I just realized how much having the autocover has been saving my chlorine from the sun....had it open for a few hours for vacuum and lost about 6-7ppm. Just added more and will check it again in a couple hours. I do have a question though - if algae can live anywhere water can get, how is it not getting killed (assuming anything below water level), by the high levels of chlorine I have been maintaining for the last couple weeks?
Water won't clear up
- Thread starter Tkkaring
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,479
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
It should be. However other factors come into play for some pools like poor water circulation, not scrubbing some areas that allow the biofilm to remain resilient, etc.
Maybe you noted it earlier in this thread, but have you inspected that cover closely as well? Covers tend to accumulate junk underneath and mold/algae has not problem try to grow there as well.
Well, I think I had a breakthrough last night. First I cleaned the cover really well then I took the light out and the back of the light and the niche were full of some very nasty algae. Got it all scrubbed and cleaned out and ran vacuum. Just ran vacuum again this am, got CL back to SLAM level and closed cover to protect the CL. I will update later today to see if I can tell if there is improvement.
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,578
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I bet that helps a lot.
Those light niches don't get the same circulation and the biofilm on the algae builds, so without scrubbing them out it becomes an algae haven.Ok, I am still really fighting this. Shame on me, once I saw all the Crud in the light niche I assumed that was my be all end all to this battle. I have not noticed any improvement. This morning, I pulled out a couple very old magic erasers that were apparently stuck behind the doors of my skimmers and full of algae. My million dollar question now is, how little of an amount of algae can keep 28k gallons of water cloudy after weeks of intense CL? Literally the only spot left would be main drains but, with the pool so cloudy, all I have done is swim down and brush them by feel. At this point, I have dumped in about 50 gallons of liquid CL (which is fine if I were seeing improvements but, it is more the time passed) and about ready to fill the SOB in with dirt and buy a boat.
Looks like it’s been 2 weeks as of today? And am I right that you found the algae in the light niche yesterday? I only say that to put things in perspective, it can take a while to clear up a really cloudy pool with active algae bloom. 2 weeks isn’t out of the ordinary. Once you find and kill all the algae, the amount of chlorine needed each day will go down and it’ll be easier physically but will need the patience to wait for the filter to catch the final amount of dead stuff. It’s not a 1-2 day thing. Do you have a record of chlorine readings over the past few days to help judge how much chlorine is being used up? You can try an OCLT to see how close you are to the finish line. Just make sure to test after adding chlorine.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 8,258
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
This much. I feel you, I sat like you with clear pool, failing OCLT for 3 days, until I figure out the ladder was hollow.
I'd feel much better if it were clear and was failing OCLT. I can't seem to get to the clear point so haven't done an OCLT for a while. I don't have any metal ladders or rails in the pool due to auto cover....I have scrubbed steps, wall ladder in deep end, main drains, skimmers, jets, cleaned light niche 2 days ago this afternoon, and found the algae behind skimmer doors this am. I have not been going through a ton of chlorine....I'd say a ~gallon a day to maintain SLAM. I checked CYA yesterday and it was slightly down from 55 to 50....I have added just a bit of water but, going to have to add more due to backwashing. I truly feel the only place left would be under main drain covers but hard to clean those beyond brushing with cloudy water.....someone mentioned dumping CL down a piece of PVC directly on them. I assume CL must be heavier than water?This much. I feel you, I sat like you with clear pool, failing OCLT for 3 days, until I figure out the ladder was hollow.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 8,258
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
Yes. Heavier. PVC can work. You can also dive, take the cover off and clean. Should be a couple screws. Might need a weight to keep you down.
Can you post pic of main drain?
I cant see it right now but, that is what it would look like if I could see it. I will try this afternoon to get the covers off and clean them out. I just put vacuum in again. I would mention that since cleaning the light niche I have vac'd four times and each time there is a film on the screen that I don't normally get. It actually holds the water a little longer in vac basket bc it seems as if it wont allow water to leak out.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 8,258
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
I just got to thinking also....maybe those weren't magic erasers behind skimmer flaps....is there a piece of foam in them to make them float? I felt they looked odd shaped for magic erasers but figured time and chemicals altered them. I may have to get new ones if they are needed.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 8,258
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
Ok, so I swam down with goggles about a dozen times and got one main drain cover off....yes, full of algae....one down, one to go. My question now is....if algae can live there where water is actively flowing through, how can it not be in the lines?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 48,479
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Outstanding! We tell people about this all the time and they often don't believe us. Good catch. 
- Jun 24, 2021
- 8,258
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
With the flow rate it is not typical. In the head of the drain, the flow rate is slow.
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,578
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Algae requires sunlight too. Enough shines into light niches to let algae grow there, but down in lines is just too far for it to get any sun.
You’re doing great. If you want to be 100% sure your filter isn’t slowing down the clearing you can do a deep clean of the filter:
Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter
This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...
www.troublefreepool.com
Then you know the sand is doing what it should. Sometimes that makes a big difference on the cloudiness clearing up.
Ok, good to know on the lines....I figured flow had something to do with it but, didn't think about the sunlight component. I am learning a lot on this thread.
Got em both done now. Keeping that SLAM going and I don't see how it cant start improving now. I really appreciate everyone's patience with me on this.
Got em both done now. Keeping that SLAM going and I don't see how it cant start improving now. I really appreciate everyone's patience with me on this.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 14,051
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I was going to say that’s probably the weir door foam - don’t throw it away- soak & scrub it or replace them!
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,578
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
With a sand filter it’s really about your own patience for clearing. Step one is making sure nothing is adding more dead algae - keeping FC at SLAM level and scrubbing out those hidden spots is the way to do that. Step two is to let your filter do the work. Take a photo each day from the same spot while scrubbing it out of your pole in the pool to gauge improvement daily. If it stalls let us know.