in search of guidance.

[bdurham]

I have been toying with angles to place the jet to try and stir up the bottom so that i can skim the leaves off the top. I found an angle that caused alot to gather in the center of the pool unfortunately the weight of the wet leaves caused my pole to bend and break. I still have about a 8-10 reach. As of right now i have removed the ladder so there is no resistance in the pool and angled it directly away from my skimmer so the water is flowing in a nice circular motion. Does anyone recommend a specific angle or direction in regards to the skimmer that i should angle it. This is a round pool 30 ft.

[Watermom]

It is going to be difficult for your jet to stir up things on the bottom. My pool is also round and when I angle the jet a bit downwards and away from the skimmer, it also sends debris to the center of the pool.

Wonder if your pool store has an above ground pool vac called "Polaris 65." I have one and it does a good job of picking up leaves, twigs and debris. Not so good at getting dirt and dust, but when I have a lot of leaves in my pool, it does the trick. It is a pressure side cleaner and has a unit that randomly moves around the top of the pool and has a hose underneath it with a mesh bag attached to it that swooshes across the floor of the pool and a stream of water shooting out of the bottom hose forces leaves into the bag. Just a thought.

Janet and Carl have given you good advice. Frequent doses of bleach will kill the algae. The key to killing algae is to sustain the high reading and not let it yo-yo up and down. As many times a day as you can, test and add more bleach. The more often you do this, the faster you will clear this pool. When you have a swamp on your hands, there is no such thing as doing it too many times a day. Good luck, keep us posted and welcome to the forum.

[bdurham]

well Quick update. I have yet to find any water that claims to be steam distilled so I have not been able to get an accurate reading on chlorine levels. I have been adding about 4-5 gallons of bleach per day and cleaning the filter atleast 3x the pool has moved from a slimy green to a weird shade of blue maybe a turquoise i Can now see dark objects on the bottom but not the bottom itself. I am not exactly sure what this blue color is as its not a color i have ever seen in a pool before. I am in high hopes that it still a manageable algae bloom.

I have broken the extension on my telescopic pole when i was bringing leaves out of the center bottom of the pool. I now only have about a 12-13 foot reach. would it be safe to get in the pool to clear out the leaves in the bottom. It would not take more than 10-15 minutes max (besides the water is extremely cold) I would shower directly after Im just not sure if it would be safe ? can anyone please advise.

[Watermom]

Steam distilled water is just distilled water that you can get pretty much anywhere. If your water is getting less green and more blue, then you are killing algae. Keep up the bleach and also post some numbers when you test. Run the filter as much as you can. It is what will get the dead algae out of the pool. As far as getting in the pool, it is fine to do so. People swim in lakes and ponds all the time and they have algae in them. I would take a shower as soon as you get out and I hope you don't freeze! Brrr!

[bdurham]

I got home from work today and I can see the bottom of my pool i am so happy now I just need to wait untill i feel it is truly clean and let the chlorine levels drop some so it is safe to put the winter cover on it. How low should the chlorine level be before i do the closure. and should i add any chemicals to it before i close it. I am trying to avoid asking the pool store at all costs.

[aylad]

You need to maintain that shock level (15 ppm) until the water is clear, your CC is zero, and most importantly, you're not losing any chlorine when you test at sundown and again before the sun hits the pool. If you let the chlorine drop before you're at that point, then you have just wasted your bleach and efforts and not killed all the algae. AFTER those conditions are met, then you can go ahead and put the cover on it--most people shock theirs (which is what you have done) before closing anyway.

Since I never close my pool, I'll let the others advise you there, but take a look through the Fall preparation forum, especially this sticky http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=5720 for some guidance in closing it.

Janet

Incidentally, when you open again in the spring, I would highly encourage you to consider leaving out the mineral pack and just using bleach--the mineral pack adds copper, which is what stains hair and fingernails (and pool liners) if the level gets high enough...........

[CarlD]

Yes, please look in the fall prep thread. What I've put there is directly applicable since I'm near you in NJ and in a similar climate. It also works, as I generally open to a clear pool.