Will Acid Washing Eliminate Algae

[panamax53]

We are getting too old and I have a shoulder injury that is aggravated by brushing the pool. I carefully maintain pool chemistry with fairly high FC levels in the 7 - 11 range.
We have been diagnosed with having brown or black algae. We get different opinions. I was of the opinion it was from the pool heater, but now am doubting that. I have tried brushing, slamming and nothing seems to have worked.
I was thinking maybe having the pool acid washed this winter to fix the problem.
Will that work?

 

[PoolGate]

Can you post a full set of tests? With enough chlorine you should not have any algae.

 

[gingrbredman]

I was thinking maybe having the pool acid washed this winter to fix the problem.
Will that work?

The short answer is no.

As @PoolGate mentioned, with enough chlorine, no algae will be there. The solution to an algae problem is a SLAM, which requires chlorine, not acid.

I have tried brushing, slamming and nothing seems to have worked.

Tell us more about the attempt to SLAM. With a true SLAM, you need to first test everything, adjust the PH, and then you would raise your Clorine levels. I haven't seen a SLAM that goes until completion that hasn't worked so curious what went wrong.

 

[panamax53]

Can you post a full set of tests? With enough chlorine you should not have any algae.

FC 8, pH 7.7, TA 80, CH 350, CYA 80, Salt 3600, CSI-0.09

 

[proavia]

If you have visible algae, use the SLAM Process. It works.
Have you done an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test - with the SWG off?

Can anyone else in the household help with brushing the pool? How about neighbors or friends?
A commitment to brush at least once a day during the SLAM Process will help ithe SLAM go faster. Also, after SLAM completion, the pool should be brush weekly.

The pool heater won't cause algae.

I see you have linked your PoolMath logs here. Enter all your results in PoolMath.
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Salt
Water temperature

 

[Katodude]

The OP says that he has black algae. Slam wont work.

Can you post pictures? Can you scrape off a bit of algae and smear it on a piece of paper? Is it a lot or a little bit?

 

[duraleigh]

OP reports black algae but that is seldom what the problem really is. The SLAM will work for any algae. Black algae (when confirmed) takes a different path as to cleaning, brushing, filtering but it should still be under the guidelines of a SLAM.

First things first, OP should post pics or give more info to diagnose black algae properly.

 

[tim5055]

OK, you have a test

First things first, OP should post pics or give more info to diagnose black algae properly.

Agree

With a test kit in hand step one is always to properly diagnose the problem. As someone mentioned the heater, could it be staining and not algae?

I say before you go in any direction you preform an OCLT to show that it is in fact algae.

Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

The Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tells if the SLAM is finished or if you need to start a SLAM. This article says how to do the OCLT.

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