Mustard algae - first time infection

[KurtV]

Handy,
At best, your pool store is uninformed. That's the nicest thing that can be said about the advice they gave you so I'll leave it at that.

It's good that you posted a full set of test results; that helps people help you.

The non-chlorine shock and polyquat might help but probably won't sure your infestation completely. To do that you need to bring your pool to shock levels of chorine; per the Best Guess chart, that's 20 ppm for your level of CYA. You need to keep the chlorine at or above that level until the algae is gone and your pool will keep that level of chlorine overnight. You need to test frequently (three times per day would be best) and keep adding chlorine to return the level to 20+ ppm.

Do you have your own test kit? If not, look for one that includes an FAS-DPD chlorine test. The PS-234 available from PoolSolutions is the best but a Taylor K-2006 will also serve you well.

Keep an eye on your pH as well. The chlorine will be more effective at a pH of 7.2 - 7.4.

Keep posting results and asking questions here. Many people will be happy to help you.

Best of luck,
Kurt

[Simmons99]

BEFORE you shock the pool - you have METALS in your water - it would be best if you get the metals OUT of your pool prior to shocking. Getting a metal sequesterant prior to shocking might be the best option.

Check out the metals forum and algae forum.

[duraleigh]

I'm not sure that's enough metal content to be any factor. Quite frankly, I've never seen posted on this forum the level where metals become problematic.

If it were my pool, I think I'd shock it to kill the algae and then deal with the metal issues if they appear.

Handy, that copper probably got there by adding something to your pool that had copper in it (at some point in time). Generally, I would discourage you from using anything with copper.