New(ish) pool owner in need of help

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I

Illuminati1556

Member
Sep 2, 2024
20
Westchester NY
I've never owned a pool before we got our first house. It's been 3 years and I was doing so well, or so I thought. I've been having a problem this past summer that seemed manageable until now. I took my water to the store to get tested and they said they think it's a metal problem. Their solution - a demineralizer.

When I search for the problem online, all signs point to mustard algae.

So I come to you fine folks for your opinion. I attached some pictures of the water.

The liner appears to be stained yellow (started happening at the beginning of the summer). I can scrub it every day and nothing happens.

Now that the summer is almost over, I'm seeing these deposits on the floor and in the wrinkles of the liner. They turn into a cloud of dust when I brush them.

The readings I have are
Cl - 4ppm
Ph - 7.8
Alk - 100
Cya - 70
 

Attachments

  • 20240831_155701.jpg
    20240831_155701.jpg
    635.8 KB · Views: 34
  • 20240901_094838.jpg
    20240901_094838.jpg
    737.1 KB · Views: 29
  • 20240901_094702.jpg
    20240901_094702.jpg
    476.5 KB · Views: 27
  • 20240901_094658.jpg
    20240901_094658.jpg
    433.1 KB · Views: 29
Looks like mustard algae.

First, order a test kit. Here are the recommended kits. Link-->Test Kits Compared

Add 5ppm of liquid chlorine per day until the kit arrives. Add NOTHING else.

You need a test kit to perform the SLAM process. When the kit arrives, follow the SLAM process. Link-->SLAM Process

After you complete the slam process, then follow the guidance for mustard algae. Link--> Mustard Algae

Proof is in the pudding. Link-->How Clear is TFP Clear?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Mdragger88
PoolStored said:
Looks like mustard algae.

First, order a test kit. Here are the recommended kits. Link-->Test Kits Compared

Add 5ppm of liquid chlorine per day until the kit arrives. Add NOTHING else.

You need a test kit to perform the SLAM process. When the kit arrives, follow the SLAM process. Link-->SLAM Process

After you complete the slam process, then follow the guidance for mustard algae. Link--> Mustard Algae

Proof is in the pudding. Link-->How Clear is TFP Clear?
Click to expand...
I'm currently using an HTH 6-Way test kit. Is that not enough to get the job done?

I should also note I took those pictures as soon as I got back from vacation. I have vacuumed since then and the sediment has not come back. The water doesn't appear to be as clear as I would like though. And more noticeable, the vinyl liner appears to be stained. No amount of scrubbing is changing it back to its blue color. The color of the vinyl has been yellowing all summer though, fwiw.

How much liquid chlorine would be equivalent to 5ppm in a 17.5k pool?

Thank you for the slam and mustard algae links. I'll read through them and follow along!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mdragger88
Dealing with the algae and confirming its gone with the
SLAM Process &
accurate testing is the first step.
Any stains remaining can be dealt with later.
Stick with us, we’ll get there.
Order the kit - do the 5ppm/day of liquid chlorine and when it comes in do all the tests & post the results here.

As for the metals…
Do you have an idea of how metals got into your water?
Are you on a well? Do you have iron stains in any of the fixtures in your house? (Toilet/tub)
Do you have anything that’s rusting in your pool? (Even a small screw)
Do you have a heater?
Do you use any products that contain copper? (Algaecides, things that say Xtra blue etc.)
 
Do you have an idea of how metals got into your water?
Nope, I'm not even sure if I do, that's just what the pool store told me to start with.

Are you on a well? Do you have iron stains in any of the fixtures in your house? (Toilet/tub)
Nope and nope. I get the occasional ring around the toilet but that's it.

Do you have anything that’s rusting in your pool? (Even a small screw)
I did notice it looks like one of the screws on the skimmer port is rusted. It's kind of a little bit all around it.

Do you have a heater?
Nope

Do you use any products that contain copper? (Algaecides, things that say Xtra blue etc.) Nope. I've only ever used tabs, liquid chlorine, shock granules, ph up/down, and baking soda.


I tried using the app and I'm still confused by what I need. It said at my current levels I need 6 gallons of 6% chlorine to slam the pool. I think the only chlorine I can get right now is 10% so for that it says 4 gallons. I need to read the link for what to do after that though.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Note*
Many tabs have copper in them - especially clorox xtra blue.

Without the proper test kit you aren’t ready to slam.
Just add 5ppm per day. This is not to solve the problem but to keep things from getting worse until you have good data to work with.
Here’s how that looks in Poolmath effects of adding with 10% in your pool volume - basically 1 gallon per day.
IMG_1186.png
 
As for the metals- I imagine the pool store offered sequestrant.
Sequestrant doesn’t remove the metals- it just hides them. Temporarily.
It’s important to know what type of stains you have to remove them properly and take steps to prevent new ones. Like replacing rusty screws.
www.troublefreepool.com

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Sequestrant - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Until you confirm algae is out of the equation you should hold off on sequestrant & stain removal.
 
Mdragger88 said:
Note*
Many tabs have copper in them - especially clorox xtra blue.

Without the proper test kit you aren’t ready to slam.
Just add 5ppm per day. This is not to solve the problem but to keep things from getting worse until you have good data to work with.
Here’s how that looks in Poolmath effects of adding with 10% in your pool volume - basically 1 gallon per day.
View attachment 608006
Click to expand...
Thank you for this. So follow up dumb question - wouldn't this raise my chlorine to very high levels if I keep adding 5ppm per day? I usually only need to add 2 tabs per week to maintain my levels. The chlorine levels haven't really been going down at a faster rate than they normally do, which I thought was the case if there's algae.

Should I be doing anything else in the meantime? I've been trying to vacuum to waste, then backwash and rinse. I also give it a scrub every day.
 
Mdragger88 said:
As for the metals- I imagine the pool store offered sequestrant.
Sequestrant doesn’t remove the metals- it just hides them. Temporarily.
It’s important to know what type of stains you have to remove them properly and take steps to prevent new ones. Like replacing rusty screws.
www.troublefreepool.com

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Sequestrant - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Until you confirm algae is out of the equation you should hold off on sequestrant & stain removal.
Click to expand...
How do I confirm it's algae though? Is there a way to do it that doesn't involve buying a new kit and hundreds of dollars of chlorine, slamming, and then raising further for mustard algae? I have no problem doing those things if that's what it takes, but I was hoping to figure out what it was to attack it before attacking it.
 
You’d have to perform an overnight chlorine loss test with a FAS-DPD test kit to confirm or deny the presence of algae in your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

The Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tells if the SLAM is finished or if you need to start a SLAM. This article says how to do the OCLT.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mdragger88
dereksanders said:
You’d have to perform an overnight chlorine loss test with a FAS-DPD test kit to confirm or deny the presence of algae in your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

The Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tells if the SLAM is finished or if you need to start a SLAM. This article says how to do the OCLT.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Ok so if I follow this, should I also be adding 5ppm of chlorine every day or should I wait until I finish this
 
So the more I look into this, it seems like I may have made a serious blunder. I should not have put tablets in the skimmer basket. This most likely permanently discolored the liner.

I read somewhere else on this site that you can see if it's metal stains or organic material by putting vitamin c and tabs on it. I don't have vitamin c at the moment but I had pucks. I left a puck overnight and there was no change in the color so I do not think it's organic growth.


This has me worried that the deposits on the bottom of the pool may be coming from the filter itself. I hope I didn't do damage to the inside of the filter itself. I used 2 pucks at max so maybe it's not going to force me to buy all new equipment but we'll see. I'm waiting on the test kit to arrive to 100% rule out algae first.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20240903_101956.jpg
    IMG_20240903_101956.jpg
    281 KB · Views: 7
  • IMG_20240903_101958.jpg
    IMG_20240903_101958.jpg
    257.3 KB · Views: 7
Vitamin C will show you if the stains are iron.
If vit c makes it worse or darker its most likely copper. Copper stains are harder to remove than iron stains often times.
Putting tabs in the skimmer isn’t recommended because they are acidic so that can cause damage to your liner near the skimmer & the pump/seals of your equipment.
The higher fc level in the skimmer may have possibly contributed to the staining by oxidizing whatever metals are in the water in that location.
If the tabs contained copper, once the copper level in the water is high enough there can be staining all over the pool. It can be quite random.
That said, a couple of tabs isn’t the end of the world so i’m sure its fine. Going forward if you need to use some tabs for vacation or something get a floater.
The skimmer is a light color with alot of water flowing through it and so it generally tends shows stains first.
As mentioned you need the fas/dpd test to do an overnight chlorine loss test to rule out the presence of algae in your pool.
If you have visible algae or fail the oclt the slam process is what is needed.
The 5ppm addition each day is simply a safe amount of fc to replace what is lost each day without having any accurate information about the condition of your water.
At the bare minimum you need -
Fas/dpd test
Cya turbidity test
Ph test
Ta test
Ch test

You are missing the top 2-
Their standalone price is not much cheaper than a whole kit.
The kit likely costs less than 1 trip to the pool store.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Newdude

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply