SLAM and adding FC twice a day

[Spearman]

Hey all,

I am new to the pool servicing business and looking for advice from the pros here at TFP. I see tons of good information and have learned so much from here! I am currently trying to get into a new pool servicing business in my town with a couple of freinds as our town has no real good servicers. That being said, we have been working on a few pools with Algae doing treatments for them, and we have had some good progress especially since we are learning most of this stuff from scratch. However, with these being other peoples homes (some 20 minutes away), it is nearly impossible for us to follow the SLAM process at max efficency. We usually go to these houses about twice a day, brush, vacuum, test, and do everything Pool School and the forum tells us, however, going twice a day does usually causes the FC level to go below Shock levels for a while until we can add more. Do you guys have any advice for this kind of situation, or just any advice for us at all? It is greatly appreciated, and I love what you guys are doing and have done!

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

As you are no doubt aware, TFP is geared toward home owners that have frequent access to their pools. Some of what we teach just does not translate well to service companies that have limited access, both for clearing up a pool and later for maintenance (are you only going to go once per week?).

One thought would be to devote a lot of time at the start of the process to test and add FC every few hours, you may be able to get just about everything killed off quickly, and then it becomes more about filtering out the dead stuff. That said, filters can clog VERY quickly when the pool is full of algae, so every daily (or twice daily) filter cleanings may be required.

 

[ajw22]

I wonder why a pool service company can’t build a portable Stenner pump that can be placed by the side of the pool to dose it periodically with CL during a SLAM Process. You spend an hour or two at the pool getting the initial FC loss and set the pump. Then you visit the pool once or twice a day to lower the output as the SLAM Process proceeds.

If you build and patent it then this post constitutes first publication rights and i expect my 5% gross royalty.

 

[jblizzle]

If you build and patent it then this post constitutes first publication rights and i expect my 5% gross royalty.

This is an interesting idea ... one issue is that large pools that are really bad may required a very large container of bleach to last more than a day.

 

[ajw22]

This is an interesting idea ... one issue is that large pools that are really bad may required a very large container of bleach to last more than a day.

Details ... version 2 will pump from 55 gallon drums.

For a pool service to spend a few hundred and building such rigs they can make it back quickly clearing algae pools. Pool owners don’t need to own one, but many would rent one when needed.

 

[ashtonfitzgerald]

I was just thinking this when I read your post, you beat me to the punch! Excuse me while I go file some patents...[emoji6]

Perhaps a little CL gas injection, this sounds super high tech, and dangerous[emoji51]

 

[Wulfdan]

The trick is how do you keep little kids away from the fascinating new toy the pool guy was playing with.... oh neat.... caustic burns.... lawsuits...

having young nephews has given me a new appreciation for the suicidal tendencies of the 4-year old human.

so, how do you make such a rig safe enough to leave unattended?

 

[ajw22]

The trick is how do you keep little kids away from the fascinating new toy the pool guy was playing with.... oh neat.... caustic burns.... lawsuits...

having young nephews has given me a new appreciation for the suicidal tendencies of the 4-year old human.

so, how do you make such a rig safe enough to leave unattended?

If you let little kids that close to a pool unsupervised you have an accident waiting to happen.

Never leave kids unattended around a pool. NEVER!

 

[Wulfdan]

If you let little kids that close to a pool unsupervised you have an accident waiting to happen.

Never leave kids unattended around a pool. NEVER!

This is true, and we have a lock on our pool deck for this reason. However, man can always be counted on to exert with vigor, his god-given right to be stupid.

the point was that liquid chlorine is hazardous and precautions must be taken.

 

[Spearman]

Welcome to TFP!!!

As you are no doubt aware, TFP is geared toward home owners that have frequent access to their pools. Some of what we teach just does not translate well to service companies that have limited access, both for clearing up a pool and later for maintenance (are you only going to go once per week?).

One thought would be to devote a lot of time at the start of the process to test and add FC every few hours, you may be able to get just about everything killed off quickly, and then it becomes more about filtering out the dead stuff. That said, filters can clog VERY quickly when the pool is full of algae, so every daily (or twice daily) filter cleanings may be required.

Thanks for the welcome jblizzle! We are working out the kinks of the frequency of visits (which are obviously different animals for regular maintenance versus Algae treatment) and for our case specifically, we have been going to two pools, one above ground, and one in ground giving us quiet a lot to think about and to learn!

We already did what you suggested by adding lots of FC in the beginning and testing for a few hours and adding more. We spent about 4 hours at each pool until night time hit, and the FC consumption started to decline. After that initial day is where we are now, adding FC twice a day and scrubbing/vacuuming as much as possible. Right now we are mostly just trying to keep FC at shock level as much as we can, keeping chemicals as balanced as possible and are waiting for the cloudiness to go away. Does it sound like we are missing anything? It has been a week since the initial SLAM day, and while the pools are looking better, I fear the last few days have seen little to no improvement like pool school says I should see!

Thanks for the help, and if I am vague on anything, please ask and I will try to clarify!

- - - Updated - - -

I wonder why a pool service company can’t build a portable Stenner pump that can be placed by the side of the pool to dose it periodically with CL during a SLAM Process. You spend an hour or two at the pool getting the initial FC loss and set the pump. Then you visit the pool once or twice a day to lower the output as the SLAM Process proceeds.

If you build and patent it then this post constitutes first publication rights and i expect my 5% gross royalty.

ajw22, while I love the idea and I can see lots of great things from it, my engineering capabilities are not at the level to make such equipment It sounds like a great idea, and if we do somehow come up with this design in the future, we would gladly send you 10% gross royalties for you wonderful help in the war against the dreaded algae!

 

[#40Fan]

I could see one being built from a 12 volt car battery, 12 volt pump, 5 gallon jug that could be refilled easily, solar panel charger and an Arduino to control the pump. Arduino could easily be programmed to kick on a relay that would power the pump for a certain amount of time. Everything could be easily mounted to a dolly that could be rolled up to the edge of the pool behind a return. A dispensing hardline dropped down so the LC gets deposited away from the edge, but in the stream of returning water.