What is this oily substance?

[yabby32]

Hi all,
Need some help identifying what’s going on with my pool. I have a 16k gal underground pool with Ecofinish on it (professionally done over the fiberglass). We have a Bio Shield UV light and a 4 cartridge pentair filter. This is the first year of using pool Rx minerals that instruct to keep chlorine between .3 and .5 ppm. I just found out that for the past month my pool company has kept it at .2 ppm level. See pic for details. There is an oily substance on the pool and little pinkish white blobs about 1mm in diameter. No one can tell me what’s going on except that it could be algae. Please help!

 

[yabby32]

 

[yabby32]

 

[wireform]

Hi, just saw but getting ready to take off and not much time on my hands but the ugly is algae/ mold maybe and I'd stay out of the water till you get a handle on it for starters the bio shield will do absolutely nothing except make someone rich and the same for the rx minerals. You need to start reading and get your own testing kit from the link here .Test Kits Compared
Pool Care Basics
FC/CYA Levels
PoolMath
SLAM Process

 

[mknauss]

You need to follow the SLAM Process. To do that, you need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100 / TFPRO or Taylor K2006C. A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.

Depending on how long you have been using the Rx metals, you may wish to drain/exchange the pool water to keep from staining the surfaces when you add chlorine to defeat the algae/organics in the pool.

While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.

 

[JamesW]

Do you use a submersible pump?

Sometimes submersible pumps leak oil.

 

[duraleigh]

mknauss' suggestion to SLAM the pool is what I would say also. This will require close to a 180 degree turn in how you manage your pool water.

That is NOT algae nor do I think it's mold. I am only stabbing a guess but the SLAM process should get rid of it. Can you take a thin cloth and carefully "wipe" it up from the surface? Worth a try, but SLAM regardless.

 

[1poolman1]

If it is an oil, a pool enzyme product will "eat" it. High chlorine levels may oxidize it, but it will be slow.
SeaKlear "RescueKlear" is a good product as it has an enzyme and won't clog filters like other types of clarifier products will.
The Pool Rx site indicates you can have as little as 0.5 - 1.0 ppm chlorine. Don't believe it.
I tried Pool Rx in my pool, both when they first came out, then when they were reapproved by the EPA and brought back to the market. Never found it to be a benefit for me.