It's been two weeks now!

[Pharmacyman]

I have done a few SLAMS and none have taken this long I tried not using a cover this past year due to frustrations with cover removal in the past. But it backfired in that on pool opening I had a bad pump motor So by the time I got the water circulating I had a huge swamp with lots of leaves on the bottom. I used a water powered leaf vacuum which did little good left a lot of leaves on the bottom still (you may see leaves piled in picture). Then I used my return suction vacuum until I got tired of it clogging over and over.

After adding acid to bring PH down my son and I started the SLAM with a neutral PH, CYA of 25, and FC of 0, two weeks ago. We have set a goal of 15 for the FC. The last few days the pool has passed the OCLT. , but is still very light green and cloudy (see pictures)

We are getting very frustrated and need some advice on what we should do if anything different. How long can it take for the water to turn grey and then clear up? We have done 3 or 4 backwashes and have added water to compensate. We sweep the pool each day and yes, when we sweep some leaves still come to the surface, but I can't get them out. We continue to maintain at 15 and CYA is probably 10 or 15 now as I can see a lot of haze around the black dot at the bottom of my test tube when the reading is 20. We use the TFP 100 test kit.

Currently:
PH: haven't checked since SLAM started. Started at 7.1
FC: 15
OCLT: Pass
CYA: 10 or 15

 

[Texas Splash]

Looking at your pics, there's no doubt the SLAM is not over. The OCLT is just one part, and while we think everything might be great if there's no loss overnight, the color of your water tells a different story which is why there are 3 SLAM criteria. When a SLAM starts to drag-out, I go back to basics:
1. PH at 7.2
2. CYA at 30 (no less). If the dot is still visible on a sunny day, it's too low.
3. FC maintained at "12" based on the CYA of 30. No need to go higher at the moment
4. All pool debris must be removed. It can be tedious, but any solid waste in the water is eating-up your chlorine.
5. The blotches on the surface of your pool might be calcium that is being processed-off of the SWG this early in the season - unless you know of something else going on.

Don't bother with any further OCLT's until the water is clear. Continue with the pool brushing and backwashing only when the filter psi reaches about 20-25% increase from the clean pressure. If you haven't done a deep clean in a while, that may be necessary.

Lastly, now's the time to really get picky with the accessories like behind lights, inside steps/stairs, etc. Anything that is hollow or in the water that can hold algae. You probably know this already .... but the SWG can be turned down or off during the SLAM while you use just regular bleach for the SLAM FC level of 12. Hope this helps.

 

[Pharmacyman]

It's been a few days now and, thank you, things are improving slooowly. But adjusting PH and CYA is definitely helping.

Question: I thought PH and CYA tests during a SLAM were inaccurate, so we shouldn't do them. Is this not true?

 

[Mr Bruce]

The pH test is invalid with a FC over 10. You can do a quick check if it drops below 10 and then raise the FC back to 12.

CYA test is valid all the time, although with milky water like that it may test slightly higher than it actually is. Pat's advice is great, following it exactly will help get you there the fastest.

Take a picture every day, the incremental improvements might be so slight you don't notice.

 

[funandsun]

Any updates on your pool?

 

[Pharmacyman]

Slowly but surely getting clearer. As the water cleared we were able to see piles of leaves we had missed. This may explain why the SLAM has taken so long. As the water cleared more, I was able to get more leaves out. Now there is only a few single leaves here and there, but no darkened areas of leaves. I can now see the bottom in all depths of the pool. I can see the Caretaker returns on the bottom. Water is still slightly cloudy. Any suggestions at this point to clear the water would be appreciated.

Also note on one of my pictures the stain just below the surface. I am sure this is from leaving my pool without a cover over the winter. Is there anything I need to do about this stain, or will it eventually fade away on its own.

Pool has been maintained since last post as follows:

PH: 7.1
FC: 12
CYA: 30

 

[Texas Splash]

Continue the SLAM. That's #1. Now that you found and removed debris in the water, it should help a lot. Also make sure to inspect ANY possible areas where water can get stagnated and allow algae to grow like in ladder steps, behind lights, etc. As for the stain, it's hard to tell yet. Stains are usually organic or from iron. But let the SLAM clear the algae and cloudiness first, then we can always shift gears towards the waterline staining. Once the water seems to hold FC well, and perhaps even pass an overnight (OCLT) test, if the water sill seems to have dead algae in suspension, you can try adding a little DE to the filter as noted on the TFP Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter page. But use that as a last resort only after the SLAM is nearing its end. Good to see things are improving.

 

[Pharmacyman]

I just wanted to say "Thank you"!

 

[LFrankow]

Beautiful
I use a soft nylon bristle brush on my bathtub ring, if that doesn`t work go to a magic eraser.