Mustard WON'T go away! PLEASE HELP ME!

[aesweeps]

hey guys, I have mustard algae, I've been slamming my pool for days now at high levels--I know slamming is a process and I need to be patient, BUT I'm just not quite understanding a problem and hoping you can help me understand. Obviously have not passed the overnight test still losing 2ppm during the night. I've been vigilant with watching over the FC levels and not letting it drop for too long under the required 20 shock level (my CYA is 50). But it frustrates me so badly to still see these brownish reddish areas in my pool pop up which is the mustard algae. They ALWAYS grow back in the exact same spots! (along the liner seams & other various places). I vacuum, I sweep, I super-chlorinate and they KEEP comping back! Why is this? Why do they keep coming back with these high levels of chlorine? They are not on the walls, only the floor and the incline area of the deep end. Most of my pool is open sun most of the day and then shaded late late afternoon. I'm confident this brownish reddish stuff is not pollen, but mustard. Is it normal for this stuff, mustard, to continue to grow during slamming?

FYI, Other than these areas the pool has been surprisingly sparkly clean, no green algae at all. I've already cleaned behind the light niche, brushed every possible surface around the steps and ladder, changed the sand at the start of the season also.

CYA-50
TA-90
pH-7.4
FC-20
CC-0

 

[mknauss]

Have you read this -- Pool School - Mustard Algae

Normally you will pass an OCLT with mustard algae. So if you are not, you still have organics in your water that you are defeating.

Hopefully it works out.

Take care.

 

[aesweeps]

mknauss, I read the Mustard algae article from the link you provided, and not sure what to think of the section where it states: "Another way to distinguish between the two (algae and pollen) is that when you go up to shock level and brush the pool, mustard algae won't come back as long as you stay at shock level. Pollen continues to accumulate, even at shock level".

I've been dealing w/this reddish brown dust for a LONG time now, if I let it go (no vacuuming/sweeping) it literally consumes my pool liner, it spreads so fast, and it's dark, it looks like the red clay dirt we have in the Carolinas. I don't think it's dirt because I dont live in an area where this stuff is in the air all the time, and it's not gritty at all, it quickly dissipates after touching, I've been vacuuming daily and it keeps coming back in the same spots, based on this I ruled out dirt. Could the reddish brown dust be pollen?? I researched online and can't find pollen of this color. I do have a lot of shrubs around the pool (been in place for 10yrs) and I do get a lot of what I believe to be pollen accumulation in my skimmer socks daily, but its of a different color, it catches a light brown/beige color film that kind of rolls if I scrape it, it looks like pollen to me, but surprisingly its not on any furniture, etc. I started having this issue last year with the redbrown dust. I've been keeping my pool at 20-23ppm since slamming Fri, it did drop to 15 once for 3 hrs while I was at work, but other than this its been at/near 20ppm. EACH day I come outside that redbrown dust is back in the same spots as the day before, with some new areas! It only goes away when I vacuum or sweep. Even though it's not gritty, and kind of floats in some areas, and keeps reappearing and I feel like its algae, should I just rule out mustard algae since the article states the mustard algae won't come back at shock level? Once I pass the OCLT, and I move onto Mustard slam, and it still appears which I have no doubt that it will, should I just move on and deal with it remaining in my pool?

Sorry for all the details, but I wanted to explain so you better understand my situation. As you can tell I'm really frustrated with this pool, I actually hate it, and have for a long time now. I have spent a ton of money trying to fix this problem already, last year and now and can't seem to get it under control or figure it out. Thanks for any advice you have in advance.

 

[mknauss]

From your description and what I have read about mustard algae, it is not likely you have that.

As far as pollen, it could change color when it gets in the pool as it would have been oxidized by the chlorine. It will also consume some chlorine as it is an organic.

Odd though, that it just started. Any changes nearby? Crops, new houses, new plants, etc?

It most likely is dead algae and you are just fighting it off. So get to were your water is clear, then run your OCLT and see.

Take care.

 

[JamesW]

Do you have a picture of the spots?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I have a lot of major road construction going on around my house. That increases the dust load which can easily mimic pollen at times, even though its late for pollen in our end of the world right now.

Just a thought if something odd might be going on causing this?

Maddie

 

[aesweeps]

thanks everyone for your responses, I'm sure the redbrown spots will be back tomorrow when I check on the pool so I will take a picture and post. no changes have occurred in quite a long time, no new construction in the area, no new plants in the pool area, no crops, absolutely nothing that I can think of to explain this. I would say maybe the lawn mowers are throwing dirt in the air, which I'm sure they do, but we only cut our grass on the weekends as well as my two neighbors, so I don't think that would explain the daily recurrences of this stuff since I vacuum every other day. Anyways, I'll keep trying, and will post the pic tomorrow. thanks again!

 

[aesweeps]

Of course the patches of redbrown dust was back! I know this isn't the best picture, but it was the best I could get. I really wish I could get a better one (maybe I need to invest in a GoPro!). The color is more vibrant than this, again a bright reddish brown color, it doesn't look dead or dull. The second pic is of the shallow end, nice sparkly water, aside from the patches of dust of course! I'm going to vacuum this up but I'm sure it will return.

Surprisingly my FC only dropped .8 last night, it's been dropping 2 ea night up until last night, so I'm keeping the slam up today hoping to pass the OCLT test after tonight.

 

[mknauss]

Have you tried the DE in a sand filter trick to polish your water? Maybe this stuff is too fine to be picked up by the filter and you are just recycling it??

Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter

 

[aesweeps]

i bought some last year and used but haven't this season, I have some leftover so I can definitely try that. If I remember right, when using this stuff I will need to backwash often correct??

 

[mknauss]

i bought some last year and used but haven't this season, I have some leftover so I can definitely try that. If I remember right, when using this stuff I will need to backwash often correct??

Possibly. It essentially artificially makes your sand filter 'dirty' so it can filter out finer materials.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You only want to add as much DE as makes your pressure raise 1 point, and no more. That might be just 1/4 to 1 cup depending on filter, so keep an eye on it.

You don't necessarily have to backwash more often if your pressure doesn't go up the 20-25% we recommend, but remember that when you *do* backwash you will be washing out that entire top layer of DE so will need to replace that again if desired.

Maddie