Frustrating SLAM...

[cdadams1223]

With all the crazy back to back storms and high winds Texas had recently, our pool ended up looking like a cloudy mess. I started the SLAM a week ago tomorrow. My CYA at that time was 60 so my SLAM level was 24. It's less cloudy overall but still can't see the bottom. I've cleaned the filter three times this week already, the first two times being the worst as far as the color of water that came out...almost like a solid gray. I checked my CYA a bit ago because during all the rain I had to pump water out because it was going above my skimmer. My CYA 10 minutes ago was 40. I've been keeping my SLAM level at 24 and there's no telling how many days this week my CYA has been at 40 which means a SLAM of 16.

With that said, do I now adjust my SLAM to 16 or stay at 24 since that's what I started at? I'm so frustrated that we can't swim at all and it's almost been a full week. Prior to SLAMming, my pH was perfect as was the rest of the pool chemistry.

Thanks folks!

 

[duraleigh]

Let your SLAM FC drift down to 16 to match 40 ppm CYA. An FC of 16 will be almost as effective.......FC over SLAM value tends to be wasteful.

Got a pic of your pool water? Did any of that rainfall run INTO your pool from the deck?

 

[cdadams1223]

Let your SLAM FC drift down to 16 to match 40 ppm CYA. An FC of 16 will be almost as effective.......FC over SLAM value tends to be wasteful.

Got a pic of your pool water? Did any of that rainfall run INTO your pool from the deck?

Thanks for the reply @duraleigh! I'll post the pics off my phone in the next post. Yes, water runs off our grass, onto the concrete deck, and into the pool. A normal rain typically doesn't do it as bad but the rain we had day after day was terrible.

 

[cdadams1223]

 

[cdadams1223]

@duraleigh, any thoughts on the water from the pics? @mknauss @newdude @PoolStored @Texas Splash you guys have helped me tremendously in the past which is why I tagged you. Please shoot me your ideas or tell me I’m on the right path LOL!

 

[duraleigh]

but the rain we had day after day was terrible.

I believe that is your problem. Heavy rains flowing IN TO the pool bring in a lot of dirt. The SLAM is intended to kill algae. I suspect your murkiness may be due to the inflow in your pool of dirt.

The only solution I know is to run the pump 24/7 and keep your filter clean until the dirt is all gone.......ti may take a few more days.

I wouolds keep bringing the FC to 16 ppm but I would test and replenish maybe twice daily since the issue would seem to be dirt and not algae.

 

[Newdude]

+1. It takes a long time to polish dirty water.

You may even need to alternate off times so stuff can settle and be vacuumed out.

 

[cdadams1223]

@duraleigh and @newdude, thank you and that makes me feel better! I just don’t think there’s algae in this pool at all…just dirt. I barely got anything nasty looking out of the filter when I cleaned it last night. This gives me hope!

 

[Newdude]

I just don’t think there’s algae in this pool at all…just dirt

OCLT so there's no thinking and being caught wrong.

If you hold FC overnight, its dirt. I would keep the FC elevated either way, but like Dave said above, I'd be less vigilant about the frequency if I knew it was dirt.

 

[cdadams1223]

OCLT so there's no thinking and being caught wrong.

If you hold FC overnight, its dirt. I would keep the FC elevated either way, but like Dave said above, I'd be less vigilant about the frequency if I knew it was dirt.

I’ll do the OCLT tonight. Thanks man!