Thought I had MA turns out to be just dirt?

[rcs29]

So I have been doing the SLAM all week believing I had a case of MA. Water is sparkling but each day I go out and find a little bit of dirt still (it has reduced each day). Today I let my robot do the vacuuming for the first time this week and I watched him come up on a pile, on safety ledge, of whatever it is and his brush hit it and then in it fell down to pool bottom and no cloud was created. I then went to my tanning ledge where there is always some accumulating spots of this stuff but not as solid but more dust like. I put my finger over a non-grip area where it is smooth, pushed down on dust and it feels like it has some grit. So now I'm almost certain this was all just dirt. For background I just had this pool installed in April and have been having construction going on all day everyday since. I have an automatic cover and keep it closed when not in or working on pool. One caveat is that there was no cover when they were cutting concrete. Anyhow my cover was filthy the entire time. So my 3 questions are as follows:

1) Do you tend to agree with my assessment that this is most likely just dirt?

2) Why do these spots keep coming back everyday (albeit less and less)? I had been running my pump @3400 24 hrs to help water get to skimmer. Is that likely why because I'm not giving my filter a just to do it's thing?

3) Would doing a SLAM help as much as it seems to have with just regular ol' dirt?

These results are after checking OCLT

FC- 26
CC- 0
PH- didn't bother (was 7.6 before SLAM)
TA- 225 (assuming because of higher PH)
CH- 500
CYA- 70

Thanks for any replies/affirmation

 

[rcs29]

I have 2 photos of dirt but says file is too large. I'm not good with that sort of thing

 

[DrewLG]

1) Do you tend to agree with my assessment that this is most likely just dirt?

I'm no expert. But after what you said about the construction, the dirty cover, and the grit, it'd be hard not to agree.

2) Why do these spots keep coming back everyday (albeit less and less)? I had been running my pump @3400 24 hrs to help water get to skimmer. Is that likely why because I'm not giving my filter a just to do it's thing?

When dirt gets blown into my pool, it always collects in exactly the same spots, because it naturally settles into the places where there's no flow from the jets to clear it, or where flow is reflected from a wall and the waves cancel out.

Even if there's just a very light sprinkling of dust in my pool, it will eventually gather and collect in those spots. Maybe your pool's the same.

3) Would doing a SLAM help as much as it seems to have with just regular ol' dirt?

The chlorine wouldn't help. But I imagine that running the filter pump 24/7 at 3400RPM might.

 

[rcs29]

I'm no expert. But after what you said about the construction, the dirty cover, and the grit, it'd be hard not to agree.



When dirt gets blown into my pool, it always collects in exactly the same spots and forms the same (usually ripple-like) patterns, because it naturally settles into the spots where there no flow from the jets to clear it, or where flow is reflected from a wall and the waves cancel out.

Even if there's just a very light sprinkling of dust in my pool, it will eventually gather and collect in those spots. Maybe your pool's the same.



The chlorine wouldn't help. But I imagine that running the filter pump 24/7 at 3400RPM might.

Thanks. Yes the dirt is always in the same spots. I have a bunch of benches/step outs and a safety ledge that runs length of pool along with tanning ledge. These are the places it seems to always accumulate. Glad to get some confirmation. Now I just want it to stop coming back.

 

[DrewLG]

Glad to get some confirmation. Now I just want it to stop coming back.

When I see it on the steps and ledges, I just brush it toward the main drain with the pump running. It goes away pretty quick and doesn't come back until the next windy day.

 

[rcs29]

Just an update I turned my pump speed down a lot and the dirt has stopped accumulating. Almost glad I thought I had MA as now I feel like I am way more educated on water chemistry than I was before hand. Same time glad mine just turned out to be dirt.

 

[PoolStored]

Perform an OCLT. If you pass, and pool is clear, it is not algae.

Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

 

[Kellyp]

I have 2 photos of dirt but says file is too large. I'm not good with that sort of thing

Just wanted to mention......
What works for me with photos: take a screen shot of the photo you want to upload, upload the screenshot instead. Not sure why it works, but you don't have to resize that way.

 

[IceShadow]

Just an update I turned my pump speed down a lot and the dirt has stopped accumulating. Almost glad I thought I had MA as now I feel like I am way more educated on water chemistry than I was before hand. Same time glad mine just turned out to be dirt.

It's likely still in the pool along the bottom, just spread out more evenly and harder to see without the pump causing water to move along the bottom to push it together.

There's no real way to stop stuff from blowing into an outdoor pool. Covers can help but then it's tricky sometimes to remove without letting that stuff get into the pool when you do. An automatic clear (pool robot, etc.) or manually vacuuming is the best thing to do IMO.

 

[rcs29]

Just wanted to mention......
What works for me with photos: take a screen shot of the photo you want to upload, upload the screenshot instead. Not sure why it works, but you don't have to resize that way.

Thanks for the tip