Evil Phosphates

Over the last month, I have learned a ton since reading information you-all have provided on this website. I've had an IG pool for seven years now and expect the algae problems I've experienced over the last three have been due to my high CYA level, and I've been buying tons of chemicals to fix the problem, tbut the problem has never gone away.

Before finding this forum I bought several of the Phos-Free products (and I have alot left over). Very expensive and clouds the pool for a day or two but have no idea if it is doing what it says. I can't seem to find in the forum if you-all think using this product acually helps in eliminating the phosphates, and if eliminating the phosphates actually helps in reducing algae or not (I did see that this type of treatment increases chlorine demand, but don't know if it is worth it).

And maybe the borax treatment does the same thing? I'm sure the answer is in here, I just have not been able to find it.

Thanks for the information and knowledge you are providing to the rest of us.

Borax does NOT work the same way, but it DOES inhibit algae IF you get borate levels above 50 ppm. (Some effects occur at lower levels)

Read this: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?9755; your privilege status when I update your membership is dependent on that info.

And, by the time your upgraded, I'll have finished revising the new borates guide. :)

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Originally Posted by cambobros

Over the last month, I have learned a ton since reading information you-all have provided on this website. I've had an IG pool for seven years now and expect the algae problems I've experienced over the last three have been due to my high CYA level, and I've been buying tons of chemicals to fix the problem, tbut the problem has never gone away.

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If you maintain a proper chlorine level (read the "best guess" link in pooldoc's signature) then the presence of phosphates will be rendered irrelevant. So the least expensive and least frustrating course of action is to get a good test kit (Taylor K2006) if you don't already have one, and test your water yourself. Once you know your CYA (cyanuric acid) level you can determine your target chlorine level. This works even if you still have really high CYA - you just have to maintain chlorine levels at a correspondingly high level. Do you have a set of test results that you can post already available?

I bought my house with a pool just over two years ago, and I've been using this method to care for my pool ever since. It works, and once you get it down it's easy to do. Other than one time when I went on vacation and the person watching my house turned off my pump and swcg while I was gone I haven't had any problems to speak of the whole time.

thanks, kelemvor.

Just wanted to pop in here and say hi and welcome to the Pool Forum!

Thanks for all the responses.

I have been trying to keep in line with the recommended chlorine levels since finding this forum. CYA is about 70 as of 3 weeks ago. Vinyl pool, 24K. Ph is 7.8. I've been using liquid chlorine to keep it at 5 (except for a week I had to go out of town).

So things are not bad, but when I end up out of town for a week here and there, and I was wondering if the phos free stuff I have is useful for those periods, or if I should toss it.

Lanthanum salt phosphate removers excel at clouding pool water and clogging filters. They are also very good at removing money from your wallet. Otherwise they really are not that useful and certainly not needed.

If you are worried about your pool turning green while away for a week at a time I would strongly recommend adding borate to 50 ppm to your pool. I have it in mine and go away every summer for 10 days to a few weeks, live in Florida where pools turn green very fast, and the worst I have ever returned to was a slightly cloudy pool. ( And I shut everything off when I go away so there is no circulation.) All I need to do when I get home is shock and I am good to go the next day.

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

..... I'll have finished revising the new borates guide. :)

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I'm looking forward to reading that. Where will it be posted?

It's here:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?18597

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

It's here:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?18597

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Thanks.

On a completely unrelated note, I noticed below my user name it says "weir watcher". What is that for?

Watching wiers, of course! I, on the other hand have weaved a widget.

Seriously though, I think it's a ranking based on the number of posts we've made based on what I've seen on other forums.

means you've posted a lot, but not as much as me. ;)

(Quark inspectors are rather rare, which is not surprising, given how few people know what they are, or where to look for them, much less how to inspect them!)

((Physics humor: "What is the call of a quantum duck? . . ." ))

Only pooldoc and the guys that run the Large Hadron Collider are known to inspect quarks.

Ahh. Earlier I had "boson inspector", but several people, thinking of what might be seen around pools, misread "boson" . . . so I had to change it. :sad:

LOL......Thanks guys.

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

It's here:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?18597

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Thanks for the info. This is excellent.