We have talked a couple of times. We’ve had a really great relationship for years, and I’m glad to have the chance to help them. I have made a point the last couple of days of making sure when they say, “I’m going to the store; do you need anything?” to ask for something I really do need. Yesterday the wife got me some baking powder. Today the husband picked up some chlorine for us both. Strange thing was that Home Depot didn’t have muriatic acid on the shelf apparently. It’s a big help to me not to have to drive ten miles to do something like that, and I know they’re pleased to help out. (They would, of course, do that for me anyway and have done things like that in the past. I don’t want them to think that they owe me for helping because they really don’t.)
SLAMming my neighbors’ pool - just checking in
- Thread starter DuaeGuttae
- Start date
We have talked a couple of times. We’ve had a really great relationship for years, and I’m glad to have the chance to help them. I have made a point the last couple of days of making sure when they say, “I’m going to the store; do you need anything?” to ask for something I really do need. Yesterday the wife got me some baking powder. Today the husband picked up some chlorine for us both. Strange thing was that Home Depot didn’t have muriatic acid on the shelf apparently. It’s a big help to me not to have to drive ten miles to do something like that, and I know they’re pleased to help out. (They would, of course, do that for me anyway and have done things like that in the past. I don’t want them to think that they owe me for helping because they really don’t.)
That is the goal. The family starts arriving Tuesday. I’m hoping to have a passing OCLT by then so that I can know the SLAM was successful. (We lost 3 ppm overnight, though some of that could be testing error since we’re dealing with 50 to 60 drops to run the test.). I know they won’t keep it up beyond Tuesday when their first set of grandkids arrive, but they will add daily liquid chlorine while the family is here.
As I mentioned before, there is already calcium scale in the pool. It was quite apparently when we took off the eyeballs because the rings had calcium all around that flaked off in chunks. We dissolved that with a tiny amount of MA in a bucket of water. On the tile line above the water it is rough, and there is a dark line. The wife is distressed by that aesthetically, but we’re also wondering if that is any source of organics. It does not brush off with the pool brush, but the wife sprayed it with some limescale remover and scrubbed it with a scrubby sponge, and it improved. I suggested that she not continue, in part because I knew she already wasn’t feeling well this morning, but also because I wasn’t sure about the chemicals in the household product going into the pool. I said I’d ask here for advice.
I’ve suggested that after the SLAM we can think about using MA to get it off, but is it possible that this dark stuff is holding up the SLAM? The water is sparkly. We’ve really tried to get into hiding places (though we’ve not removed drain covers, but I have scrubbed them all repeatedly and aggressively with a bathroom brush). When I go up this afternoon, I’ll try to get some updated pictures.
The filter hasn’t been backwashed yet. They’re going to have the pool tech do that on Monday, and I’ve suggested that they watch him do it. They’ve never even seen what backwash water looks like. I’m also going to try to get a baseline reading on their pressure gauge after that.
Thanks for all the help and encouragement. I appreciate it.
Try up to a 50 50 mix (water and MA) - it should have the calcium "foaming". You can also use a pumice stone to scrub it, which will take a little elbow grease. Great that you stopped her from using the limescale remover because it very hard to find out what exactly is in the various products on store shelves.
You can also read up on Calcium Scaling if you think there is a potential of continued staining. It may have been just to neglect over time.
Don't worry about the drain covers - continue to keep the FC up in SLAM range.
You can advise your neighbor that it is safe to swim up to SLAM level so even if they don't maintain it at the exact SLAM level, maintaining a higher-than-normal FC will help with addition of other bacteria (sweat, skin, pee, etc) while the family is there.
This will help. There probably have been a lot of stuff caught up now in the filter - so a good backwash would be good. It looks this is a DE filter with a multiport valve. One idea is to suggest that the Pool Tech actually disassemble and do a good cleaning. That would be about a 3 hr task if he is up to it.
Thank you for the continued feedback, HermanTX. I appreciate it.
I did take some photos this afternoon. The pool water is TFP clear, but it’s hard to photograph effectively because of the constant motion and the wind at the top of the hill where they live.
The first few just give an idea of the overall pool and spa.
This last photo is my attempt to show the dark line above the water. The plaster and the tile were completely redone within the last few months, and the only people who’ve ever been in the pool since are my own family when we did our scrubbing, so it’s not likely to be sunscreen buildup or that type of thing. I really don’t know what causes the darkness (other than the fact that there is also shadowing in the photo from the coping), but there is something on that tile that can be removed with acid and scrubbing. I’ve been assuming that that is some sort of stain not really related to the algae we were slamming for. Am I making a mistake by not addressing it as part of the SLAM?
During our midday chlorine testing and adding today, I helped them order a Taylor FAS-DPD test kit and a digital pH meter so that they can monitor those while the grandkids are here. We’ll test the meter when it comes on my own pool water and check that against the Taylor comparator. We haven’t been able to check pH in their pool because of the elevated chlorine, but I’ve been telling them about needing to keep the pH down and trying to pay attention to the CSI to avoid more scale.
I did take some photos this afternoon. The pool water is TFP clear, but it’s hard to photograph effectively because of the constant motion and the wind at the top of the hill where they live.
The first few just give an idea of the overall pool and spa.
This last photo is my attempt to show the dark line above the water. The plaster and the tile were completely redone within the last few months, and the only people who’ve ever been in the pool since are my own family when we did our scrubbing, so it’s not likely to be sunscreen buildup or that type of thing. I really don’t know what causes the darkness (other than the fact that there is also shadowing in the photo from the coping), but there is something on that tile that can be removed with acid and scrubbing. I’ve been assuming that that is some sort of stain not really related to the algae we were slamming for. Am I making a mistake by not addressing it as part of the SLAM?
During our midday chlorine testing and adding today, I helped them order a Taylor FAS-DPD test kit and a digital pH meter so that they can monitor those while the grandkids are here. We’ll test the meter when it comes on my own pool water and check that against the Taylor comparator. We haven’t been able to check pH in their pool because of the elevated chlorine, but I’ve been telling them about needing to keep the pH down and trying to pay attention to the CSI to avoid more scale.
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Katodude
Silver Supporter
- Aug 22, 2017
- 2,623
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Just be careful about a pH meter, they need to calibrated often. They also need to be stored in a special solution so you dont have to calibrate as often. Also you tend to get what you pay for with those. The $20 ones dont seem to last much.
I also have had success with wet sandpaper to clean off scale.
You are doing yeoman's work. If I lived close by, I would drive over right now to help you.
I also have had success with wet sandpaper to clean off scale.
You are doing yeoman's work. If I lived close by, I would drive over right now to help you.
The water is beautiful.
That black stain on the tiles has me stumped as well, especially since it is relatively newly redone. I don’t think it is related to the algae because it is above the water line, but asking @mknauss or @JoyfulNoise if either has any suggestions and to refer to post 24 for pictures of the tile. I think you said earlier that some came off with MA but it was difficult.
Some digital pH meters work fine with FC greater than 10ppm. Be sure to calibrate it first.
Continue to keep the FC elevated. I would wait till Sunday night to try the OCLT. Lets have another 24 hrs. At SLAM levels before you test. I think you said they will have the filter backwashed on Monday by the pool service. This then gives you Monday night to do a second OCLT if needed.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,633
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Black looks like grime from bleach with additives or sunscreen, etc. Try a scrub sponge or magic eraser on it
Thanks, mknauss. We are a bit baffled about the line because the only liquid chlorine they have used is 10% sodium hypochlorite, and there has been basically no real swimming in this same pool water (my family doesn’t even use sunscreen, but we certainly have normal skin and hair oils, and we’ve only been in twice to scrub during the slam). I do not know, however, if there were any “pool potions” added by the company that did the startup like a copper algecide or something. The owners didn’t think so, but I’m not sure they would know. The wife did have some success with a scrub sponge, but it seems to need some dilute acid with it. I did suggest half strength MA for after the grandkids have left.
When I was doing reading on the forum, “ring around the pool” kept coming up as a byproduct of sunscreen, and I thought I’d suggest that they see if they can find a “scum bug” for keeping in their skimmers when the grandkids are here. I’m sure there will be lots of sunscreens and lotions introduced then.
Our big question was whether the presence of this ring was likely to affect the SLAM. We haven’t been addressing it because it’s so much effort at the moment, and we’ve wanted to concentrate on what we thought were the essentials. The good news is that they kept my test kit last night and are doing their own testing today. We have practiced together, and they know how to do it. They got a reading of 27 this morning. It wasn’t an official OCLT, but that’s the highest morning number we’ve had (just one below the SLAM level of 28). They’re keeping the level up this morning and afternoon but will not add again after sundown (provided the level isn’t dangerous) so as to run a proper OCLT tonight without quite so much room for drop error. They know about the CC test too.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,633
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Another product used in place of scum bug are tennis balls floating in the pool and absorbing these oils.
Thank you for that confirmation. We’ll feel better leaving it for now then.
I don’t know if they have any of those either, but I’ll mention it in case they do. Thanks for the tip.
They passed the OCLT! Checked twice. Either no or 0.5 ppm loss overnight. No combined chlorine at all. The water is clear and sparkly. I’m really proud of them for learning the process and taking it over and seeing it through to the end.
They now have their own test kit and are going to be testing today to see how the pool acts in terms of chlorine loss. Grandkids are supposed to start arriving tomorrow. They have about 12 gallons of liquid chlorine to keep the levels at target and to add after a heavy swim load as necessary.
I didn’t see the pool tech’s truck this morning at the normal time, but I’m assuming he’ll come and backwash the filter. I did mention to the wife trying to write down the clean pressure on the gauge after he does that.
They now have their own test kit and are going to be testing today to see how the pool acts in terms of chlorine loss. Grandkids are supposed to start arriving tomorrow. They have about 12 gallons of liquid chlorine to keep the levels at target and to add after a heavy swim load as necessary.
I didn’t see the pool tech’s truck this morning at the normal time, but I’m assuming he’ll come and backwash the filter. I did mention to the wife trying to write down the clean pressure on the gauge after he does that.
This is all great news. well done. Keeping the FC at the high end of the target range will definitely help with the added bather load for the next several days.