White Algae

[krisd0201]

My pool dealer has told me I have white algae. It looks like shredded Kleenex. I use Bacquacil. I cannot get rid of it. I have lowered the water level, filled the pool back up with clean water added shock, algaecide, sanitizer. The pump runs all the time. I am in the process of lowering the water again, but have heard not to empty it completely. Do I use bleach to clean the sides etc? If I use bleach will I have to switch over to cholorine as a sanitizer? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest]

My pool dealer has told me I have white algae. It looks like shredded Kleenex. I use Bacquacil. I cannot get rid of it. I have lowered the water level, filled the pool back up with clean water added shock, algaecide, sanitizer. The pump runs all the time. I am in the process of lowering the water again, but have heard not to empty it completely. Do I use bleach to clean the sides etc? If I use bleach will I have to switch over to cholorine as a sanitizer? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have heard about an algecide called back-up. I have not tried it yet - I have a little white algea too, I hope this will help.

[chem geek]

This is actually white water or tissue mold -- it's technically not an algae. It is rather common in Baquacil pools after a few years and is one of several reasons most Baquacil users convert to chlorine after a while. You can try Soft Swim Assist found here. This product is actually sodium chlorite with Dichlor which when combined will produce chlorine dioxide that kills this mold.

BioGuard Back Up algaecide is a linear quat and is best for preventing algae, not for killing this mold.

[jskane]

Hi,

I've been using the ASSIST tabs and have found that this year (4th year with Baquacil...that they aren't working as well). The pool is baquacil 10,000 gallons above ground.

A few weeks ago I got the pool to clear with a filter cleaner that had HCL and HFL (Hydrochloric and Hydrofluoric acid). You leave it in overnight and it kills things. I've been on vacation and after a week of running (since returning) I still have a mildly white pool.

So my plan is to try this out again and see if it works. I'm hoping the acid will kill the algae which I suspect has grown in the filter while I was away.

If people are interested, I'll post the results in a few days.

jskane

[Backglass]

My pool dealer has told me I have white algae. It looks like shredded Kleenex. [b]I use Bacquacil.[/b] I cannot get rid of it.

Dump the baqua-junk and go chlorine. You will be very happy you did.

[Cheri]

When you use Bacquacil, you have to change out your sand every year or so, because it gets gunky and won't filter as well. Bacquacil turns the sand it muck, and it is really nasty. How long since you've changed the sand? It may help.

[chem geek]

Cheri is correct, but in the long-run, after 3 years or so, Baquacil won't prevent certain pathogens and you'll be more likely to get white water/tissue mold (resistance is built up against PHMB, the ingredient in Baquacil). See this link for about 8 pages of users unhappy with Baquacil and wanting to know how to convert to a chlorine pool. Essentially, the conversion can be done slowly using lots of chlorine creating all sorts of colored and interesting events in your pool or it can be done more quickly using essentially very high levels of the same non-chlorine shock used in Baqua pools, hydrogen peroxide, but is usually done with sodium percarbonate (which produces hydrogen peroxide in water along with increasing pH) bought in bulk. One user reported converting using traditional non-chlorine shock (potassium monopersulfate) after letting their hydrogen peroxide oxidizer go to zero, but I'm a bit skeptical as to whether that works as well as the percarbonate.

Richard