Algae Bloom

[Undertow]

Hello!

I'm a fairly new pool owner and due to some halfhearted off season maintenance , I've managed to get an algae bloom. I think I've got most of the leaves and junk off the bottom, but it's hard to tell for sure.

Here are my stats:
CYA - 28 +/- Did the test twice and it is at what I'm guessing is around 28, dot disappears about 1/8" past the 30 mark.
FC - 18
CC - .5
TC - 18.5
PH - 8.2
TA - 130
CH - 200

I've been running the pump for 3 days, brushing daily, and have been trying to keep the FC up as best I can with work and it has gotten a bit lighter, but no significant change yet and the filter has only gone up about 1 PSI. I've got time to stay on the chlorine this weekend so I'm hoping for results soon. My CYA was north of 100 last season and I haven't done any major water changes, so I was a bit surprised it has been reduced so much. Should the CC be higher with the water in this state? Also, should I be adding acid while shocking? I added some yesterday before bringing it back up to shock, but I understand shocking makes it test artificially high?

Anyway, I'm just looking for some validation on what I'm doing to make sure I'm not missing anything. Should I add any CYA at this point or wait till it is clear?

Thanks!
-Jake

 

[jblizzle]

Sounds like you have a pretty good grasp of the concept.

You are correct that the pH will read high for a FC >10, so it is good that you adjusted it prior to shocking. There should not be a need to recheck the pH until you are done (unless you happen to let the FC drop too low, then testing and adjusting the pH would not hurt).

The CYA test is generally good to +/- 10ppm ... so calling it 30 would be close enough. It is interesting that it would have dropped so much over the winter, although not unheard of.

For a CYA of 30ppm, your shock value is FC of 13ppm so just make sure you keep it above that level (a little higher will not hurt anything and should help speed the process).

Since you already have some CYA in the pool, you would be better off waiting until you have completed the shocking process before you retest the CYA level and adjust it ... that will keep your shock FC levels lower.

The recommendation for filter cleaning is when the pressure goes up 20-25% of the normal "clean" pressure. This will will keep the filter and circulation efficiency up.

Keep vigilant and it will clear up soon!!!

 

[duraleigh]

Keep doing just what you are doing. Things will improve before you know it.

 

[Undertow]

Thanks for the replies.

Just for kicks I took a water sample to the local pool store where they have a BioGuard computer tester, and the results were almost identical.

They show CYA at 29, so it has indeed dropped a lot, I was expecting a huge water change, so that is great news!

Just did another FC test and it is down to 14.5 from 18 in about an hour, so I'll just look to maintain it at this point.

Thanks again for the replies!

 

[jblizzle]

Keep vigilant. You do not want to let your FC level drop below 13ppm ... so hopefully you bumped it up a bit before heading to bed to ensure it stayed high over night.

 

[Undertow]

Yes, I bumped it around midnight to make sure, was 12.5 when I checked it this morning and been bumped since. I had hoped for more, but I can see progress - I can see some of the pebbles on the floor of the shallow end again. I decided to run my robot and it has been picking up little tree seeds and such, not too much in the way of leaves, but quite a bit of small junk.

Here is today's picture.

 

[jblizzle]

Keep up the good work. It can sometimes take many days/weeks to complete the process. But remember the end prize is a crystal clear pool.

Keep the pictures coming!!!

 

[Undertow]

Here is day 3:

And here is today, day 4 - quite a bit of progress has been made:

 

[Undertow]

Day 5:

Great progress has been made:

I can even see the drain!

There is some staining around the drain they in not handled by brushing and it has been there since I got the house. Any tips on getting rid of it?

 

[jblizzle]

Looking WAY better!!!

I was happy to see the cleaner in the shallow end and then scrolled to see the drain

You can try putting Vitamin C on the stain and see if it fades. That would indicate that it is a metal stain.

 

[PSW]

Looking great so far! Keep up the good work!