Remove Phosphates...When?

[ajw22]

I was just watching the video on the PoolMath app. It mentions using everyday 6% bleach (I don't have a SWG). Is grocery-bought chlorine a suitable alternative to the liquid chlorine that is sold at pool stores?

Not any more.

The video is old.

All grocery store bleach contains Cloromax polymers which are not good in pools and create foaming. Foaming is good for cleaning but not pools. You want bleach without ay additives which cannot be found anymore.

In addition on a cost/FC ppm basis buying 10%-12% pool Liquid Chlorine/Shock will be less expensive.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Try Wally World for liquid chlorine. You can get it at HD and Lowes but you have to watch the date codes on all three with none over 9-12 months old. Pool stores should have it too though a little more expensive.

 

[rcortesim]

Or, I can get it free at Leslie’s. One of the perks of subscribing to AccuBlue’s home tester is that I get a $50 monthly credit at Leslie’s. Yes, I realize they use the tester as a sales initiator, but if I look past the BS and just focus on what I really need, then it might be useful.

 

[rcortesim]

Here’s how AccuBlue compares to one of the recommended kits:
View attachment 611216

I’ll have a closer look at this when I get home. Had to leave the house, so viewing on my mobile phone not as easy. Thanks!

 

[rcortesim]

Oh, and I downloaded the Pool Math app.
Thanks everyone for your responses. A wealth of information here!

 

[Donldson]

Or, I can get it free at Leslie’s.

Doesn't the tester have a monthly fee?

 

[ajw22]

Or, I can get it free at Leslie’s. One of the perks of subscribing to AccuBlue’s home tester is that I get a $50 monthly credit at Leslie’s. Yes, I realize they use the tester as a sales initiator, but if I look past the BS and just focus on what I really need, then it might be useful.

Leslies testers cannot test FC over 10 or CYA over 100.

It is not practical for the SLAM Process

 

[Newdude]

And again per them, when pefectly calibrated, your 89 CYA it may actually be 66 to 111, when we need to know it to a 10.

How bad is it when it gets wonky ?

 

[dereksanders]

Leslies testers cannot test FC over 10 or CYA over 100.

It is not practical for the SLAM Process

I think the OP was referring to free chlorine with his $50 credit.

 

[rcortesim]

Doesn't the tester have a monthly fee?

Yes, it is $50/mo, so basically, I get the tester for free and the $50/mo. is credit at Leslie's.
I've had a pool service for many years, and have never been happy with the attention they gave my pool. I finally decided that I could do just as good, if not better. They used a plastic tester that they dipped into the pool. I have to think that AccuBlue's tester (using water from 18" deep) has be at least as good as their little plastic thing that only tests the surface water.

Since taking over the maintenance, my pool has been crystal clean, and my only issue was having some small bugs and dust floating on the top. To address this, I installed a PoolSkim (Home - PoolSkim) and the micro debris is now nearly non-existent. However, this algae bloom occurred just after the installation, which makes me wonder if adding the PoolSkim is contributing to the bloom. It is connected to one of the three returns, rather than a vacuum port.

 

[Newdude]

However, this algae bloom occurred just after the installation, which makes me wonder if adding the PoolSkim is contributing to the bloom.

Insufficient chlorine allows algae to grow. If the pool is sanitary, it's inhospitable to algae.

Everyone always wants to blame everything under the sun except the one cause. The 2 easiest ways to fail are infrequent testing and unreliable testing.

 

[TinFoilHat]

You are looking for causes of algae with everything except your FC level, which has always been too low because that's what pool stores want you to have. If you haven't, read up on all that you can in Pool School. Use the $50 credit for liquid chlorine or muriatic acid and then dump that subscription. Get a test kit and then PROPERLY take care of your own pool.

 

[rcortesim]

Here’s how AccuBlue compares to one of the recommended kits:
View attachment 611216

Hmmm, I think I need to study up on what these specs mean. Remember, I'm new to this. This morning's test results I posted don't have specs like these.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Exactly! That's why we recommend the test kits that we do.

 

[rcortesim]

Here’s how AccuBlue compares to one of the recommended kits:
View attachment 611216

Hmmm, I think I need to study up on what these specs mean. Remember, I'm new to this. This morning's test results I posted don't have specs like these.

 

[Donldson]

Yes, it is $50/mo, so basically, I get the tester for free and the $50/mo. is credit at Leslie's.

Right. So instead of their normal business model of you coming in at your leisure so their paid employee can run the free test and then you decide whether to buy anything, they instead get you to run the tests for them and then lock in to spending at least $50 a month at their store. Very convenient.

I have to think that AccuBlue's tester (using water from 18" deep) has be at least as good as their little plastic thing that only tests the surface water.

That is a particularly low bar you've set.

 

[Newdude]

Remember, I'm new to this

This is what we do. All day, everyday day. We were all there once and it sucked. We got you.

I think I need to study up on what these specs mean.

Let's just go with one simple example for now. Their FC test is +/-25%. So a 8 FC may test between 6 and 10.

When you suspect algae, you need to run an overnight test and if you lose more than 1 FC with no sunlight, you have algae consuming the chlorine. If the FC is actually 8, but the reading is 6 to 10, you can't prove or disprove you have algae. It's just a guess.

 

[rcortesim]

You are looking for causes of algae with everything except your FC level, which has always been too low because that's what pool stores want you to have. If you haven't, read up on all that you can in Pool School. Use the $50 credit for liquid chlorine or muriatic acid and then dump that subscription. Get a test kit and then PROPERLY take care of your own pool.

Right. So instead of their normal business model of you coming in at your leisure so their paid employee can run the free test and then you decide whether to buy anything, they instead get you to run the tests for them and then lock in to spending at least $50 a month at their store. Very convenient.


That is a particularly low bar you've set.

@TinFoilHat - I appreciate your feedback, however my search for a cause of algae is only because it came on so suddenly. No, my FC has not always been too low. Actually, it was too high about a month ago. I'm just here trying to learn and ask questions. I'm researching.

@Donldson - How much money do you spend on your pool each month? At what pool store do you shop? My bar might be low to you, but for me, a beginner at this, it's the only bar I know. What did you know when you first started?

 

[sande005]

And one other issue you fell in to - your CH is getting high (if we can believe the test), that is from the Powder Plus. The only way to lower it is like CYA - do a partial drain and refill of the pool. The good news - it is not out of the range recommended here, just out of range for the AccuBlue testing. So not an immediate concern, but could be if you continue to use the Powder Plus.

 

[ajw22]

@TinFoilHat - I appreciate your feedback, however my search for a cause of algae is only because it came on so suddenly.

There’s a passage in Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises in which a character named Mike is asked how he went bankrupt. “Two ways,” he answers. “Gradually, then suddenly.”

Algae works in the same way.