Pool Slam - Unsure of Next Steps

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HermanTX said:
Again - great job on using the test kit for the first time.
It is always a dauting process initially but suggest you look at these videos
Also, if you just want to practice, do the Alkalinity test again. remember that one is a 25ml sample and the color change should be to a cherry red - on my testing it goes to a pink/purple then on next drop it is cherry red. Just to give some clues to look for.
Good luck - Marty has you well covered on the SLAM process.
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Thank you for the insight! Mine was definitely still pink, so its likely that my alkalinity is even higher 😬 Thanks for the link!
 
Non Chlorine Shock (Monosodium PerSulfate) shows up as CC in your testing. I would think it should have gone by now, but if you say you are not consuming much chlorine, it may still be present.

See what anOvernight Chlorine Loss Test results in. The CC will not be zero, but you may not have much or any organics and just need to aggressively filter and deal with your iron.
 
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mknauss said:
Non Chlorine Shock (Monosodium PerSulfate) shows up as CC in your testing. I would think it should have gone by now, but if you say you are not consuming much chlorine, it may still be present.

See what anOvernight Chlorine Loss Test results in. The CC will not be zero, but you may not have much or any organics and just need to aggressively filter and deal with your iron.
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Ah, okay, that would make sense then. I can do that test tonight. In reading that article, it sounds as if we could be done with the SLAM if we were to pass the OCLT, but our pool is still a cloudy greenish-gray color. Could that just be that we need to be patient with the filter?

Also, how do we go about dealing with the iron? I don't have an at-home test for iron but could always bring a sample in to be tested.

I just wanted to say- I so appreciate all of your help!
 
Staying at SLAM level is a good idea until the water clears.
Are you filtering for iron? You do have iron in your water, yes?
How often are you having to back wash right now?
 
Got any old unloved stuffed animals in the house? You can cut then open and take the Polyfil stuffing out and put that in a skimmer basket. As the water goes thru the skimmer and Polyfil the iron gets trapped in the stuffing. You can rinse it out and put it back in as it turns brown or orange from the iron.

No problem doing this while SLAM going on.

Maddie :flower:
 
mknauss said:
Staying at SLAM level is a good idea until the water clears.
Are you filtering for iron? You do have iron in your water, yes?
How often are you having to back wash right now?
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Okay, we will do that then.
No, I guess I wasn't aware you could filter for it. We do have a bottle of something for metals that was left here by the previous owner, but we haven't used any (and I'm guessing it will be the recommendation not to use it anyhow). According to the pool store test, we do have iron in our water. We are on well water and have very hard water in the house so I wouldn't doubt it.
Our filter gauge was broken up until we replaced it on Friday, so I haven't had to backwash yet since replacing it so I guess I'm not sure how often it will be.
 
Please DO NOT use it. All that does it "hide" the iron in solution but its all still there and it will again come out looking brown/orange usually at the worse time before a party or something. It is called a Sequestrant.

The way the water looks brown now when the Chlorine is high is exactly when you can *remove* it with the polyfil, not just hide it in solution.

Maddie :flower:
 
Well. The good news is brown algae means dead algae. I had a bloom two years ago. My pool was the prettiest green blue you ever saw. I didn’t quite do exactly as these folks are telling you but similar. What I had to do in addition to buying and dumping a $100 of bleach in was constantly vacuum and clean my filters with acid baths. I spent several hours every day for a week cleaning filters. I use cartridge though so I’m not even sure how sand works. After the pool cleared, I tossed my cartridges in the land fill and bought brand new ones. My point in this long winded comment is get to manually cleaning that thing somehow. You gotta get the dead crud out of there.
 
Have you gently run the pool net on the pool floor to pick up any solid debris down there? Gotta get that out if in there or your chlorine will work overtime on breaking that down and doing nothing for your water.

Maddie :flower:
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Have you gently run the pool net on the pool floor to pick up any solid debris down there? Gotta get that out if in there or your chlorine will work overtime on breaking that down and doing nothing for your water.

Maddie :flower:
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Thank you for the advice! I have toddlers so cutting a stuffed animal may be traumatizing, but I did just order some polyfil to put in the skimmer so thank you for the suggestion!
Also, yes, we have been brushing and vacuuming daily and in the beginning, we spent multiple days skimming leaves and debris from the bottom of the pool. At this point, I may get 1-2 leaves in a ten minute session of skimming so I am thinking we got most of the debris out from the bottom already.
 

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Hello, no expert here but just went through a Slam with these guys help. I found a glob of alAge behind my light. Follow the slam exactly and you need to pass all criteria before your finished . Brush brush brush. Trust me it will work if you stay after it and follow to the T. Good luck . Love this forum
 
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Grayman43 said:
Hello, no expert here but just went through a Slam with these guys help. I found a glob of alAge behind my light. Follow the slam exactly and you need to pass all criteria before your finished . Brush brush brush. Trust me it will work if you stay after it and follow to the T. Good luck . Love this forum
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YippeeSkippy said:
Look behind the weir door and skimmer walls if you have one. Also a common spot for hidden algae is in the stairs. Check those well.

Maddie ✌️
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Thank you for the tips! We have been brushing daily and keeping the pool at SLAM level so fingers crossed it will clear up soon. Also, we do not have stairs, but I did take a sponge to the skimmer intake and the inlets from the filter. We also put some polyfil in the skimmer basket about six hours ago and its already turning rust colored so hopefully that will help too. Thanks for all of the advice!
 
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YippeeSkippy said:
Oh yeah...iron is ugly. Will you show us a picture daily so we can monitor the changes? We kinda like to see lots of pics and the first one you posted was <shiver> bad!

Maddie :flower:
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Sorry this took me so long! We've had a busy week but have been keeping chlorine levels up (usually only down to 18 or 19 ppm when I test when we need 20 ppm). The problem is, the water is still greenish and very cloudy! It's definitely more of a teal-green than bright green than we had before, but still. I missed two days brushing just due to busy-ness and I hope I haven't screwed things up because of that.

Also- we now have bubbles on top of our water? What could this mean? Attaching pictures for color and to show bubbles. Thank you!
IMG_9877.jpg
IMG_9878.jpg
 
Some follow-up questions:
- Are you saying that you're not seeing much of an FC loss between testing?
- Not sure if it was discussed already, but when was the past time the filter was deep cleaned?
- Last time you tested the CYA? Current number?
- Type (brand) of chlorine being used?
 
Texas Splash said:
Some follow-up questions:
- Are you saying that you're not seeing much of an FC loss between testing?
- Not sure if it was discussed already, but when was the past time the filter was deep cleaned?
- Last time you tested the CYA? Current number?
- Type (brand) of chlorine being used?
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s it. The chlorine loss is still happening but it isn’t very much.
As for the filter, we changed the sand about two weeks ago (is that deep cleaning?)
The CYA was last tested a week ago. I’m not home right now but can test that again when I get home.
We are using pro-chlor pool shock, here is a picture.
 

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