Slam

[Shorty240]

My sister just bought a house with a pool. It’s gunite 12000 gallon with a cartridge filter. Monday her chlorine was 0 and CC 1.5. The water was clear. We started the slam which with her high cya takes 31 ppm FC. After 2 full days she’s still losing around 10 ppm ever couple hours. Is this normal? I didn’t notice algae Monday but did see some Tuesday afternoon around the lights and skimmers. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Katodude]

It can be normal. With the CYA of 80 it will be harder to SLAM, but still possible. Every pool is different. Make sure you are running filter 24/7, brushing daily and keeping the FC at SLAM level for as long as you can.

 

[Texas Splash]

Don't let the clear water fool you. Inheriting a new pool with unknown chemical history can play havoc on your chemistry. Losing 10 ppm each day is quite a drop, and it may not all be algae-reated. The key here, especially in the early parts of this SLAM Process, is to test a little more frequently than normal to keep the FC at 31 and not let it drop so fast. Eventually that drop should slow down, but for the first day or two it needs to be monitored more frequently.

As for the pool itself, be prepared to remove any lights with a hollow niche behind it, inspect the main drain, steps, ladders, etc. Any potential hiding place for algae. You'll get it, but for now you will have to be extra vigilant with the FC

 

[Shorty240]

Don't let the clear water fool you. Inheriting a new pool with unknown chemical history can play havoc on your chemistry. Losing 10 ppm each day is quite a drop, and it may not all be algae-reated. The key here, especially in the early parts of this SLAM Process, is to test a little more frequently than normal to keep the FC at 31 and not let it drop so fast. Eventually that drop should slow down, but for the first day or two it needs to be monitored more frequently.

As for the pool itself, be prepared to remove any lights with a hollow niche behind it, inspect the main drain, steps, ladders, etc. Any potential hiding place for algae. You'll get it, but for now you will have to be extra vigilant with the FC

Any idea what this is? It’s on both skimmer handles.

 

[Texas Splash]

Any idea what this is? It’s on both skimmer handles.

Has a bit of a sludge appearance. Does it wipe off easily? Does it look green on a paper towel?

 

[Dirk]

Is it the remains of a glued-on piece of foam for hand comfort? The handle of my push broom looks a bit like that, now that the foam tore off.

 

[Shorty240]

Has a bit of a sludge appearance. Does it wipe off easily? Does it look green on a paper towel?

Wipes off really easy. Greenish black color

 

[Shorty240]

Is it the remains of a glued-on piece of foam for hand comfort? The handle of my push broom looks a bit like that, now that the foam tore off.

No. She just screwed these handles on Wednesday.

 

[Texas Splash]

It's a good catch. Sure appears to be some organic junk. I'm sure that was hurting your FC.

 

[Shorty240]

It's a good catch. Sure appears to be some organic junk. I'm sure that was hurting your FC.

We’ve been slamming this thing for 7 days now! Still losing 10-12 ppm FC overnight!

 

[Texas Splash]

We’ve been slamming this thing for 7 days now! Still losing 10-12 ppm FC overnight!

Finding that small jackpot might help turn that around. But also be sure to look anywhere else that algae can hide. Where there's one spot, there could easily be another. Hopefully not, but you never know.