Crepe Myrtle flowers and green pool

Apr 4, 2017
13
Atlanta, GA
Hey there. Been having a lot of success using the recommendations from this site. Basically a gallon of chlorinating liquid every other day and a little muriatic acid when needed.
Literally had a sparkling pool all summer. We've been going to the lake every weekend and I add a little extra chlorine before we go and always come back with no problems.
Last weekend the hurricane went by over to the west and we had a lot of wind Saturday morning/afternoon. Got home Sunday night and the skimmer basket was full of crepe myrtle flowers/seeds
I'm usually able to keep the skimmer basket pretty clear and don't have any issues.
Now the pool is green. I've been back up to SLAM level for a couple days and it's turning around.
My question is how did it happen so quickly?
Seems only 2 days of circulating this sludge. The FC level was still 2-3 on Monday morning when I checked it.
FC- 3
CC .5
PH 7.6
TA 60
CH 50
CYA 20-30

Was it just the pump forcing all this organic matter back into the pool? And the chlorine level was still "acceptable".
I'm just wondering if anyone has any insight.
Thanks in advance,
Dave.


Here's the basket with about 2" of flowers all they way around and across the bottom.
(The basket wasn't completely full just "bordered". You can still see the bottom of the handle in the middle):
IMG_1138.jpg

Here's the cloud that escaped back out into the pool when I removed the basket:
IMG_1139.jpg
 
Dave, it could be more than one factor. Your CYA is on the low end for summer which could've allowed the FC to fall quickly in the sweltering summer heat. The excessive organic matter, while alone may not have been a huge factor, might have caused some stress along with reducing water circulation. A perfect storm perhaps .... no pun intended.

Either way, the SLAM Process is the way to go. Don't forget to lower your pH to about 7.2 before increasing the FC to "12". Also make sure you have a rock-solid CYA of 30. Follow the SLAM page and you should do fine. Let us know if you have any problems.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Mr. TX.
Rat's! I did forget to bring the pH down before raising the FC to 12. Is that going to be an issue? I know the pH test isn't reliable now that the FC is high.
Can you adjust the CYA while slamming? Is that test accurate with SLAM level FC?
Sincerely, Dave.
 
Your sanitation program was stretched in my opinion. You should be adding FC every day during peak season. FC loss and sanitation demands are a moving target and during peak season it is critical to test FC levels at the expected low points. Also regularly confirm FC additions meet expected goals and monitor overnight losses to get in front of a rising bio loads. The good news is you will reverse this situation quickly now.
 
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It might be that the FC/CYA levels you're using are not quite right for your pool. Every pool is different. The guidelines here are just that, guidelines. If they don't quite work, then you adjust them to suit your particular pool. It's sounds like you've been having great success, but you might have been "right on the edge" the whole time, and your pool needed just a little shove to knock if off kilter. So now you know where the edge is, give yourself some extra wiggle room. Wherever you've been maintaining your FC level, consider that number to be your new minimum, and stay well away from it. Keep your FC at the high end of the acceptable range, and let it stray from there as little as possible. Or consider sliding up the FC/CYA scale a bit. Increase CYA and the associated FC level, again keeping FC at the high end of the new range.
 
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