Neighbors Pool

[jhk49]

My neighbor and I share in the responsibility for our respective pools when one of us is gone on vacation or away from the house for a few days or a few weeks. I have an in-gound liner pool and she has an in-ground gunite pool. Each of our pools is about 25,000 gallons and are both fed from a well (south Georgia).

My neighbor does not use the BBB method nor has a test kit. She relies on chlorine pucks placed in her skimmer basket and gets the water tested through the local pool store. I have tried to convince her otherwise but she is reluctant to change her method. However recently, she has mentioned that her pool is very cloudy and not near as pretty as mine.

When she and her husband left on vacation last week, she asked me to take care of her pool and add the pucks to the skimmer when needed plus removal of any debris in the pool. I said no problem and asked if she would mind me trying to solve her cloudy pool water problem. She said, "great, do whatever it takes". So to that end, I have taken the samples and the test results are as follows:

pH - 7.4
FC - greater than 20.0
TA - 40 ...... although, instead of turning from green to red .... it went from green to blue
Calcium Hardness - 220
CYA > 100 ...... and I mean much greater

Also, there is a considerable amount of "dust" on the bottom of the pool which I believe to be algae and I think it to be the green type but it does look a bit pale yellow at times. My algaecide is "Leslie's Algae Preventor" which has the active ingredient polyloxyethlyene ethlyene and another chemical which has a very long name. I'm a little hesitant to use it since my neighbor told me that gunite pools use a different type of algaecide than line pools.

I know enough that we need to reduce the high CYA by draining at least half the pool. And, I also know that once the algae is killed we will need to sweep it out of the pool. But as to the actual step by step procedure, I though you all were the best ones to ask. So, any help would be appreciated by me as well as by my neighbor.

Jim K.
Leesburg, GA

[waterbear]

My neighbor and I share in the responsibility for our respective pools when one of us is gone on vacation or away from the house for a few days or a few weeks. I have an in-gound liner pool and she has an in-ground gunite pool. Each of our pools is about 25,000 gallons and are both fed from a well (south Georgia).

My neighbor does not use the BBB method nor has a test kit. She relies on chlorine pucks placed in her skimmer basket and gets the water tested through the local pool store. I have tried to convince her otherwise but she is reluctant to change her method. However recently, she has mentioned that her pool is very cloudy and not near as pretty as mine.

When she and her husband left on vacation last week, she asked me to take care of her pool and add the pucks to the skimmer when needed plus removal of any debris in the pool. I said no problem and asked if she would mind me trying to solve her cloudy pool water problem. She said, "great, do whatever it takes". So to that end, I have taken the samples and the test results are as follows:

pH - 7.4
FC - greater than 20.0
TA - 40 ...... although, instead of turning from green to red .... it went from green to blue
This is because the very high FC level is beaching out one of the indicators used in the conbined indicator for the TA test. The result is stil valid and the TA is way too low but this is a common side effect of trichlor use!
Calcium Hardness - 220
CYA > 100 ...... and I mean much greater
And here is the problem and short of your neighbor changing the way they care for their pool and lowering the TA you will not be able to really solve the problem.
Also, there is a considerable amount of "dust" on the bottom of the pool which I believe to be algae and I think it to be the green type but it does look a bit pale yellow at times.
Is it easily brushed and then settles back and mostly in the shaded parts of the pool on the floor, walls, and/or steps? If so it is probably mustard algae and very difficult to get rid of and a symptom of an overstabilized pool. Sodium bromide based algaecides are a 'band-aid" because they will temporarily take the CYA "out of the loop" by creating a bromine pool for a short while so the algae can be killed but it will return once the pool reverts back to chlorine so it is only a temporary fix.

My algaecide is "Leslie's Algae Preventor" which has the active ingredient polyloxyethlyene ethlyene and another chemical which has a very long name.
Is it Poly [ oxyethylene(dimethyliminio) ethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene dichloride ]? This is polyquat and is the algaecide recommended in this forum and others on the net. It is fine for both in ground and above ground pools and fine for any pool surace be it plaster, vinyl, fiberglass, tile, or painted.
With that being said, if it is mustard and the fact that the pool has such a high CYA level there is no algaecide short of copper (or possible borate to 50 ppm) that will be of much help for any length of time.


I'm a little hesitant to use it since my neighbor told me that gunite pools use a different type of algaecide than line pools.
totally untrue! You can tell your neighbor I said that! ;)
I know enough that we need to reduce the high CYA by draining at least half the pool. And, I also know that once the algae is killed we will need to sweep it out of the pool. But as to the actual step by step procedure, I though you all were the best ones to ask. So, any help would be appreciated by me as well as by my neighbor.

Jim K.
Leesburg, GA

Are you sure you reallly want to tackle this? IF it were me I would not unless the neighbor was willing to change how she cares for her pool. Like the little frozen bird in winter that fell out of it's tree and was revived by falling into a fresh cow patty some people are very warm and happy in a pile of poop!:cool:

[jhk49]

Thanks for the input. I am sorry that I have taken so long to reply but I have been out of town visiting friends.

I did have an opportunity to see my neighbor before I left to visit friens. She said that she was at wits end and willing to try anything that would work. So, here is my plan. Please comment as needed because I understand most of what is happening, I am a novice with trying to fix big problems.

First, I plan on draining about 2/3 of the pool so as to decrease the CYA. Then, upon refill I will test the water and correct the pH, FC, CYA and TA as needed. Upon getting the water chemistry right, I will add a copper based algaecide. We will let the pump/filter and polaris run all night. The next day, we will vacuum the pool and retest.

I have always been told that I need to backflush my filter about every two weeks. I am not sure how often my neighbor does this. With all of this heavy algae/dust in the pool, there is a good chance that the filter will clog. Any advice on this potential issue.

Thanks.
Jim K.
Leesburg, GA

[aylad]

Your plan sounds reasonable, as long as you understand that once the algae is dead, you're still going to have a pretty big chlorine demand to overcome due to the ammonia in the algaecide.

Does your neighbor have a sand or cartridge filter? If it's a cart, then it's going to clog very quickly, and the only solution I know is to keep a couple of them rinsed and ready to be switched out. If it's sand, it will still clog, but not as quickly and is a quicker job to backwash. You want to backwash a sand filter when the pressure rises 6-8 psi over "clean" pressure, since a dirty sand filter cleans better than a clean one does.

About the Polaris--unless your neighbor has the silt bag, and unless it's much better at the smaller stuff than the regular bag, I would leave it off and save the electricity. My Polaris doesn't do worth a flip when it comes to small stuff like algae. Better to kill it off and then filter or vac to waste.

[Watermom]

Jim, it is awfully nice of you to try to help your neighbor but we find it is usually best if owner's are on the forum themselves and we are helping with them directly instead of via a third party. Maybe give her the link to the forum and encourage her to become a member. :)