Water clarity problem

[keastman]

I had to go away for 4 days and came home to a real mess as it rained and the majority of oak flowers and pollens were washed out of the trees into my pool. A couple hours of cleaning got me back to where I was. Still cloudy but not much green. I shot the Cl back to 12, replaced the cartridge with a new one and am doing the vacuum and filter cleaning daily. The new cartridge seems to be helping, hopefully that will do the trick and help clear things up.

I do have a question on phosphates. The pool store said my level was high, likely due to the constant invasion of the tree debris that I have. I've read that this will contribute to algae growth. With that in mind, does it make sense to buy their stuff to reduce phophates or will that only contribute to my porblems.

Thanks for you help.

[waterbear]

If the levels are high a lanthanum based product will actually precipitate the phosphates out of your system. Their biggest drawback is that they will cloud the water if added directly to the pool and can cause your filter pressure to jump up, requiring backwashing or cleaning, if added to the skimmer. IMHO, If you don't have an algae problem and you keep on top of your free chlorine levels I wouldn't loose too much sleep over it. If you start to get algae blooms then you MIGHT want to try it as a POSSIBLE treatment solution. (Emphasis because chlorine and brushing are your best first defense.) Phospates ARE a favorite algae food but if you have a lot of tree debris and get an algae problem I would also look at your nitrate levels which are ALSO a favorite algae food.