I've browsed through many forums and posts on white mold but haven't gotten any info that pertains to my situation. First off, I use testing strips which only give a range of low, idea, and high for chlorine, free chlorine, water hardness, ph, alkalinity, and stabilizer, so I apologize that I don't have exact numbers to give.
The pool I have is a 15x42 metal framed AGP. I hooked an Intex 2500 gph cartridge filter pump to it and use chlorine pucks in a floater and liquid chlorine when the levels drop too low (which they often would, not sure if the tabs weren't enough or not dissolving quickly enough). I test my water daily and the chlorine has always been in the "ok" range or a little low, which I would then raise with liquid, my pH/alkalinity has always shown high and I would have to keep using a reducer to get it down to the "idea" level on the strip. Other than having hard water (city water) the strips always looked ok and the water was always clear, no burning eyes or dry skin, no scaling or weird things on pool liner.... until recently.
A few days ago I was hand skimming the pool while my son was in it. I hadn't been in it myself for a couple days but from what I could tell when taking the cover off the water always looked and felt fine. This time while skimming I could see the water at a different angel due to the sun hitting it. I noticed what appeared to be thin pieces of shredded tissue. (After thinking about it I do remember seeing a few pieces of this material while in the pool skimming and due to its somewhat mucus like appearance told my 9 year old to make sure he used the kleenex or paper towels next to the pool if he thought his nose was running). When I saw this substance this time I knew it was something different and not good. Some of the strands were longer and some thicker, but most were very small and only able to see them when in the right light and angel or cornering small section off. I called my local pool stores, they don't test for molds or algae but I'm certain this is a mold/fungus (biofilm). I read that I needed to super-shock the pool with 3 to 4x regular dose of shock, the pool stores in this area are all out of calcium hypochlorite so one of them sold me a case of 4 gallon bottles of sodium hypochorlite. I haven't been able to fine info on how much was needed and I wanted to get the process started because we're running out of warm days. By the time I found it on the first day all the stores were closed. I just used one bag of regular shock for the time being. Next day I brushed the pool and changed the filter and the filter sock on the skimmer (which was to house a filter also but it's not being used so I just use the skimmer grid in it and place the skimmer sock over it to catch small debris). Yesterday I changed the filter and skimmer sock again, brushed the pool and dumped one whole bottle of sodium hypochlorite (10%) in the pool and covered it up for the night. I"m getting ready to go take the cover off now so it can get what little sunlight may peak out of the clouds today and hope for no rain. I know this is a lot of mixed up information and I apologize and thank anyone who is taking the time to read this.
I guess my question is what do I do now? The pool doesn't look bad, I've just noticed that it isn't "sparkly clear" like it was. I'm going to vacuum it and probably brush it again and vacuum again. Should I then change the filter? Do I need to put more liquid shock in it? I know what they sold me was much weaker than calcium Hypo. I don't even know what what mold looks like when it's dead..does it continue to float around or does it sink? I bought a bottle of super floc to sink the yuck to the bottom to vacuum up but I don't know when to use it. I was also never told whether I should throw my cover away. They did say I could use a water/bleach solution to clean any floats and toys that had been in the pool. I was kind of hoping that my putting the cover back on and having it touch the water while it was being shocked that it would kind of clean the cover.
If anyone could help me I'd really appreciate it. I feel bad that my son can't get in the pool and the water is already dropping to a temp that will soon be too cold for him to swim in. If need be I'll go out and try to find an actual testing kit. I'm just running out of funds (and time) quickly. I plan on getting a better pool and a sand filter for next year but for now....this is what I have.
Thank you in advance. Off to remove the cover and see what/if anything has changed.
The pool I have is a 15x42 metal framed AGP. I hooked an Intex 2500 gph cartridge filter pump to it and use chlorine pucks in a floater and liquid chlorine when the levels drop too low (which they often would, not sure if the tabs weren't enough or not dissolving quickly enough). I test my water daily and the chlorine has always been in the "ok" range or a little low, which I would then raise with liquid, my pH/alkalinity has always shown high and I would have to keep using a reducer to get it down to the "idea" level on the strip. Other than having hard water (city water) the strips always looked ok and the water was always clear, no burning eyes or dry skin, no scaling or weird things on pool liner.... until recently.
A few days ago I was hand skimming the pool while my son was in it. I hadn't been in it myself for a couple days but from what I could tell when taking the cover off the water always looked and felt fine. This time while skimming I could see the water at a different angel due to the sun hitting it. I noticed what appeared to be thin pieces of shredded tissue. (After thinking about it I do remember seeing a few pieces of this material while in the pool skimming and due to its somewhat mucus like appearance told my 9 year old to make sure he used the kleenex or paper towels next to the pool if he thought his nose was running). When I saw this substance this time I knew it was something different and not good. Some of the strands were longer and some thicker, but most were very small and only able to see them when in the right light and angel or cornering small section off. I called my local pool stores, they don't test for molds or algae but I'm certain this is a mold/fungus (biofilm). I read that I needed to super-shock the pool with 3 to 4x regular dose of shock, the pool stores in this area are all out of calcium hypochlorite so one of them sold me a case of 4 gallon bottles of sodium hypochorlite. I haven't been able to fine info on how much was needed and I wanted to get the process started because we're running out of warm days. By the time I found it on the first day all the stores were closed. I just used one bag of regular shock for the time being. Next day I brushed the pool and changed the filter and the filter sock on the skimmer (which was to house a filter also but it's not being used so I just use the skimmer grid in it and place the skimmer sock over it to catch small debris). Yesterday I changed the filter and skimmer sock again, brushed the pool and dumped one whole bottle of sodium hypochlorite (10%) in the pool and covered it up for the night. I"m getting ready to go take the cover off now so it can get what little sunlight may peak out of the clouds today and hope for no rain. I know this is a lot of mixed up information and I apologize and thank anyone who is taking the time to read this.
I guess my question is what do I do now? The pool doesn't look bad, I've just noticed that it isn't "sparkly clear" like it was. I'm going to vacuum it and probably brush it again and vacuum again. Should I then change the filter? Do I need to put more liquid shock in it? I know what they sold me was much weaker than calcium Hypo. I don't even know what what mold looks like when it's dead..does it continue to float around or does it sink? I bought a bottle of super floc to sink the yuck to the bottom to vacuum up but I don't know when to use it. I was also never told whether I should throw my cover away. They did say I could use a water/bleach solution to clean any floats and toys that had been in the pool. I was kind of hoping that my putting the cover back on and having it touch the water while it was being shocked that it would kind of clean the cover.
If anyone could help me I'd really appreciate it. I feel bad that my son can't get in the pool and the water is already dropping to a temp that will soon be too cold for him to swim in. If need be I'll go out and try to find an actual testing kit. I'm just running out of funds (and time) quickly. I plan on getting a better pool and a sand filter for next year but for now....this is what I have.
Thank you in advance. Off to remove the cover and see what/if anything has changed.
