elevated FC somewhere between shock and normal. I only lost about 1ppm so I'll keep an eye on it and see if the green stuff keeps coming back in large patches. I should have a better answer soon enough as it is mid-summer and pollen rates are low, so there is no reason a ton of green should find its way into the pool. Thanks for the replys

 

[SwimAustin]

I should have a better answer soon enough as it is mid-summer and pollen rates are low,

As someone with allergies, that seems an odd statement to me, so I checked. The cities I looked at in New Jersey all had high levels of grass pollen. I've no idea if that is an issue for a pool. High for people might not be high for pools.

 

[uloset]

As someone with allergies, that seems an odd statement to me, so I checked. The cities I looked at in New Jersey all had high levels of grass pollen. I've no idea if that is an issue for a pool. High for people might not be high for pools.

Well I guess term "low" was inappropriate I should have phrased it as lower. Right now the pollen index in my area is about 5.5 our of 12, what I really was trying to say was that they were not at super high levels that we see around spring time. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, I'm not the best to judge pollen rates personally as I don't have allergies (at least not to pollen), sorry for the confusing.

 

[jeanettepool]

Hi. I live in Central NJ as well. Again, I'm baffled as to whether certain "substances" on the liner are dirt/pollen or algae, too. I keep the FC on the high side because I have a high CYA level (around 80) from past inexperience with chlorine methods. After this season I plan to partially drain and refill. I keep the FC on the higher end of the FC to CYA chart, just in case. And I've been testing pretty regularly. Yet, no matter how consistent I seem to be with dosing the pool with chlorine, something sneaks up on me. How can algae grow under consistently high FC? (I'm not showing any CCs and a prior OCLT didn't yield a need to SLAM, but I did it anyway the last time this happened. We just had a few days of bad rain and wind, so I'm blaming that on the latest round of throwing the water off track.

Any suggestions on how to keep pollen or whatever from mucking up the water? Do the solar covers create more of a problem by exacerbating algae growth? I'm growing consistently frustrated with getting everything sparkling for a few weeks and then having to start all over again.