I'd rather risk copper stains than deal with algae any more!

Wuckawucka · Postby **Wuckawucka** » Sun 18 Dec, 2011 19:35

The subject says it all. I have an old plaster (white marble sheen) pool with salt chlorinator. It's under some large gum trees. I just don't have the time to look at or maintain the pool every day. Sometimes the pH or chlorine level strays from ideal, and the pool is green. Often when the solar blanket is on. Even with OK levels, mustard algae seems to slowly build up on the bottom.

Having just spent a few hours yesterday cleaning up again, I intend to add copper algaecide and risk staining. I want soemthing that works long term. I know the pH will get high at some stage. Staining will be the lesser of two evils. The pool is not visible from the house, so stains wouldn't bother us every day - would just be seen when at the pool.

I am looking for any advice on doing this. Type of copper to use? Are some better due to buffering, maintaining the copper levels for longer? Is there a good concentration that will minimise staining while still preventing algae, and not turning hair green? If staining occurs, is this permanent?

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

Postby **czechmate** » Sun 18 Dec, 2011 21:12

Please do not take it as a patronizing comment , but little bit of research of what makes pool "tick" will save you bunch of hard work, money and days of frustration.
First, solar blanket on poorly treated or of balance water creates a haven for algae growth specially over warm water.
Secondly if you maintain FC 7-10% of CYA level, you will hardly need any algaecide. Period.
For the money you spend on overpriced copper based treatment (which usually will not remedy established algae anyway), you can buy a lot of chlorine.
I understand, that you may not have enough time for maintenance, but there is certain minimum you will have to invest time wise, or money wise (pool guy,) to keep the chemicals in balance and have a buffer against algae. ( Consider borate level of 35-50 as well).
The other remaining alternative, is to learn how to enjoy a man made pond in your backyard.
It is like having a Maserati and not having a time to go get an oil change.

Wuckawucka · Postby **Wuckawucka** » Sun 18 Dec, 2011 22:48

Thanks czechmate, I appreciate your comments.

This is my 3rd summer with a pool, and I have done a lot of research and learnt a lot in that time. We bought a house that just happened to have a pool. As far as I'm concerened, the pool is on probation (and probably always will be)! I'm not actualy that keen on pools, and could certainly find a good alternative use for that hole in the ground! The main reason it's still a swimming pool is for kids' use - but it's not used all that often. This pool isn't a Maserati - more like an aging Beetle! But it still needs its oil changed.

So, given that I have plenty of other uses of my time that I prioritise much higher, I'm looking for a way of minimising the effort. Copper based algeacide is appealing as it apparently can be effective for months. Just looking for suggestions on the best way of doing this.

Thanks for the borate idea - I will look into that.

EDIT - I don't have established algae at the moment. I spent hours yesterday dealing with that and it's clean now. I'm looking at copper as a longer term preventative.

still learning · Postby **still learning** » Thu 02 Feb, 2012 02:51

I am having similar problems to the other pool guy with a very large neighbour's gum tree, plus lots of other natives, dropping a lot of stuff in my pool when the wind gusts a certain way. This is our second summer and I am definitely still trying to figure out the best way to manage my pool.

What is CYA? I can have a crystal clear pool for a week and then it does seem that when we pop the blanket back on for a while, that's when we are having all the problems with algae. So what is it likely I am low on if that keeps on happening?

I do get my water tested regularly but it's not suggesting anything much other than that I need to keep topping up the chlorine at, to my mind at least, a fairly significant rate.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Postby **chem geek** » Fri 03 Feb, 2012 02:34

CYA is Cyanuric Acid aka stabilizer or conditioner. If you are "topping off" your chlorine by filling up Trichlor tabs/pucks in an inline chlorinator or floating feeder, then you are adding CYA to your pool along with chlorine. The following are facts independent of concentration of product or of pool size:

For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm.

So if you had a chlorine demand of 2 ppm FC per day and were using only Trichlor pucks/tabs for chlorination, you would be increasing CYA by around 35 ppm per month if you had no water dilution. Read the Pool School to learn more about how to properly maintain your pool and get a proper test kit.

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