ebatch24
05-23-2018, 12:52 PM
I have small cell algae in my pool. my pool was opened may 7th and is now a clear green color. i have a pool company and they have shocked it 3times now but it will not clear. my question is this, why cant they figure it out? i would think that an algaecide would do the trick, but i do not see that listed on the chemicals they are using. what should i do?
PoolDoc
05-23-2018, 02:08 PM
"Small cell algae"??
That's a English phrase apparently used to translate Russian biological studies of Lake Baikal. To the extent that it's defined at all, it seems to refer to planktonic algae with a major axis less than 20 μm.
Did you, or your pool guys, take a sample, filter it to extract the algae, put the algae on a slide, and use a laboratory microscope to measure the cell size? If not, my guess is, that someone is trying lay some high-end bullsh## on you!
OK. Clear green can be algae but usually is not. So what do we know?
Two common causes of CLEAR green water are dissolved iron and something weird with alkalinity, that I've never been able to quantify.
Of course, there may be a cause I've NOT seen before.
If your pool guy told you "small green algae" . . . and did not use a microscope . . . you know that they are ignorant, dishonest, or both. I'd bet on "ignorant".
But as a rule, most pool guys -- even very honest, and relatively competent ones -- have very moderate intelligence and education, and limited ability to pierce the massive bullsh## spread out by the pool chemical companies.
Good pool guys often understand very little, but have worked out some practical methods they use to get the job done. This often works.
BUT . . . when something different happens (like clear green water) they are at a loss, unless they happen to have encountered the problem AND a solution before.
On the other hand, many pool OWNERS are better equipped to educate themselves on the chemistry than most pool guys are.
You've got three options that I can see:
Hire someone more knowledgeable and skilled (In late May? Lots of luck!)
Let your pool guy keep struggling.
Purchase a K2006 test kit and tackle the chemistry yourself.
If you can find an HTH 6-way kit at a nearby Walmart, that will get you started.
Once you have test results -- and you should test your FILL water, too -- post them.
Meanwhile, make SURE your chlorine stays above 2 ppm and your pH remains between 7.2 and 7.8.
Good luck!