Algae? After sand change?

[Cathy9887]

OK.. so, I'm a long time TFPer. I've got my FAS-DPD test box, and I've kept our pool as glistening as I can for the past several years. No algae for the last season or two.

FFwd to this summer. It's time to change the sand in our filter. Yes, I've read in here that sand never "wears out", but we were getting sand in the pool.. and after lots of reading, we came to the conclusion the sand had smoothed down & was flowing right thru its own filtering process and into the pool. When the service tech opened the top, he asked "Who put this in here?" We told him it was the installers (they installed the filter with zero way to open the top of the filter without cutting the PVC and redoing it. We chose to have a business do it in case anything went wrong). The tech then said... "It's playground sand. This probably hasn't really filtered much of anything for you.. especially if its more than a year old." Yeah. Its about 8 yrs old.

So... the tech picked up the sand on his way to our house. When he arrived, we noticed it was ZeoLite. I'd never heard of it, but while he was sucking out all of the old stuff, I was busy on Google. SO MANY MIXED REVIEWS!!! Some love it.. others despise it. But most of the info I could find on it was several years old.. so, hoping things have improved over the years, we didn't say anything & went along with it.

The next morning... the pool was green(ish). By Noon, it had gotten even MORW green. I saw algae collecting on the steps, so I tested the water & began a SLAM. 48 hrs later after being very diligent about tests & checks, the water was looking soooooo much better!! It never really had a chance to get away from us.

But now, here we are on the 5th day, and while the water is "clear", there's still algae in there. Its a bit cloudy when looking from one end to the other... and I can still find some algae in the divots of the steps. And then there's these photos I took last night.... they're actually screenshots from a video. All within 10 seconds or less. It was as if someone had poured something into the water and it was spreading out... what is this?????

 

[Texas Splash]

That's odd, but I have a gut feeling the algae you got was a coincidence to the filter work and not directly related to it. No doubt the play sand was a major no-no, but the zeolite (IMO) was not the best replacement. But we do have many fans of it here as well. In any case, you confirmed algae so the SLAM Process is the way to go, but now you have to be vigilant everywhere in the pool and not just think the filter was the source. Algae could be hiding anywhere. There debris you see under the light might be dead algae blowing back into the pool, hard to tell. Hopefully your tech didn't damage a lateral during the process resulting in zeolite blowing back in. Maybe see if you can capture some of it from a return jet?

 

[Cathy9887]

I'vr been slamming it since Wednesday. **sigh** Definitely making headway, but I just can't seem to get it all. And it's KILLING us, because its 95° this weekend, and we all want to be IN the pool.. not standing around complaining about it. LOL.

We're also getting some teeny bubbles from the return jets. I remember seeing them coming out of the most shallow jet (in the stairs) last season, so it wasn't from the sand change. But what could be causing that?! Bad O-ring at the pump Skimmer, maybe?? Could there be a crack in a pipe somewhere?? Ugh....

"Get a pool", they said....
"It'll be so much fun", they said....
"They're not that much trouble", they said...

I'm pretty sure all the "they"s never owned a pool before. LOL

 

[Texas Splash]

You can still swim as long as you do not exceed your SLAM level, So hop in there with brushes and have fun. The bubbles might be from your SWG if you still have it running. Is it?

 

[Cathy9887]

I have been treating this algae bloom since 7/21!! I will admit to 2 days (not in a row) where I was under the weather & could not tend to the pool. I SLAMmed it, and slammed it, and slammed it.. used the pool math (actually, the Pool Pal app) to keep the FC at 24. I'll post the results of several different tests below.

That said, its been 2 bleeding weeks!! It started out very cloudy, and I've somehow managed to get that mostly under control. Its not perfect by any stretch, but at least we can actually see the bottom drains now (8'). The algae won't go away though!!

I got so fed up with it, I push the FC up to 30.. its been that way for about 3 days now. When standing up or looking at it from a distance, it looks absolutely yellowish-greenish. But when I got close to take pics, it looks more grey(ish). Am I slamming dead algae???

7/12: FC 4, CYA 70 (water was perfect)
7/21: FC 4, pH 7.1, TA 30, CYA 65 (Day 1 of algae/slam FC goal 20)
7/22: FC 14
7/23: FC 11, pH 7.4
7/24: FC 9, pH 7.4
7/29 6:54pm: FC 19
7/29 7:32pm: FC 23
7/29 9:29pm: FC 18
7/30 Noon: FC 13, CYA 20 (added liquid CYA)
7/30 4:30pm: FC 14, CYA 60
8/2 11:45am: FC 22.5
8/2 2:11pm: FC 24.5
8/2 4:45pm: FC 28.5
8/3: FC 23, CYA 50
8/4: FC 18, CYA 55

I just don't know what else to do.

 

[Texas Splash]

The main thing I see is the up & down FC results, especially the first week. The second week was better, but still fluctuated a bit and perhaps not as high as it should be. You CYA seemed to have changed a bit as well, and several backwashes could explain some dropping, so if we call your CYA 60, the FC SLAM level is 24. So that's been better the past few days with a couple dips. I would continue with the FC of about 24, but also be sure you've eliminated any potential hiding places for algae (liner folds, under drain cover, light niche if installed, ladders, steps, skimmer/weir door, etc). Consistency is key. By the looks of pic #4 you're getting close, and the final outcome (clarity) is all in those details.

 

[Cathy9887]

The dips in FC is just over time, and sometimes not that much. Two & three days ago, my son & I set 2 hour alarms on our Alexa, and went out each time. I tested the water, and poured shock in accordingly. The goal on those days was 30, so when it DID drop down, hopefully it would still stay at or above the 24 mark. I'm testing & treating as often as I can. I even vacuumed to waste a couple evenings ago - and the next morning, the ledge seat looked exactly the same. Divots filled with Crud.

I'm having "emergency" surgery (more like "super urgent" lol) on Friday, so tomorrow will be my last day to really give it the full girl scout effort. Never would I have imagined it would take this long. We haven't had algae in 3+ years. We had our sand filter changed on 7/20 (the tech put ZeoLite in it - without consulting us first), and on 7/21, this started. **facepalm**

 

[Mike1162]

It might help if we see how much chlorine you adding.
Something like this:
8/5 6:00 pm FC 15 added 1 gal of 10%
8/5 8:00 pm FC 20 added 1/2 gal of 10%
8/5 10:00 pm FC 24 Nothing added
8/6 7:00 am FC 22 added 1/4 gal of 10%

 

[Mike1162]

I missed your previous post. Interesting that this started with swapping sand for Zeolite.
Hope you have a quick recovery from your surgery.

 

[JamesW]

We had our sand filter changed on 7/20 (the tech put ZeoLite in it - without consulting us first), and on 7/21, this started. **facepalm**

Have them come out and replace the Zeolite for regular sand with no charge since they did this without your approval.

Why did you want the sand replaced?

Sand virtually never needs to be replaced.

 

[Cathy9887]

Have them come out and replace the Zeolite for regular sand with no charge since they did this without your approval.

Why did you want the sand replaced?

Sand virtually never needs to be replaced.

Because sand was coming out of the return jets, and I'm glad we did. The installers cheated us & used playground sand instead of pool sand.

 

[PoolStored]

Take a deep breath, all will be good. I can share my "new pool" experience.

I did a slam, it took 5 days. I believe I can now do in 2.

What I learned that may be applicable:
1) test and adjust every 2 hours during the DAY. Do nothing at night, but the OCLT. I might continue testing/slamming at night, every two hours for first two days if you are a BEAST, but not necessary. The two hour thing really helps.
2) the second recommendation is think..."where can algae be hiding?" For me, I had a skimmer that was shut down by previous owner. I also have a hollow tube ladder that attaches to deck and goes into pool. I also have a light. While brushing everything else, it didn't occur to me that algae could be in the closed skimmer, the ladder tubes and the light. After getting overnight OCLT down to 2.5 after a day, it sat there. I looked at the ladder on day 4 and *BAM* it hit me...the ladder, the light and the skimmer were holding algae. Pulled the light and scrubbed it. Pulled the ladder and sure enough, algae in the tubes. Poured Chlorine in the skimmer and scrubbed with a brush (it was BROWN when I started). Within a day, I was done with slam. (*BTW, I also scrubbed at the bottom of the stairs where they trimmed the vinyl...it too had a bit of algae. LOOK FOR ANYTHING IN THE POOL WHERE YOU MIGHT HAVE ALGAE!!!!

Can you post pics of the whole pool? Maybe we can see the hiding places!

Good luck and look for hiding places!!!

 

[JamesW]

Because sand was coming out of the return jets, and I'm glad we did. The installers cheated us & used playground sand instead of pool sand.

How do you know that the original sand was playground sand?

In any case, the person who used zeolite did not follow your instructions to replace the "sand".

Maybe the laterals are damaged?

Can you show a picture of the multiport and the whole system?

 

[JamesW]

The tech then said... "It's playground sand.

Do you have a picture of the original sand?

Maybe the sand was the right sand and the new tech was wrong?

What are the qualifications of this new tech?

Seems like you are having a lot of trouble since they did their thing.

Have you called them to ask why you are having so many problems?

If yes, what did they say?

I suspect that there is something wrong with the filter.

Maybe it is plumbed incorrectly or maybe the laterals are damaged.

Do you have pictures of the whole system?

Also, please try to keep everything in one thread when it is the same issue.

Starting multiple new threads causes confusion and helpers lose context and detail.

At my wits end with this stuff!!

I have been treating this algae bloom since 7/21!! I will admit to 2 days (not in a row) where I was under the weather & could not tend to the pool. I SLAMmed it, and slammed it, and slammed it.. used the pool math (actually, the Pool Pal app) to keep the FC at 24. I'll post the results of...

www.troublefreepool.com

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