Little stringy things all in the pool.

[Mom22]

I was looking at pictures on the web, and I think that I have white water mold. The stuff definitely looks like shredded up tissue. I think I need to drain the pool. My pool water doesn't seem to move much so I probably need to change to a sand type system. Also, I was thinking about buying that krystal clear salt water system. I hope the mold is killed off by this bleach.

[PoolDoc]

With a 15' Intex, draining is a good option if it's not too expensive.

However you need to remember that water mold, or other heavy biofilms are likely throughout your pool, and won't be gone, once you drain and refill. So:

1. Clean the cartridge and cartridge filter case carefully. If you are using Intex cartridges which are supposed to be discarded, this would be a good time to purchase a pair of Unicel replacements. The Super Simple Recipe page covers the details: http://pool9.net/ssr/

2. Chlorinating while you fill can be tricky -- you won't have stabilizer in the water, and the volume is constantly changing. An alternative is to dump an overdose of polyquat into the water. Unlike chlorine or other algae chemicals, an overdose of polyquat is not a problem: http://pool9.net/polyquat/

3. Once you have the pool operating, keep the chlorine HIGH. If you have a K2006, maintain a chlorine level that is 20% of your CYA level for at least 2 weeks after you see no trace of the water mold. (IE, if your CYA is 20, your FC should be 4; CYA=50 => FC= 10 ppm)

[BigDave]

I'd like to add to PoolDoc's advice. Be sure to brush the pool as often as you can while trying to get rid of the biofilm (white water mold) especially after drain/refill. The outside of the colony is chlorine resistant; if you can break it up and get the chlorine to the inside, it will help. Likewise, the stuff will hide in the hard to reach places like inside the hoses. I wouldn't guess at how to physically clean those convoluted hoses, I'd replace them if possible.

[Mom22]

Okay, I am ordering things right away, and I will also replace the hoses. Thank you so much. I appreciate all the advice. There is a lot more to a pool than I thought, but it is so worth it.