Green algae help

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sherryberrykix

0
Jun 22, 2015
11
Chester, VA
Hello all,

I'm new to testing my own water (just got my kit today), but our pool was crystal clear until about 2 weeks ago it started getting a little bit of green algae on the some of the sides. Went to the pool store, they sold me more salt, big bucket of calcium hardness stuff and said to put my SWG to 100 for awhile to boost the chlorine. Fast forward to now, its still on 100 and hasn't helped the algae. The water is clear but its really on half of the sides now pretty good.

Here's the info on the pool: roughly 25,000 gallons saltwater gunite pool with DE filter...

and with the tests I did today... FC was Im guessing 0? I added 2 scoops and it never turned pink. or if I added 4 scoops then the 5 drops it was barely light pink then add 1 drop its clear so .5? CC level - clear 2 weeks ago at pool store it tested at FC .44 and CC .14

CYA completely clear so 0 - tested at 4 at the pool store 2 weeks ago

PH test - bright pink probably brighter than the highest 8.0

CH test - 10 drops so 250

TA - 16 drops to pink so 160

Any advice would be very appreciated... I'm getting frustrated with the pool stores selling me things that don't help and I have to keep going back. I know I probably need some muriatic acid to bring the PH down... bleach for the chlorine...? Oh and last trip to the pool store 2 weeks ago for their test, my phosphates were at 4138. The pool system says the salt is at 4.1...

We just moved here 3 years ago and inherited this pool and haven't had any problems like algae until this year, only ever had to lower the PH and add salt.
This picture was from 4 days ago, now the far sides of the deep end are really green, I try to brush off and some color stays on the sides...

20170708_170022171_iOS.jpg
 
Well you got the right test kit and seem to have most of your info correct.

I believe you are going to want to add stabilizer to get CYA to 30 or else it will be very hard to keep FC up you can use the pool calculator They recommend putting it in a sock in front of a return and squeezing it to speed it up.
As you stated with an algae problem your SWG won't be sufficient so you will need liquid chlorine or bleach. I think they recommend turning the SWG off and only using liquid during a SLAM
The prerequisites also state you need to bring your PH down to 7.2 - 7.5.

Take a look at the SLAM info and get the chlorine on hand (I think you can start adding it but without CYA to protect it from the sun it may be ineffective).

Others with much more experience than I will post to verify all this.
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave: Okay, first thing's first ... stop going to the pool store. :hammer: They'll drive you nuts and take your money. Not to mention bad advice. :blah:

If those tests above are all from your own TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit, then we know you need to SLAM (link below) to remove the algae. Use regular bleach for the SLAM. SWGs aren't designed to meet that chlorine demand. So do the following:
1 - Lower pH to 7.2 with muriatic acid & confirm. You can retest in about 30 minutes
2 - Add stabilizer for a beginning goal of 30. Use the poolmath calculator to determine how much stabilizer to add, and use the sock soaking method to get it in the water.
3 - Increase FC to "12" and follow everything on the SLAM page. When testing FC, use the 10 ML sample size and ONE generous scoop of powder. Mix and count drops until clear, then divide answer by 2. Example - 24 drops = FC of 12. That's it!

Once you pass ALL 3 SLAM criteria, then we can show you how to balance the water so that your SWG will work more efficiently. Hope that helps.
 
Okay I think I'm on the right track. I hope!
I need to get more bleach though... taking a lot more than I thought! From what I read... it can take several times adding it because the algae and things kinda eat up the chlorine? I thought I had it higher yesterday but checked it today its down to FC 1 CC .5 CYA is between 30-40 (should this be higher?!) and TA 80.. PH was 8.0 at least but I guess thats not reliable while shocking... I did have it down to 7.2 right before.

It will be tomorrow evening before I can add more, would that be too late to wait? or does it matter? I could run it for 2-3 hours then test before bed then in the morning?
 
Hi Sherry, It will take you less time to clear up your pool if you can maintain the 12ppm FC as Texas Splash suggested above. Letting it fall below 3 is just inviting algae into your pool. Read up on the links in his signature or click on the pool school link at the top of the page.

You said that you inherited this pool 3 years ago, it could be that the SWG cell has died. There are ways to test it but we should worry about that once the algae has been defeated. Go ahead and unplug/turn it off for now, you'll need to anyway to pass the OCLT.
 
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