something on the bottom of the pool

[bjaeram]

This is the first summer I have had a pool so bear with me. It's been great so far, crystal clear, no problems at all.

We had a bad storm last Friday and ended up with a bunch of debris, leaves, ect in the pool. I think this is where the problem started. I cleaned all that out. Vaccumed a couple of times. It looked clean. The water was clear the whole time.

The last several days I've noticed what looks like dirt on the bottom of the pool. Yesterday I vaccumed it all up and left the filter off all night. Today when I woke up it was still clean and clear. I turned the filter back on and after a few hours I entire pool floor is covered in a brown dirt like substance. It's little patches even distributed around the entire pool floor. It is easily stirred up into the water if you touch it. The water itself is still clear. What is this stuff?

Hubby thinks it's some kind of algae but I'm not sure. Would algae show up when the pool wasn't moving as opposed to when I turned the pump on?

I don't really think it's just dirt, it comes back to quickly after I vaccum and no one was in the pool today to track anything into it. Could my filter be pumping sand into the pool? It never has before. It just seems weird that it's even distributed all over the bottom of the pool.

I have also noticed under our Wedding cake steps the water is kind of gross. The walls and floor are really dirty. I'm sure that is from no circulation under there. Could that have anything to do with it? How do you keep that area clean.


background- 27 foot round above ground pool. Sand filter. I've been using liquid chlorine and chlorine pucks. That's all that's been added for several weeks.

[bjaeram]

Oh and one more question, is it safe to swim in the pool if this is algae? I have a couple people coming over to swim. I just put two gallons of chlorine 12% in to see if that helps at all.

[aylad]

Algae in itself is not dangerous to swimmers. However,if algae is growing that means the chlorine levels are not high enough to kill the algae-- and if they're not killing algae, they're also not high enough to kill other stuff in the water, like bacteria and viruses. If you could post a set of water test results, it would help us diagnose the problem better. Also, what size pump and filter do you have? Do you see anything blowing out of the returns when the pump is on?

[bjaeram]

I don't have one of those test kits yet. The chlorine was very purple still on my dip stick this morning. I'm going to take it to get tested later.

When I did turn the pump on today there was a big cloud of brown coming from my return jet. I backwashed and when I turned it back on I did not have that.

As far as the size of the pump/filter i have no idea.


I just took a bunch of pics so let me see if I can figure out how to put them on here.

[bjaeram]

http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o192/bjaeram/pool/

This is the only way I know how to share pics. If someone can tell me what kind/size of pump I have that would be great so I know when people ask me.

The stuff is in the bottleis the water I got when I held it in front of my return....gross

It's hard to see but I tried to take pics so you can see the stuff on the bottom of the pool too.

[bjaeram]

So I went to two different pool stores and got completely different answers and I still have NO idea what to do. Someone please help me!

Store 1- They said it looks like algae but they don't test for algae. He told me to shock, pour in a bottle of algecide, shock again, vaccum. He was about 16 so I went for a second opinion.

CYA 93
total chlorine 8.5
free chlorine 8.5
ph 8.2
alk 214
hardness 245


Store 2- Said it's iron and my ph is too high. They said use iron out and acid

CYA 29
fc 10.88
tc 11.76
cc .88
ph 8.4
alk 188
hardness 258
iron 5.2
total dissovled solids 900
saturation index 1.1

So same pool water, taken at the same time, very different results and totally different recommendations. Someone please help!!!!

[Watermom]

This is why we tell people they need to be able to test their own water. If you had gone to 5 different pool stores instead of 2, you most likely would have gotten 5 different reports and recommendations.

Have you ordered the Taylor K-2006 yet? If not, you really need to do so. In the meantime, see if your Walmart has an HTH 6-Way test kit (not strips). If not see, if they have an OTO/Phenol Red test kit (yellow and red drops).

Tell us exactly what all you have used in your pool -- meaning ingredients and not just "shock."

Please put your pool's information in our pool chart. It makes it easier for us to help.

Pool Chart Entry Form
Pool Chart Results

[canucksdownsouth]

Are you sure it's not sand? If it's sand, the laterals in your filter just need to be replaced, no?

[bjaeram]

I bought the HTH kit last night and tested this morning. I have a really hard time reading the color differences on the yellow so I'm not sure how accurate I am. They just all kind of look the same to me. I had my 8 year old help for a second opinion...

CL 5 (however I did a strip too just to double check myself at I only got 2 on that, I'm not sure what that means)

Ph 8.2

Alk 190

Hardness 390

CYA 40

I have been using liquid sodium hypochlorite 10% (2gallons every week to shock) and trichlor 92.4% pucks floating.

That is all I had been putting in for a few weeks.

The one pool store gave me some algae stuff (Biogauard copper 3.3%) and I put a bottle of that in yesterday. It's supposed to stay in for 24 hours then I'm supposed to vaccum. Today the pool looks about the same if not a little bit cloudy which I'm assuming is from the Biogaurd.

As far as it the question about it being just sand.....I'm not sure it could be. I initially thought that is what it was honestly. I haven't had this problem until recently and I've not damaged the filter. Could a lateral go bad if nothing has happened to it? After I backwashed the return water was clear so that is another reason I thought it probably wasn't sand.....I really don't know though.

I'll go fill out those charts. I really appreciate any help! Thank you so
much!

How do I find my PF user ID. It's required for the chart and I can't find it. I tried to click on profile at the top and got a message that says I don't have permission.

[Watermom]

Your PF user ID is just your forum user name.

If you get a chlorine reading of 5 from the HTH kit (which is an OTO chlorine test), then that means your chlorine is at 5 or higher. Dilute your sample and test again to see if you can get a closer reading. Info about dilution here: Testing Without a Good Kit

A pH of 8.2 is too high but, if your chlorine was high when you tested it, you may have gotten a falsely high pH reading. Retest it when your chlorine drops below 5ppm.

Your TA is also high. Info about lowering alk and using muriatic acid safely can be found in these links:

Lowering Alkalinity Step-by-Step

Using Muriatic Acid Safely

Your CYA is good at 40 so I would discontinue the pucks. (If you have some in the floater, go ahead and let those finish dissolving.) By the way, what are the ingredients on those trichlor tabs?

Don't put any thing else in the pool right now other than the liquid chlorine and the muriatic acid. No more algaecide.

Have you been using any cal-hypo to chlorinate with? Why is your calcium hardness so high? Run the TA and CH test on your fill water.

As far as the lateral in the filter --- I'm going to let someone else answer that part of your question. Hope this helps.