Need Help Cleaning - Organic Matter / Algae

[BarelyHangingOn]

I have owned this pool for many years. Every year for the past couple it's the same thing.

1. A yellow layer covers the walls and pool bottom.
2. I push it with the room to the deep end and it moves like a cloud of dust.
3. I think that I get it cleared up but then it's back again after the pool sits when the pump is off (timer)
4. The water itself is clear.

My wife says it's algae and I have shocked it and poured the chlorine to it, brushed and vacuumed on waste and repeat.

I have been using a clarifier and algae control.

I think that it's just pollen and organic matter that I cannot get out.

I put a filter sock on yesterday and it turned green.

I am at a loss of fighting this thing.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[dkimble]

Sounds like mustard algae to me. Do you have a test kit, and what are your current results?

 

[BarelyHangingOn]

Thanks. Some of the photos I looked at online are very similar to what I have going on. I am going to take a pool test in tomorrow morning. It's odd that we seem to deal with this every year. I had been checking the pool every day and my chlorine levels were always good. My PH level did drop for a few days but then came back to normal and that's about when this started again.

I added some more chlorine today and algaecide. I have been filtering for a few hours and I just checked the filter sock that I put on and it's completely yellow stained.

 

[dkimble]

In my experience with mustard algae last year, once it starts the algaecide is worthless. I had a filter that kept blowing sand in the pool, then the mustard algae would form around the sand accumulated on the pool floor.

It took me weeks to get rid of it. There is a SLAM proceedure in the pool school area. It requires following the slam proceedure, and daily brushing and vacuuming.

In order to do this you will need a recommended test kit, and take control of your own testing. It sounds like you are taking samples to a pool store? Their results aren't reliable. They are in the business of selling stuff, not really solving your pool problems.

Take a look around the pool school and read up. There is a lot of help here, and the TFP methods of pool care is really easy, and very cost effective.

I started last fall, and have the cleanest, best looking water I have ever had. I simply add a daily dose of bleach and vacuum once a week.

 

[FattyLumpkin]

Hi and welcome! Hard to say without test results, and as dkimble noted, the TFP approach requires owner-performed testing with a quality test kit. There's a link in my signature to test kit comparisons, but the most popular are TF-100 and the K-2006C. In order to properly report your levels and get quality advice, the mods and other experts here will require the following: FC, CC, CYA, pH, TA, CH.

Also helpful would be to update your signature (link in mine) with the details of your pool. Size in gallons, material (vinyl vs. plaster vs. fiberglass), your chlorination method (salt water vs. manually dosed), as well as your equipment, if known. Also recommend you update your location to be more specific.

Good luck!