Persists algae - no help from Leslie’s

[tbamy]

Hello Pool Tenders,
My pool has algae. I went to Leslie’s when I noticed it and they ran a water test, and then recommended that I drain a foot off the top of the pool 3 times, and then follow up with Leslie’s Power Powder Plus 3 times with 12 hours of running the pool filter in between treatments. Then clean out the filter and it’s safe to swim (they say). My pool is still cloudy and it looks like some of the powder has not dissolved in the water although I keep sweeping it with the pool brush to try to dissolve it. I found this group after googling “pool still cloudy after Leslie’s Power Powder” - it seems like quite an amazing resource here.

So I did a bunch of reading on this site over the weekend. I ordered the TF-100 test kit and hopefully that will be here soon. My questions for now are these:

1. Should I be doing anything while I’m waiting for the test kit to arrive so the algae problem doesn’t get any worse?

2. Any ideas on how to get the powder chlorine (Leslie’s Power Powder) cleaned up from the bottom of the pool?

3. Is there a liquid chlorine that you all recommend? I want to purchase it now so I can start the SLAM as soon as the test kit arrives. It’s May I want to swim!

4. My most recent water test from Leslie’s says I have CYA levels of 82ppm. Assuming that’s correct or close, should I be planning to raise the free chlorine level to 31 for SLAM process? Or should I be draining the pool some more to get that number down? CYA was at 115 before I did 3 partial drains of the pool so it’s helpful but time consuming and the water bill this month will probably be rough.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide. I have already learned so much from this forum and I’m relieved that I can figure out how to do this stuff on my own instead of depending on advice from the pool store.

Attached - pic of cloudy pool, most recent water test from Leslie’s

 

[Texas Splash]

Good job on the TF-100. About your questions:
1 - Add one gallon of liquid chlorine to the water each day. That's it. Brush if you can.
2 - Keep brushing and/or vacuum
3 - Any pool chlorine (usually 10% or 12.5% strength). Often sold at the pool store as liquid shock, but also sold at Walmart (Pool Essentials) or Home Depot. You can also use liquid bleach (regular only), but at a weaker strength 6% - 8.25%) it takes much more.
4 - Just ignore everything from the pool store. Blah blah blah. When you get the TF-100 post a full set of results. It will all make sense then.

Read up on the SLAM Process so you're ready when the kit arrives. We'll help!

 

[M T]

I like going to Leslie's to get my water tested to confirm what I get from my tests, but beyond that the pool owner needs to be knowledgeable about their pool and the chemicals and processes. Not a single product from Leslie's tells you what is in it. NOTE: Leslie's recommendation for FC levels ignore your CYA level. A TFP lesson is that you can't ignore CYA when determining the proper FC level for everyday sanitation.

Your CYA is still high, and the only way to reduce it in the short term is to (partially) drain & refill. HOWEVER, you're in California, so you may be banned from refilling your pool if you drain it (In my area of the SF Bay area, you would be). Check local water restrictions. If you are not allowed to use water in that way, you'll have to live with 84 CYA for now -- it will drop slowly over the months.

Do your own math, but here's a back of the envelope calculation of what you need for a SLAM. (By the way, are you sure about 28,000gallon pool? I would have guessed more like 15,000 from the picture. You could 2 gallons of bleach, check FC before and after it is fully dispersed, and see what the change in FC level is to get whether your pool really is 28K) NOTE: Read up on how to add bleach - don't just dump 2G into the pool!

That level of CYA will require very high levels of chlorine for SLAMming (CYA=84 means you need F=33 (roughly)) and for non-SLAM sanitation (FC 10). I'm working from your 0.1 FC level. If you've been adding 1gal 10% bleach daily, those count to the 9gal here. To raise the pool to SLAM level (from the 0 FC level to 33 FC) will mean about 9 gallons of 10% bleach for your 28,000 gallon pool. (HomeDepot is currently $2/2gal cheaper than Lowes in my area, so that's about 5 (2x1gal) boxes, or $50). Think about how you will safely transport the boxes before you go. You will likely need additional bleach during the SLAM process.

You have a cartridge filtration system (as I do). That will be slow to clean out the cloudiness in the water. That means more time running the filter, more time vacuuming until you get it clear. The SLAM process will help by getting the organics out of the water, but it may take a week to finish the SLAM and then some more time for the cartridge to get it clear. But, once clear, if you keep the FC levels at the appropriate amount, then the pool should stay clear all summer (since we get no rain all summer).

 

[tbamy]

Good job on the TF-100. About your questions:
1 - Add one gallon of liquid chlorine to the water each day. That's it. Brush if you can.
2 - Keep brushing and/or vacuum
3 - Any pool chlorine (usually 10% or 12.5% strength). Often sold at the pool store as liquid shock, but also sold at Walmart (Pool Essentials) or Home Depot. You can also use liquid bleach (regular only), but at a weaker strength 6% - 8.25%) it takes much more.
4 - Just ignore everything from the pool store. Blah blah blah. When you get the TF-100 post a full set of results. It will all make sense then.

Read up on the SLAM Process so you're ready when the kit arrives. We'll help!

Thank you Texas Splash!! Much appreciated.

 

[tbamy]

I like going to Leslie's to get my water tested to confirm what I get from my tests, but beyond that the pool owner needs to be knowledgeable about their pool and the chemicals and processes. Not a single product from Leslie's tells you what is in it. NOTE: Leslie's recommendation for FC levels ignore your CYA level. A TFP lesson is that you can't ignore CYA when determining the proper FC level for everyday sanitation.

Judging from your levels, and your statement about partial draining, I'd guess that your CYA was well over 100 before the draining. (Presumably due to the use of trichlor tablets.)

Your CYA is still high, and the only way to reduce it in the short term is to (partially) drain & refill. HOWEVER, you're in California, so you may be banned from refilling your pool if you drain it (In my area of the SF Bay area, you would be). Check local water restrictions. If you are not allowed to use water in that way, you'll have to live with 84 CYA for now -- it will drop slowly over the months.

Do your own math, but here's a back of the envelope calculation of what you need for a SLAM. (By the way, are you sure about 28,000gallon pool? I would have guessed more like 15,000 from the picture. You could 2 gallons of bleach, check FC before and after it is fully dispersed, and see what the change in FC level is to get whether your pool really is 28K) NOTE: Read up on how to add bleach - don't just dump 2G into the pool!

That level of CYA will require very high levels of chlorine for SLAMming (CYA=84 means you need F=33 (roughly)) and for non-SLAM sanitation (FC 10). I'm working from you 0.1 FC level. If you've been adding 1gal 10% bleach daily, those count to the 9gal here. To raise the pool to SLAM level (from the 0 FC level to 33 FC) will mean about 9 gallons of 10% bleach for your 28,000 gallon pool. (HomeDepot is currently $2/2gal cheaper than Lowes in my area, so that's about 5 (2x1gal) boxes, or $50). Think about how you will safely transport the boxes before you go. You will likely need additional bleach during the SLAM process.

You have a cartridge filtration system (as I do). That will be slow to clean out the cloudiness in the water. That means more time running the filter, more time vacuuming until you get it clear. The SLAM process will help by getting the organics out of the water, but it may take a week to finish the SLAM and then some more time for the cartridge to get it clear. But, once clear, if you keep the FC levels at the appropriate amount, then the pool should stay clear all summer (since we get no rain all summer).

Thanks for the hint. I used an online calculator to figure out the pool volume and it looks like it should have been 23k, not 28k. I’ll update my profile.

 

[Bperry]

Thanks for the hint. I used an online calculator to figure out the pool volume and it looks like it should have been 23k, not 28k. I’ll update my profile.

Don’t even bother having the pool store test anything. They’re almost always wrong on something, especially CYA.

 

[tbamy]

I have an update to this post. I have learned so much in the last 2 weeks since I posted!

It turns out my problem was being caused by something that was completely off my radar - the pump basket. I didn't even know that a "pump basket" existed 2 weeks ago. My test kit was almost a 2 week wait and we had 90+ degree days last weekend so I called a service to help me address the problems I mentioned in my original post. It turns out my entire filtration system wasn't working well because the pump basket had a bunch of gunk in it. When I first started doing the pool maintenance myself, I paid for someone to come to my house and explain everything to me (Leslie's again, boo), and he didn't mention the pump basket so i didn't know. So glad I called a technician or all my efforts would have been thwarted by my filtration system.

The "pool chemicals" on the floor of the pool were actually algae dust. Once the pool filter was working again, I got rid of that. Thank you for your help on this everyone! It is hard to figure out how to do something from online learning alone, and I"m glad I got a little extra help from a professional, and I know so much more because of you all. I will make a separate post with my test kit results.

(moderators, if this update would be better as a separate post, let me know, and thank you for your efforts on this site!)

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Glad you go that problem solved.

Did you receive your TF-100 kit. If you have dead algae in the pool and didn't complete the SLAM Process, friends of the dead guys may be alive and well. How's the water look?

It may be a good idea to rule out an algae issue by completing an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. Other than waking up before sunset, it's relatively painless.