Day 10 of SLAM

[Summer oasis66]

Yes day 10. First here are my readings..
FC 10
CH 140
PH 7.4
TA 170
CYA 30
As soon as my pool thawed I was eager to get it in shape for the season. Fired up the pump, vacuumed and brushed right away and brought my FC up, lowered PH because it was off the charts and added stabilizer. Once I had my numbers with in range I started my SLAM. Water has changed from green to milky white. I am loosing about 2ppm chlorine every 2-3 hrs. I am trying to keep CH at 12ppm according to the CH/CYA chart and using 12% liquid chlorine. I think I am on the right track but is this taking longer than it should?

Here is a pic from this afternoon.

 

[Eilum]

Sounds right because my pool is the same after 10 days. I think its these sand filters. Sllloooowww...

Hang in there, last year took about 2 weeks, so you are almost done. Unless something else is going on. Gotta wait for the experts for that.

 

[Texas Splash]

You are on the right track. CYA of 30 and FC of 12. Now it's a matter of consistent scrubbing and filter cleaning as required. It will take a little time, but the chlorine (bleach) will do it's thing. The fact you've gone from green to white is an indication of progress. If you have a ladder in the water, remove it now too. It should be inspected really well in the tubes, steps, and such. Hang in there.

 

[Summer oasis66]

Thanks for the encouragement! Can't wait for my OCLT! Or at least to see the bottom

 

[Richard320]

When a SLAM stalls like that, I get suspicious.

Did you remove a bunch of debris from the bottom already? If there's some leaves composting down at the bottom, it'll take forever. What about the ladder? Great hiding spot. Areas impossible to brush.

If you've done things right so far, then you need to get aggressive. Doublecheck CYA to ensure you're maintaining a high enough FC level. Improve circulation down low by setting the vacuum in there tilted on it's side or upside-down to pull water from the bottom to the filter. You might also want to try adding a little DE to your filter as mentioned in the SLAM Process article.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I would also suggest making sure the liquid chlorine you're using is fresh and strong. Once in a while its not a bad idea to test again after adding (30 min or so with pump running) just to make sure you're getting that FC up to where you wanted it to be.

Folks have been known to accidentally buy old bleach that was just expensive water and didn't work too well.....

Just a suggestion

Maddie

 

[Eilum]

When a SLAM stalls like that, I get suspicious.

Did you remove a bunch of debris from the bottom already? If there's some leaves composting down at the bottom, it'll take forever. What about the ladder? Great hiding spot. Areas impossible to brush.

If you've done things right so far, then you need to get aggressive. Doublecheck CYA to ensure you're maintaining a high enough FC level. Improve circulation down low by setting the vacuum in there tilted on it's side or upside-down to pull water from the bottom to the filter. You might also want to try adding a little DE to your filter as mentioned in the SLAM Process article.

Richard, the poster is only on Day 10. Is that considered stalling? I was under the impression that SLAM should be expected to last weeks.

 

[Richard320]

Richard, the poster is only on Day 10. Is that considered stalling? I was under the impression that SLAM should be expected to last weeks.

One to two weeks is pretty normal from start to finish. He's at Day 10 and still can't see but a few inches down. A black sludge pond can go blue-grey and cloudy in as little as a day. I would expect a lot better after ten days, so something is going on.

From the SLAM article

While SLAMing, the appearance of the water should improve each day, though perhaps only by a little. If you fail to see any improvement you might have a problem with your filter, or have a higher CYA level than you think, or bad circulation, or have some other more complex problem.​

 

[Eilum]

From the SLAM article

While SLAMing, the appearance of the water should improve each day, though perhaps only by a little. If you fail to see any improvement you might have a problem with your filter, or have a higher CYA level than you think, or bad circulation, or have some other more complex problem.​

Ok, I see. As was suggested to me, take a picture every day so that you can measure the progress. Sometimes we can't see it in real time but the pictures will show if it is getting clearer or not.

 

[Summer oasis66]

Thank you all for the advice! As I continue daily vacuuming, there is no longer debris on the bottom. I am also running the cartridge filter that came with the pool for extra filtration. I will continue to keep my chlorine up until I can see clear results. Looking back at last years pool log it did take some time for the water to clear.