Mustard Algae

[AndreaA]

Well. I guess I did leave out that he changed the sand during our floc process (which we never added floc we just let the dust settle for 3 days). The sand changing was in the first round of green mess about a month ago.

Our current PH is at 7.8 but we have high chlorine level of 16.5. I'm hoping and praying that I have just enough drops to check it in the morning (trying to see if I can maintain it overnight).

The natural spring is under the pool. We just pump the water every few days to keep the liner from bubbling. When I pumped the water from under the liner during the winter the water was completely clear and when we were doing all the vacuuming and wasting from all the junk the water level would drop. I only "once" added the spring water back into the pool.. Maybe 10-20 gallons when I realized I had sparkles in the spring water.. Once I noticed that I completely stopped adding the spring water.. But right after that is when we added shock and the pool turned green.

I do know that I have some staining on our steps and latter that is orange.. Not sure if that's a metal or just typical for a pool but this brown dust looks like sand on the bottom of the pool and collects really bad in the shallow end... But when I brush (not the sand stuff on the bottom) I have brown clouds.

Does this sound like mustard algae?

I am making some form of yucky stew here.. And these trees are not giving us a break.. We have 4-5 different kinds and they all shed on different days and seasons therefore I have constant crap in the pool :-(

[madwil]

There's lots of iron pyrite (fools gold) in Georgia, and lots of clay (I believe high in Iron content). The orange staining is possibly due to clay. I'm not the expert, but it sounds like somewhere that ground water is contaminating the pool- explains the orange stain (from the clay) and the gold flakes (iron pyrite). Is there anyway rain is washing into the pool? Or any way that your "spring" is more than a spring ( like, flooding around your filter/pump, so spring water is getting into the system there)?

[AndreaA]

I don't think that I have rain water flowing into the pool and/or spring water entering by accident. I did however add the spring water a few months back... One time!

I could see how I might have a metal problem but the brown dust makes me think I have mustard algae.

I did have enough drops to test last night and this morning. It was 16.5 last night and 15.5 this morning. Is that a significant drop??

PoolDoc and Watermom-- could you have a metal person look at this thread and let me know if this is a metal problem too?

Thanks so much for all of your help!

[AndreaA]

This is what my pool looked like this morning...

Let me know if that works

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29501372@N06/

[AndreaA]

Great and thanks again for helping me out.

I have another strange thing... Let me explain a little and I'll post a pic or two of my issue.

So I have the natural spring under my pool therefore I have three drains that are draining water to a creek that runs through my back yard. Drain one is just ground water and is a french drain under the pool, drain two is for my backwash/waste (the first two were installed by pool constructors), and drain three was put in by my husband to flow the water from the pump (natural spring) water from under the liner to the creek.

This morning when i walked down to the creek I noticed that drain two (backwash/waste) the water in the creek right at that point was completely orange with yucky fluffy stuff. The thing that makes it strange is I just weed whipped that whole creek sunday afternoon and the water was completely creek like "no orange" and since sunday we have vacuumed to waste twice.

So I googled the orange fluff and it looks like an iron reaction to chlorine.. My question is.. is it iron that's already in the creek reacting to my chlorine or iron that's in my pool mixed with my chlorine and then added to the creek water? Or is it even iron?

[AndreaA]

ok. posted photo of the orange goo on the same link as above.

[Watermom]

Wow. That is some yucky-looking orange stuff. Congrats on being the Pool Forum's first weird case of the year!

[AndreaA]

Any advise on what I should continue to do for the meantime?

[PoolDoc]

Looks like iron, alright. You can take a sample from the creek, add a bit of bleach, and see if you get similar fluff to test and see if the creek is iron filled.

But, I don't see why it matters, as long as you don't fill the pool from the creek.

The brown dust in the other picture just looks like dead algae.

PoolDoc

[AndreaA]

If it's algae then why is it not clearing? I've maintained at least 15ppm "no less" for more than 10 days. My filter has been running 24/7 and I've brushed and vacuumed to waste every single day :-(

Do you think it's mustard? Could I have both algae and Iron in the water? I'm seriously ready to throw in the towel. I don't know how to keep this water clear every time I shock with bleach my water turns green. I'm having a pool party on May 7th and feel like it's not going to be clear by then and my kids are driving me crazy to swim.. I'm about ready to hire someone to fix it (sorry I'm venting)...

Tears :-(