Clear Blue Water but still new algae everyday

[bjsbuds]

Thank you for posting the rest results. Your CYA of 50 is actually really good right now, but yes, at some point in the near future, not now, we'll add stabilizer.

For now - do you have any muriatic acid or dry pool acid on hand to lower the PH? In PoolMath, if you make sure your gallons are correct, and put 8.0 in the "Now" column for the PH row and the put 7.6 in the "Target" column for the PH row, then press "Calculate" it will tell you how much of each type of acid is required. Keeping the PH between 7.2-7.8 makes sure your bleach/chlorine is extremely effective. On the FC side of things, since your pool is always losing FC to the sun, to leaves, bacteria, algae, etc. if your pool is using more than your IC40 is generating then you're on the expressway to algae if you don't add more FC using bleach/chlorine.

According to [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA], for your CYA of 50 you really want to bring your FC back up to 8 whenever it goes under 6. To really make sure you've gotten rid of all the algae and bacteria from the swamp, our SLAM Process process suggests you bring your FC up to 20 using bleach and keeping it there until you pass all three SLAM Process ending criteria listed on that page. Our members find that after SLAM Processing a swamp, their pool becomes very predictable and they can dial in the SWG and/or bleach additions and keep their FC in their target range very easily - without many, if any, surprise FC drops down towards zero.

First, thanks so much for your detailed instructions, they are very helpful. I need to read the SLAMMING process articles again to find out what the three criteria are to end the process.

I do have muriatic acid and PoolMath says to add 20 oz, which I will this morning.

I put my last gallon of bleach in last night. I will first test this morning and then I will go buy more today to ensure I am keeping the FC up.

 

[BattleOfYakima]

Everything sounds good. Getting the PH 7.2-7.8 and manually getting that FC back up to 8 or more will help us move forward. Yes, the SLAM Process page is worth reading over a cup of your favorite beverage.

On the salt - are you relying on the SWG for your salt measurement or do you have a dedicated salt test like the Aqua Chek Strips, K-1766 drop test, or pH Meter? Have you added any since the drain/refill? We can help figure this out. Please be sure to note the advice mknauss gave earlier to turn off the SWG when adding salt.

What questions do you have right now we can help with?

 

[domct203]

......

Pool Math target is 1,000. How do I know if that is correct? If yes, does this mean I need to turn off the SWG, or turn very low. Since I don't have any chlorine in the pool, I do not understand why Salt is so high........

Your pool salt content is determined by your SWG manufacturer’s instructions. Most are in the 3000-3500ppm range.

The actual salt content will not directly affect the level of FC generated. As long as your sodium level is within the range recommended by the SWG manufacturer you are all set.

 

[bjsbuds]

Last night's readings:
FC 32 x 0.2 = 6.4
CC 2 x 0.2 = 0.4
Ph 8.0
TA 9 x 10 = 90
CYA 70
Salt - 13 x 200 = 2,600

This morning's readings:
FC 15 x 0.2 = 3
CC 2 x 0.2 = 0.4
Ph 7.8
TA 12 x 10 = 120
CYA 65
Salt - 15 x 200 = 3,000

Looks like I am still losing FC. Pool water looks so good.

According to Pool Math, I need the following:
75 oz of 6% bleach
13 oz of muriatic acid
12 oz of stablizer

Should I keep adding Bleach? Added 4 gallons of 8% last night before the evening reading.

 

[domct203]

Last night's readings:
FC 32 x 0.2 = 6.4
CC 2 x 0.2 = 0.4
Ph 8.0
TA 9 x 10 = 90
CYA 70
Salt - 13 x 200 = 2,600

This morning's readings:
FC 15 x 0.2 = 3
CC 2 x 0.2 = 0.4
Ph 7.8
TA 12 x 10 = 120
CYA 65
Salt - 15 x 200 = 3,000

Looks like I am still losing FC. Pool water looks so good.

According to Pool Math, I need the following:
75 oz of 6% bleach
13 oz of muriatic acid
12 oz of stablizer

Should I keep adding Bleach? Added 4 gallons of 8% last night before the evening reading.

If you are in the middle of a SLAM, yes you must add bleach to Maintain your SLAM level FC. Remember, the “M” in SLAM stands for Maintain. You lost 3.4ppm of FC overnight, so the SLAM continues.

Do not add any more CYA until you complete the SLAM.

Is seems you still need to read up on the SLAM process.

I need to read the SLAMMING process articles again to find out what the three criteria are to end the process.

Also, it’s fine to use the 10ml sample and each drop will be 0.5ppm. This is plenty accurate right now, and will save on reagents.

 

[bjsbuds]

If you are in the middle of a SLAM, yes you must add bleach to Maintain your SLAM level FC. Remember, the “M” in SLAM stands for Maintain. You lost 3.4ppm of FC overnight, so the SLAM continues.

Do not add any more CYA until you complete the SLAM.

Is seems you still need to read up on the SLAM process.



Also, it’s fine to use the 10ml sample and each drop will be 0.5ppm. This is plenty accurate right now, and will save on reagents.

So, are you saying I should have put in more than 4 jugs in last night (1 case)? I was surprised I lost 3.4ppm overnight too.

 

[domct203]

You should be adding enough bleach to reach your target, plus 2-3 ppm for what you will lose before the next test. The idea is to do the best you can to not let FC fall below the target. Don’t go overboard with the bleach though, as it will just be a waste of FC that will be consumed by the sun’s UV before it can help.

It’s not the one-time dose of FC, it’s the constant FC level that kills all the algae and bacteria. They are quite resilient organisms, and need to be continuously hit with FC until they are all dead.

 

[BattleOfYakima]

The benefit of doing a full SLAM Process now is that you will have fantastic water that isn't losing all this FC day and night to the bacteria and latent algae that are in there right now. After the SLAM, your overnight loss is 0 FC. Your daytime loss will be 0.5-4ppm depending on your location, sun exposure, wind debris, and bather load. The SWG should be capable of making all that, meaning no bleach except during time of excessive demand like pool parties and people bringing contaminants into the pool.

It is going to take several jugs of bleach, yes, but it is worth it to get and stay on the SWG without having algae recur repeatedly. You've got to kill it all now, including the roots under the protective slime biofilm they form.

Skip the stabilzer until after the slam.
Putting in 18,000 gallons, 120 TA, 7.8 PH - I get that to lower PH to 7.2 you need 53oz of Muriatic Acid
*I would only add 40oz at first which should lower you to 7.4 PH. Then you can wait 20 minutes with water circulating and check to see exactly what happened. If it says 7.2 or less you're done, if it says 7.4 go ahead and add the remaining 13oz muriatic acid. If it says more than 7.4 plug actual value in PoolMath and recalculate. This approach is just more cautious to make sure you don't go less than 7.2.

To go from FC 3 to FC 28 you need to add 5.5 jugs of 8.25% bleach (regular no fancy stuff) or 4.75 jugs of 10% liquid pool chlorine (same active ingredient as bleach).

After you get it to FC 28, your goal will be to keep it there, testing at least morning and night, ideally after work and/or lunchtime when you're home. It might be that you get it to 28 in the morning and that it kills so much algae and bacteria that you test it only an hour later and it falls to 25 for example, and then you would add more bleach to get back to 28 from 25.

5.5 jugs of bleach may seem like a lot, but remember, pool algae and bacteria isn't safe and takes a lot of sanitizer. Your SWG normally makes a lot of bleach for you each day. We just need to set it up for success so it can keep the algae away. Pour it in slow, and brush the pool with soft bristle brush after adding to stir up any that settles on the floor and to softly scratch the algae's biofilm.

 

[bjsbuds]

We added 4 jugs of 8.25% bleach. Tested an hour later and FC was at 15.2, so we just added another 2 jugs. I hope that increases the FC another 9.4, up to 24.6. Just added another jug to get up over 28.

Other readings this evening:
CC - 0.6 (3 x 0.2)
Ph 8.0 - will add more Muriatic acid in the morning.
TA - 120
CYA - 70
Salt - 2,800

 

[BattleOfYakima]

You are fantastic! This algae doesn't stand a chance against you!

Okay a few things - muriatic acid and bleach don't get along, so don't add them within 20 minutes of each other or store them next to each other.

PH test is invalid when FC is over 10 - so don't adjust PH based on any PH test reading when FC was over 10. Just add the 40oz or so and that's all for now. We will retest PH and adjust after SLAM Process. Skip PH tests until after FC is under 10 again.
Skip TA until after SLAM, then do weekly.
Skip CYA test for 1 month unless you have some sort of a overflow event, then retest monthly.
Is 2,800 salt within the manufacture suggested range for your IC40? If you don't know, I can look it up tomorrow, since I should know that.

For FC and CC test - use 10mL water sample. not 25ml. Follow these instructions please so you can multiply by .5 instead of .2 : https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/215-FAS-DPD-Chlorine-Test

If I wasn't clear about anything, please ask. Rushing a tad after staying up late to watch hockey.

 

[bjsbuds]

I can't believe this, and the pouring of money continues, and still I can't get it right. Every day we have been buying as much bleach as we can from local Kroger stores, four in our area. The shelves are bare. We have now purchased 32 jugs, and only have a few left. Must be everyone else is doing the same thing.

Last night, the FC read 24.6. Added two jugs of 121 oz, 8.25% bleach to get it up to 28.
This morning, it read 26.8, and I was so excited to think we were finally there. Added half a jug to get it up to 28. Before that added 81 oz. of Muriatic Acid to lower Ph from 9+ to 7.6, according to Pool Math.

Just got home tonight, and it has been 90 degrees all day, and just tested the chemicals.

FC = 0.6

I tested again because I couldn't believe that was right. But it was. Current readings tonight are:

FC - 0.6
CC - 0.2
Ph - 7.2
TA - 90
CYA - 55
Salt - 2,800

Pool Math recommends adding:
6 jugs of 121 oz. 8.25% bleach
71 oz. of Borax
36 oz. of stabilizer

I got in the pool and scrubbed the steps and walls again, hoping to remove any algae that may be present. The pool water looks terrific.

What does one do when the water tests good in the morning, you go to work, and come home to no chlorine? Should I be adding way more than Pool Math suggests?

 

[BattleOfYakima]

GREAT JOB ON THE BRUSHING!!!

It seems like you're really close but a couple things have me confused.

If your FC was 24.6 is should have only taken 91oz of 8.25% to get to 26 - not 2 jugs. If you added 2 jugs, waited 20 minutes with pump on, and then got 28 there is either major human testing error, expired or incorrectly stored testing chemicals, or bleach that is way old or way weaker than 8.25%.

On FC test: please watch this 1 minute 23 second video with the sound on to verify you're doing the test as shown
*FC tests should only be whole numbers and halfs. Like 23.5 or 24 or 24.5 or 25 - but not 24.6.

There are only a couple reasons your FC would PLUMMET during the day like that, and one is a less than perfect CYA reading. Please watch this 1 minute 9 second video with sound to verify we get a trustworthy reading so you can spend as little as possible keeping pool clear. We really need a 100% trustworthy CYA reading to make sure you don't lose more than 0.5-4 FC per day to the sun.

Do not add stabilizer yet. Do not add borax or muriatic acid right now.

Let's watch the vids, re-do FC+CC and CYA tests only and post the results. Then go from there. I'm telling the website to email me when you reply, so hopefully I can get you a fast answer if I'm not busy.

Trust me, I want to be able to get you on the TFP maintenance plan as soon as possible and use as little bleach as possible the rest of the year. Stick with me and we'll get you there.

 

[bjsbuds]

GREAT JOB ON THE BRUSHING!!!

It seems like you're really close but a couple things have me confused.

If your FC was 24.6 is should have only taken 91oz of 8.25% to get to 26 - not 2 jugs. If you added 2 jugs, waited 20 minutes with pump on, and then got 28 there is either major human testing error, expired or incorrectly stored testing chemicals, or bleach that is way old or way weaker than 8.25%.

On FC test: please watch this 1 minute 23 second video with the sound on to verify you're doing the test as shown
*FC tests should only be whole numbers and halfs. Like 23.5 or 24 or 24.5 or 25 - but not 24.6.

There are only a couple reasons your FC would PLUMMET during the day like that, and one is a less than perfect CYA reading. Please watch this 1 minute 9 second video with sound to verify we get a trustworthy reading so you can spend as little as possible keeping pool clear. We really need a 100% trustworthy CYA reading to make sure you don't lose more than 0.5-4 FC per day to the sun.

Do not add stabilizer yet. Do not add borax or muriatic acid right now.

Let's watch the vids, re-do FC+CC and CYA tests only and post the results. Then go from there. I'm telling the website to email me when you reply, so hopefully I can get you a fast answer if I'm not busy.

Trust me, I want to be able to get you on the TFP maintenance plan as soon as possible and use as little bleach as possible the rest of the year. Stick with me and we'll get you there.

Sorry, I have been adding so many jugs, that I actually forgot. Yes, I only added 2/3rds of a jug.

I did watch both videos, and that is exactly what I have been doing. I can no longer test CYA until I get more R-0013.

I will only focus on FC + CC from here.

I added six more jugs last night of 121 oz. 8.25% bleach. Will test this morning.

Also, will watch videos. Sure hope I don't have to drain more water out of the pool.

 

[domct203]

If you use the 10ml sample as we have recommended, each drop is 0.5ppm FC. This will save you money on FC reagents.

It also makes the drop conversion math easier.

 

[bjsbuds]

Okay, this pool is playing tricks on me, or the person I sent down to the pool to take a sample last night.

I put 6 jugs of 121 oz. at 8.25% bleach in last night.
This morning I went down to take a sample, and the pool pump was not running. The timer triggers off every so many days.

I could tell when I approached the pool that chlorine was present because I could smell it. Also, a stain that turns brown when chlorine goes away and clears when present was gone.

Using the 10ml sample I have the following readings:
FC - 33
CC - 0.5
Ph - 7.8
TA - now this is a weird one. When I entered R-0008 the sample turned blue rather than green. When I added R-0009 it never turned pink, but rather orange at 14 drops, and after 40 drops, still orange, so I stopped.
CYA - 58 (more R-0013 to be delivered Friday)

Since I flipped the pump back on a few hours ago, I am going to take another sample just to see if anything has changed. Then off to buy more bleach

 

[BattleOfYakima]

Skip all tests except FC and CC. Maintain FC 24. Run pump 24 hours a day if possible. Brush daily if possible, more frequently anywhere that shows any discoloration.

After FC is back to 24 one evening after sunset, do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test and let's see if we can end this SLAM Process.

Is the water perfectly, insanely, couldn't imagine it being any clearer - clear?

Is the SWG on or off right now?

 

[bjsbuds]

Skip all tests except FC and CC. Maintain FC 24. Run pump 24 hours a day if possible. Brush daily if possible, more frequently anywhere that shows any discoloration.

After FC is back to 24 one evening after sunset, do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test and let's see if we can end this SLAM Process.

Is the water perfectly, insanely, couldn't imagine it being any clearer - clear?

Is the SWG on or off right now?

Pool Math says FC, down to 16, and that I need to add 320 oz. of 8.25% bleach.

CC is at 0.5

Ph at 7.2

Yes, the SWG is on right now, but on its lowest setting.

Headed down to add more Bleach and will check water once more this evening.

 

[bjsbuds]

Back up to 34 of FC, 0.5 of CC, and 7.8 of Ph.

Will test in the morning.

 

[domct203]

Back up to 34 of FC, 0.5 of CC, and 7.8 of Ph.

Will test in the morning.

Why are you dosing so high, and why do you continue to check pH?

The high FC level will interfere with the pH test, and is most likely messing with the TA test you did earlier.

Focus on FC. Once FC starts to hold we can add CC to the testing.

#1 priority is to sanitize the water, focus on maintaining SLAM level FC.

 

[BattleOfYakima]

Please verify you filled out PoolMath like this:

With all fields completed, pressing calculate, and hovering over the ounces, I am not getting 320oz of 8.25% but instead getting only 213oz.

I think you had your target set at FC 28, which does yield 320oz - but since your CYA is 60, according to [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA], you are supposed to be maintaining FC 24 until your pool stops wild FC swings - signaling that we've finally taken care of all the contaminants that produced those recurring algae blooms that we don't want you to ever have again.

As Dom said, let's just focus on FC - skip all other tests. Let's use testing and PoolMath to just keep bringing FC back up to 24 (no higher is needed) and let's get this wild FC ride over with. You can do this!!!