I've been battling the green stuff on the walls of my pool for about three months. For the years I've owned my pool I was quite casual (lazy) about maintenance. Test the water about once a month and add three gallons of chlorine per day in the summers (when I remembered) and two gallons per day during the winters. I guess I've been quite lucky, because I've never had any algae problems. 2023 is the year my laziness caught up with me.
Around early June I noticed green stuff on the shaded walls of the pool. Dr. Google informed me that it was algae, so I bought 5 pounds of shock from Lowes and took care of the problem. As most here can predict, the problem returned a week later. On que, Dr. Google informed me I should shock the pool once a week. I obliged just like a good sheeple until I became fed up with my weekly investment in Lowes (that was yesterday). That's when I recalled the great information I had learned from TFP. So I came back to TFP and learned all about my algae problems. So, last night I began my SLAM.
Here's my readings before I SLAMed. Visually, the water was clear, with the algae visible only on the pool walls.
TA 110 ppm
FC .6 ppm (aha!)
No CC
CH 300
CY 40
PH 8
Water temp 86f
Because of the high PH, I added MA and lowered it to 7.6 before the SLAM, and I thoroughly brushed the pool. Yesterday evening I added 3.5 gallons of Suncoast liquid chlorine, and let it run through the system for an hour. One thing I did not expect was for the water to remain clear. Whenever I previously dumped in the CalHypo stuff, the water would cloud up. Nevertheless, I then checked the FC, and it stood at 20.8. My target was 16 in accordance with the TFP Chlorine Chart (CY at 40), but 20.8 should be fine as a starting point.
This morning before sunrise I checked the FC and it was 19.8, a full 1 ppm decrease overnight. The little algae nasties had a feast last night. My plan is to let it drift down to 16 ppm over the next few hour/days then hover there until my OTLC reads zero. An odd thing I noticed this morning was it seems there is still green on some of the walls. Oddly, I tried brushing it off, and it does not come off. I will check it later this morning with a hand brush to see if it's actually green, or simply a reflection of the surrounding trees. My old eyes can play tricks on me. I'll report back in the coming moments. Thanks! -Geo
Around early June I noticed green stuff on the shaded walls of the pool. Dr. Google informed me that it was algae, so I bought 5 pounds of shock from Lowes and took care of the problem. As most here can predict, the problem returned a week later. On que, Dr. Google informed me I should shock the pool once a week. I obliged just like a good sheeple until I became fed up with my weekly investment in Lowes (that was yesterday). That's when I recalled the great information I had learned from TFP. So I came back to TFP and learned all about my algae problems. So, last night I began my SLAM.
Here's my readings before I SLAMed. Visually, the water was clear, with the algae visible only on the pool walls.
TA 110 ppm
FC .6 ppm (aha!)
No CC
CH 300
CY 40
PH 8
Water temp 86f
Because of the high PH, I added MA and lowered it to 7.6 before the SLAM, and I thoroughly brushed the pool. Yesterday evening I added 3.5 gallons of Suncoast liquid chlorine, and let it run through the system for an hour. One thing I did not expect was for the water to remain clear. Whenever I previously dumped in the CalHypo stuff, the water would cloud up. Nevertheless, I then checked the FC, and it stood at 20.8. My target was 16 in accordance with the TFP Chlorine Chart (CY at 40), but 20.8 should be fine as a starting point.
This morning before sunrise I checked the FC and it was 19.8, a full 1 ppm decrease overnight. The little algae nasties had a feast last night. My plan is to let it drift down to 16 ppm over the next few hour/days then hover there until my OTLC reads zero. An odd thing I noticed this morning was it seems there is still green on some of the walls. Oddly, I tried brushing it off, and it does not come off. I will check it later this morning with a hand brush to see if it's actually green, or simply a reflection of the surrounding trees. My old eyes can play tricks on me. I'll report back in the coming moments. Thanks! -Geo
