Thank you! My algae is almost gone!

[auntphibian]

I recently purchased a house with an above ground 15,000 gall round pool. Due to not being here full-time, I got algae and did everything to get rid of it, and then the cloudy water. I have purchased hundreds of dollars of pool chemicals, and finally took a water sample in to the local pool store, where I purchased over a hundred dollars more. After doing what they said to do, I still did not get clear water. I started looking online for answers and found this forum where I learned about Chlorine Demand (something the pool store should have told me about when I told them it seemed like my pool was eating chlorine). I started using bleach and borax to break the chlorine demand and borax to up my ph. I took a water sample i today and my ph is a little high, but I broke the chlorine demand, finally! I have noticed a lot of yellow particles in the pool, so I put the skim mor on the filter basket and clean it several times a day. I backwashed today and tomorrow I will vacuum in hopes of getting the particles gone, but was wondering if there is an easy solution for this, as well.

Thank you for teaching me what the pool stores refused to do. Had I found you first, I would have enough money to pay all my bills this month!

[PoolDoc]

Do these things:

1. Get a cheap local OTO test kit (yellow / red drops).

2. Add sufficient bleach each evening to have a dark yellow OTO result in the morning.

3. Test the pH in the evening, BEFORE adding any more bleach. Make sure the pH is between 7 and 8. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

4. Once you're caught up on your bills, order a Taylor K2006 from Amazon (link in my blue signature block). Once you have the kit (hopefully, before you close) report test results here.

[auntphibian]

Thank you. I have done all those things already, except for the Taylor test kit. My ph is now perfect and I can keep the chlorine right and increasing it every night with bleach. I STILL do not have a clear pool and just don't know what to do!

[kelemvor]

I STILL do not have a clear pool and just don't know what to do!

Go swimming!

[auntphibian]

I do, every day!!!! I take my net with it's skimmer hose on it and walk and walk and walk to scoop up as much little crap as possible. I also have the Skim Mor on the filter and was cleaning it several times a day, or it would clog the filter. Now I can clean it a couple times a day, but there is still a lot of tiny stuff in there.

I ordered my Taylor kit today, in hopes that will help me figure this out better. Thank God for Dollar General and there $1.00 bottle of bleach! Anything else I can be doing to try to clear the water up, in the meantime?

[PoolDoc]

Kelemvor is correct.

Unfortunately, it's very common for above ground pools to remain cloudy for a LONG time after the algae is gone. It's most common with large, over-sized, pumps (like your 2 HP) coupled with undersized sand filters.

The problem is made worse by the common response of adding repeated doses of clarifier: one dose may help, but won't hurt. Two can cause problems, and more than two tend to work in reverse, making it much harder to filter the remaining algae particles.

If you want to dig into the mechanics of improving your filter system, we can go there. But no matter what you do, there's a fair chance you'll finish the year with a cloudy pool.

One tip: when you CLOSE the pool, if you cover with a solid cover, the algae will settle over the winter. When you open, you'll want to IMMEDIATELY raise chlorine levels with bleach BEFORE turning the pump on. When you turn the pump on, set the filter to "WASTE" and vacuum the settled algae out. Otherwise, you may stir it all up, and immediately be back where you are now.

One possibility: the algae *might* settle now, if you turn the pump off for 24 - 48 hours. BUT, you MUST have the chlorine high, before you turn the pump off, and then MAINTAIN the chlorine levels with continued doses of bleach.

BUT . . . there's a complication. You added the info that you have an "AquaSmarte Mineral System". That's one incarnation of King Technologies assorted products that add copper, silver or both to your water. We *strongly* recommend against such system. The risk for you now, is that if there is copper in the water, adding the chlorine you need can cause black stains to appear. (Blue-green stains might also occur, but don't show up on vinyl like they do in concrete pools). I would STRONGLY recommend that you remove or empty all the AquaSmarte cartridges.

And, I have to warn you, that following the advice we've given you may result in stains, if there's still copper present.

Good luck.

[auntphibian]

That was going to be my next question..about the Aqua Smarte System. I asked the pool store about this right after I bought the house and they said they don't work. I had them check their system to see if the last owner bought the filters and other items for the AquaSmarte and they have not, but they do have it set to 8-10. I was wondering if I can just turn it off, or do I need to do something specific, since it is not properly being used and probably never has been. I also found out they have not changed the sand in more than a year.

Yes, I would like some more info on how to clear the cloudy water, ie the sand filter. Any help or knowledge will be helpful in deciding what my next move is.

I SO appreciate this forum! I bought this house because of the pool as I am a low income disabled person and water therapy is the best thing for me. I would just like to see the bottom of the pool!

[PoolDoc]

Sand doesn't normally need to be changed -- unless you've been using Baquacil or another PHMB based sanitizer. But on AG pools with big pumps and small filters it's common to lose some sand every time the filter is backwashed, and this sand needs to be replaced. You can test the filter by buying a bag of DE filter powder, and adding a quart or so to your skimmer while the pump is running. If the DE powder shoots back into the pool, your filter needs work. If not, it will help the filter remove the fine algae particles, BUT your filter will stop up quickly. (This is not a bad thing -- since you're removing particles that otherwise would tend to go through the sand!). Repeated use of DE can remove algae particles that otherwise would linger for weeks.

Without pictures, I can't tell you what it would take to remove the Aqua Smarte, but it would be best if you do so.

If you trust your pool store somewhat, it might be best to hire them to
1. remove the AquaSmarte completely
2. top off your filter with sand
3. install a ball valve on the DISCHARGE side of your pump, between the pump and filter, allowing your to throttle your pump back. Doing so will allow you to filter fine particles that otherwise are forced through the sand by the oversized pump. It will also allow you to backwash at a high enough rate to clean the filter, but not so high you constantly lose sand.

[auntphibian]

Okay, to my disbelief the Taylor Kit arrived today. So, I tried my hand at the chemistry, not sure how I did. Here's what I got:
Temp of water: 86
TA - 130
pH - 7.4
CH - 100
CYA - this is where I had a problem. It was "off the charts". It was below the 100 mark. It was level with the CYA imprint. Not sure what this means, but something is not right.
The Chlorine was the other thing I wasn't sure of. The kit talks about .2ppm and .5ppm, so I tested at .5ppm (since I have no idea what I'm doing). According to what I did the calculation is
3 drops x .5ppm for Free Chlorine = 1.5 did I do this right?
and
2 drops x .5 ppm for CC - .5 Would this be right or did I totally screw something up?
With the OTO test kit my chlorine was in the 2.4 range.

So, not being a professional at this, by any means, it seems the main issue is high alkalinity, right? So, they give options of putting air back into the water to lower this and I'm sure there is a chemical.

Please tell me if I missed anything and what your recommendations would be to get this water clear! Thank you so much for all your help already!

[PoolDoc]

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I was been running a fever with a fairly bad headache and severe fatigue and joint pains from Saturday till Thursday AM early . . . and pretty mentally destroyed as well. Turns out I probably either have an acute Lymes infection, or West Nile. Since antibiotics appear to be helping, it's probably Lymes.

I'm still tired, but hopefully my IQ is back into the 3 digit range!

(Did you know that you could be bitten by a nymph-stage deer tick -- about this size => . <= when fully engorged, and ready to drop off -- and never even notice the bite, but still be infected? Yep!)

Anyhow, back to your CYA level.

=> When you mix R0013 to your pool water and the sample remains CLEAR, you have ZERO or very low CYA
=> When you mix R0013 to your pool water and the sample becomes so cloudy that the black dot is obscured BEFORE you reach the 100, your CYA level is MORE than 100 ppm.

So . . . mix 1/2 cup of POOL water with 1 cup of TAP water. Use that mixture for your CYA test, and re-run the test. Multiple the result by THREE (3), and that will be your approximate CYA level.

AND . . . do not worry about your alkalinity level -- it's not a problem on a vinyl pool with a CH=100