Second season with my fiberglass chlorine pool. No problems so far. But about a week ago I first noticed some whitish, stringy floating stuff in the shallow end of my pool. It almost looks like a thin string of spit. Weird. I attributed it to a new pool float, thinking it had some sort of plastic residue. I tossed the floaty (cheap and inconsequential). A couple of day later I noticed it again when I was using a small fine mesh net to skim bugs off the surface. Worrying. Today it’s back. I read some about white water mold, but the posts said that looks like tissue paper in the water. Biofilm?
Some facts:
- Pool is crystal clear other than these stringy bits in the shallow end.
- Pump runs nightly from 7:30 PM until 5:30 AM.
- We’ve had 100+ degree temps for two weeks straight. Today is about 108. Again!
- I test for FC and CC daily and add the stuff from Walmart labeled chlorinating liquid according to what Pool Math tells me to do. That’s 10% chlorine.
- I do the full range of tests at least twice a week.
- I run a robot for two hours every morning. It does climb walls, steps, etc. and scrubs the water line.
- Every evening after I add chlorine I do a quick brush down with a stiff brush on walls and floor.
- Two of us use the pool daily. We often have company. Today there were five of us, yesterday 4; tomorrow there will be 11. We’ve had as many as 13. We get a lot of use. So a lot of sunscreen, etc.
- I don’t add any other chemicals except muriatic acid when my pH gets high. Haven’t had to do that this season.
- I’ve never had an algae problem, cloudy water, or a big chemical imbalance. I’ve never had to SLAM. I’m a loyal TFP follower and treat my pool like a pet; it gets DAILY care.
Any guesses what this floating, swirly stuff is? There isn’t a lot of it. When I touch it it immediately breaks up and goes from long stingy to short pieces. It foams a bit in the fine mesh net when I scoop it. It dries powdery. Pics included. Suggestions? I so appreciate any help. Everything I know about pool care comes from TFP, and I like to tell everyone to just go to TFP and their pool will be as perfect as mine. Now I’m afraid I missed something. I included a pic of my test results from just a few minutes ago. I know my FC should never be below 3, but at 108 degrees I’ve been battling it. I’m needing about 128 ounces of 10% chlorine every night. Thanks for your help if you have time to provide it.
Some facts:
- Pool is crystal clear other than these stringy bits in the shallow end.
- Pump runs nightly from 7:30 PM until 5:30 AM.
- We’ve had 100+ degree temps for two weeks straight. Today is about 108. Again!
- I test for FC and CC daily and add the stuff from Walmart labeled chlorinating liquid according to what Pool Math tells me to do. That’s 10% chlorine.
- I do the full range of tests at least twice a week.
- I run a robot for two hours every morning. It does climb walls, steps, etc. and scrubs the water line.
- Every evening after I add chlorine I do a quick brush down with a stiff brush on walls and floor.
- Two of us use the pool daily. We often have company. Today there were five of us, yesterday 4; tomorrow there will be 11. We’ve had as many as 13. We get a lot of use. So a lot of sunscreen, etc.
- I don’t add any other chemicals except muriatic acid when my pH gets high. Haven’t had to do that this season.
- I’ve never had an algae problem, cloudy water, or a big chemical imbalance. I’ve never had to SLAM. I’m a loyal TFP follower and treat my pool like a pet; it gets DAILY care.
Any guesses what this floating, swirly stuff is? There isn’t a lot of it. When I touch it it immediately breaks up and goes from long stingy to short pieces. It foams a bit in the fine mesh net when I scoop it. It dries powdery. Pics included. Suggestions? I so appreciate any help. Everything I know about pool care comes from TFP, and I like to tell everyone to just go to TFP and their pool will be as perfect as mine. Now I’m afraid I missed something. I included a pic of my test results from just a few minutes ago. I know my FC should never be below 3, but at 108 degrees I’ve been battling it. I’m needing about 128 ounces of 10% chlorine every night. Thanks for your help if you have time to provide it.
I’ll reread that part of pool school. I am absolutely a firm believer in chlorine, but I have a nephew who is here at least twice a week who is very sensitive to it. On days he’s going to be here I, of course, don’t want to go below my lowest low (which happened today in the 108° heat), but I also don’t want the chlorine to be higher than it has to be to keep the pool clean. Like everything with pools, it’s a balancing act. 
