Never ending Algae!

Algae problems in swimming pool water.
Green (cloudy) water or slimy pool walls.
Black algae. Mustard algae. Pink or white pool mold.
Guest

Never ending Algae!

Postby Guest » Thu 27 Jul, 2006 09:59

I have a 24' above ground pool w/ a cartridge filter. My pool has not fully turned green, but the Algae appears at the bottom of my pool and in my filter. It has been present for the past 3 weeks and we have shocked (as instructed by the pool company) and have vaccumed & cleaned the filter 2-3 times a day. My pool was completey clear 2 days ago, but my filter was green. Shocked again yesterday and now my pool is cloudy with a tinge of green. What are we missing. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!


Guest

algae

Postby Guest » Thu 10 Aug, 2006 17:36

We just had a pool built and had the same problem. The pool company came out and dumped two gallons of acid and a bucket of algaecide with dry chlorine in the pool. Within 5 minutes the pool was clear again.
If you try don't get scared as the pool gets worse before better within those 5 minutes.
good luck
Guest

Postby Guest » Fri 11 Aug, 2006 15:28

Thanks! I'll give it a try!
Guest

Postby Guest » Sat 12 Aug, 2006 19:00

First I'm going to state the obvious:
Chlorine is a gas. It has a half life of 30 minutes in sunlight. If you have 3 ppm of chlorine in 1/2 hour you are at 1.5 ppm and so on. It is possible to lose all of your chlorine within a couple hours.
You need to have two ways of distributing chlorine.
1. You need to have sticks in the skimmer or pucks in a chlorinator. If you turn your pump on and off BioGaurd's Smart sticks are awesome and only dissolve with the pump on. They also have borate.
Secondly you need to shock it once a week if not more. You also need to add algicide weekly.
WHen you shock a pool it is a chemical fire. The green algea litteraly burns and turns to a grey ash which is why your pool is cloudy. If it is green and cloudy you need to reshock until it is just grey. Clean your filter with something like Strip Kwik. Run your filter all day until clear.

TO ALL POOL OWNERS WITH ALGEA PROBLEM
I do work at a pool store and we have found the BEST thing you can add to your pool besides chlorine/baquacil/bromine/salt system. It is called ENDURE by Arch chemical. I will make a post about endure later.
me

Postby me » Sat 12 Aug, 2006 19:59

Anonymous wrote:1. You need to have sticks in the skimmer or pucks in a chlorinator.


Or a bucket filled with water and dissolved cal hypo. Or bleach. This is nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:If you turn your pump on and off BioGaurd's Smart sticks are awesome and only dissolve with the pump on. They also have borate.


Read the MSDS, it's 96.5% trichlor. No borax in there.

But do tell us how using trichlor adds a significant amount of stabilizer in the water. How much stabilizer by in trichlor ?

Anonymous wrote:Secondly you need to shock it once a week if not more. You also need to add algicide weekly.


Why do I need to do this if I maintain proper sanitizer levels at all times and have no combined chlorine?

Anonymous wrote:I do work at a pool store and we have found the BEST thing you can add to your pool besides chlorine/baquacil/bromine/salt system. It is called ENDURE by Arch chemical. I will make a post about endure later.


Sodium tetraborate. . .Also known as borax. Available at Walmart.

Hence the expression "You've been pool-stored".
rj

Never Ending Algae

Postby rj » Sun 13 Aug, 2006 05:12

Hi.. I have a 33,000 inground pool which developed an alage problem on Thursday..the water went into green basically overnight. I've changed the chlorine tabs we were using..have tested the water daily at the pool store and they have sold me gobs of algaecide and shock to keep throwing in there.. This morning the pool is still green and I'm sure the water is growing toxic! Does anyone have any suggestions.. I was sold a clarifier but they said do not put this in until the green disappears. HELP
me

Re: Never Ending Algae

Postby me » Sun 13 Aug, 2006 07:10

Ask the pool store to measure your stabilizer level. We'll take it from there.
rj

never ending algae

Postby rj » Sun 13 Aug, 2006 19:08

ok ..went back to the pool store.. a new pool store in fact jus to make sure the old one hasn't screwed up!.. checks the stabilizer, chlorine, copper, ph, alkalinity, ..something acid.. cyneratic? every single level is fine.. chlorine is a bit high..but after 4 gallons of shock, 2 containers of algaecide and 2 bottled of granular shock.. not a surprise! I added entire bottle of clarifier mixed with water.. let the filter run for 3 hours..turned it off for 3.. vacumed the pool, backwashed it 3 times today....it made a small difference but 6 hrs later.. pool is still green and cloudy! ..

i actually dove in the pool today to check out the main drain which I cannot see due to density of green and cloudiness.. there were a number of acorns which had fallen in but nothing it hasn't seen before.. picked up the pieces.. just dumped in another gallon of shock and finished off the clarifier..filter is running again..
I asked the pool store guy about putting in something to lower the ph and he did not recommed that? I'm afraid of making it worse.. HELP!! this is driving me crazy ..not to mention I have 120 people coming to my house on Friday for a big family party!
rj

never ending algae

Postby rj » Sun 13 Aug, 2006 19:09

ah yes.. one more thing..this all started on Wednesday.. am I hoping for too much too soon? it is a lighter shade of green..but barely..thank you!
me

Re: never ending algae

Postby me » Sun 13 Aug, 2006 19:23

rj wrote:ok ..went back to the pool store.. a new pool store in fact jus to make sure the old one hasn't screwed up!.. checks the stabilizer, chlorine, copper, ph, alkalinity, ..something acid.. cyneratic? every single level is fine.. chlorine is a bit high..but after 4 gallons of shock, 2 containers of algaecide and 2 bottled of granular shock.. not a surprise! I added entire bottle of clarifier mixed with water.. let the filter run for 3 hours..turned it off for 3.. vacumed the pool, backwashed it 3 times today....it made a small difference but 6 hrs later.. pool is still green and cloudy! ..

i actually dove in the pool today to check out the main drain which I cannot see due to density of green and cloudiness.. there were a number of acorns which had fallen in but nothing it hasn't seen before.. picked up the pieces.. just dumped in another gallon of shock and finished off the clarifier..filter is running again..
I asked the pool store guy about putting in something to lower the ph and he did not recommed that? I'm afraid of making it worse.. HELP!! this is driving me crazy ..not to mention I have 120 people coming to my house on Friday for a big family party!


Try to get the actual numbers and let me know what they are. The cyanuric acid level determines what the quantity of chlorine to shock will be. The pH has a big influence on the effectiveness of the chlorine, at a higher pH the chlorine is less effective.

Chlorine, and lots of it, is all you need to clear this up. Post the actual numbers and we'll take it from there.
rj-m

never ending algae

Postby rj-m » Mon 14 Aug, 2006 08:39

ok..chlorine is 4.0
cyneratic acid is 55
ph 7.4
alkalinity they said went from 110 to 0.. but as she wanted to sell me another 40 pounds of baking soda the owner said to wait and suggested they change the sand in the filter first..it is a Hayward Sand Filter which this is its 4th season..

Recommendations??
me

Re: never ending algae

Postby me » Mon 14 Aug, 2006 10:30

rj-m wrote:Recommendations??


pH is fine at 7.4, cyanuric acid (stabilizer) is okay. I seriously doubt alkalinity is 0 but we'll handle that later.

Here's what you do. Today is Monday, the pool is green and the party's on Friday. Go to the pool store and buy 8.5 pounds of calcium hypochlorite at 65% concentration. They may carry calcium hypochlorite but in a lower concentration, but try to get 65%. Accept no substitute, don't let them sell you anything but regular granulated 65% cal hypo. Don't let them sell you 'shock' or anything else. They may only have buckets of 10 pounds or whatever, that's fine, you'll use the rest next year. If you can't find 65% concentration write back with what concentration you got and I'll adjust the quantity you need.

When you get home from the store fill a bucket with hot water, dissolve about two pounds of that chlorine (about 4 cups if I remember) in the hot water, stir well and dump it in the pool water, not in the skimmer. Don't attempt to save time by dumping the granules in the pool water directly you may damage the liner. Repeat 4 times because you need 8.5 pounds in the pool. Ideally we should be doing this in the evening but time is short.

This will bring the chlorine level in your 33k gallon pool to 20 ppm. The pool will turn from green to blue within minutes (it's actually neat to watch) and from blue to grey then to clear in a few days.

Please write back tomorrow and let me know how things are progressing.
rj-m

Re: never ending algae

Postby rj-m » Mon 14 Aug, 2006 16:24

Ok.. going to the store to but this.. just want to make sure..this isn't dangerous to my liner if i follow your directions? Also.. will anyone be able to swim in it if the chlorine is this high ?..Thank you..


pH is fine at 7.4, cyanuric acid (stabilizer) is okay. I seriously doubt alkalinity is 0 but we'll handle that later.

Here's what you do. Today is Monday, the pool is green and the party's on Friday. Go to the pool store and buy 8.5 pounds of calcium hypochlorite at 65% concentration. They may carry calcium hypochlorite but in a lower concentration, but try to get 65%. Accept no substitute, don't let them sell you anything but regular granulated 65% cal hypo. Don't let them sell you 'shock' or anything else. They may only have buckets of 10 pounds or whatever, that's fine, you'll use the rest next year. If you can't find 65% concentration write back with what concentration you got and I'll adjust the quantity you need.

When you get home from the store fill a bucket with hot water, dissolve about two pounds of that chlorine (about 4 cups if I remember) in the hot water, stir well and dump it in the pool water, not in the skimmer. Don't attempt to save time by dumping the granules in the pool water directly you may damage the liner. Repeat 4 times because you need 8.5 pounds in the pool. Ideally we should be doing this in the evening but time is short.

This will bring the chlorine level in your 33k gallon pool to 20 ppm. The pool will turn from green to blue within minutes (it's actually neat to watch) and from blue to grey then to clear in a few days.

Please write back tomorrow and let me know how things are progressing.[/quote]
me
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Re: never ending algae

Postby me » Mon 14 Aug, 2006 17:23

rj-m wrote:Ok.. going to the store to but this.. just want to make sure..this isn't dangerous to my liner if i follow your directions? Also.. will anyone be able to swim in it if the chlorine is this high ?..Thank you..


No don't swim while doing this, in a few days the chlorine level will have dropped to a lower level, heck you'll probably be in the pool by Friday.

There is no damage to the liner if you dissolve the chlorine in the bucket first. It's 20 ppm total with your 50 ppm CYA. To put it in perspective when you do laundry and put a cup of bleach in with the whites you're putting in 600 ppm.
rjm-m

never ending algae

Postby rjm-m » Wed 16 Aug, 2006 06:34

Well I went to the pool store and they were all out of calcium hypochlorite.. told me to come back today..in the meanwhile they changed the sand in the filter..added 2 more bottles of algaecide and told me to run the filter all night.. I did so..backwashed it twice and it actually is looking better.. I can see a hint of the drain in the deep end this morning and the water is a much lighter shade of green.. When I backwashed the filter I could see the water it was backwashing was all green going to clear.. before the sand change it just kept looking clear. Should I still get the calcium hypochlorite? any recommendations would be appreciated.. you have been great through all of this!

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