Identification help: Small white objects sinking to the bottom of my pool

[JMcfa]

Hello

Our water is clear. We have the most basic test kit, so we don't have any other way to test other components requested by this forum. First test done today at about 3:00pm (directly out of water) had a color higher testing darker than 8.8 Bromine and 4.0 Chlorine (the highest possible on kit) Ph was about 7.6. Five minutes later, the results were almost the same, but Ph seemed to go to 8.0 and the Bromine and Chlorine may be slightly lower.

We have had our pool about a month. It has been very windy and we have a desert directly behind our house. We were not surprised about a lot of dirt and bugs, but it seems there are white things that sink with the dirt that are smaller than rice, not slimy, don't seem to be alive. I'm hoping it's just some type of plant seed that blew in, but I don't want to have my family swim in something that might be dangerous. We tried using the pool cover, but the wind was too strong and blew it off.

I am including pictures of everything in this post. The first pic is the immediate test, second is 5 minutes later, and the last two are pictures of the white objects.

Thank you for this forum.

Judith

 

[kimkats]

Hi! I am so glad you found us! Your pool will be Trouble Free with our help. The test results do seem to be off for some reason. Is the same water that was allowed to set for a few outside the pool? That could be the reason but I am not sure.

You know what I am going to say next.........you really need a good test kit. That is the only way you will be in full control of the pool.

The white things...............I have NO idea! Can you squish them? Have you cut one open? What does it smell like? Leave some out and see what happens when they dry out.

I will do some searching and see what I find.

Kim

 

[JMcfa]

Yes I had a feeling I'd get advice for a better kit! & we will The instructions on the basic kit say to check levels immediately then wait 5 minutes with the same water. One for "free chlorine"? But, as you mentioned, we will get a better kit.

Well, as for the "white things", you can't squish them. They are kind of hard. They don't seem to have any kind of "joints" "head" ewww...eesh...I will try your advice about leaving them out to dry, cutting open, & if I must...smell them! I had searched for "small white things", but all I could find was "squishy & slimy", which these are not. That's why I'm hoping they are just plant seeds blown in, being Spring and all.

Thank you for your response, Kim!

Judith

 

[kimkats]

With all you have said I am going with seeds then. No idea what kind but everything points to that.

I have never heard of letting it sit to get the Free Chlorine. The test kits we use you get the Free Chlorine (FC) first then add another regent to get the Combined Chlorine (CC). The CC will show you if there is something "brewing" that needs to be taken care of.

I am going to share a link with you. It is a lot of info but it is the corner stone of what we teach here at TFP.

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Let me know when your "grown up" test kit gets there! I have some tips on how to do a couple of the tests.

Kim

 

[JMcfa]

Thanks so much for your response. I will definitely look into the link you suggested & we are going to get a better kit soon