pink slime esp under stairs

[shellejo]

i am having a problem with pink slime esp under the stairs. bacqua pool- above ground 18'. changed sand...used assist....used pink away?...it still keeps on coming back. is my best bet to hang in there and add nothing at closing and switch to economical chlorine in the spring? i used chlorine in my other pool which was crushed by a tree by isabel- i had no problems...is the pink stuff an algae or a bacteria?

[aylad]

I don't know whether it is bacteria or algae, but it seems to be a common complaint with Baquacil pools that are a few years old. I don't know what to tell you, except to convert it to chlorine. Don't know how many weeks of swimming you have left, but if you'll go to the Baq forum and read through the posts there, you'll see that most of the people there who have converted have done so in about a week's time--you could still salvage some of the swim season.

Welcome to the forum!

Janet

[mbar]

Here is says that pink algae is not an algae, but a bacteria:

http://www.poolcenter.com/algae.htm

Here is some more info:

Question:
I have heard of people talking about pink algae. What is that and how do I treat it?

Answer:
Pink algae is not an algae at all, but a bacteria. Normal algaecides will not reliably work on them. We have products that are designed to assist chlorine with removal of this bacteria. To eliminate pink algae, you must superchlorinate your pool, turn off the filter, and clean it with a good filter cleaner. Let the filter soak overnight then backwash to waste. Let the chlorine level subside before using again. (Hint: a good rule of thumb is to toss into the pool the equipment that is normally used for pool maintenance, including hoses, brushes, etc. prior to superchlorinating. These need to be disinfected too).

You will have to clean everything in the water to finally get rid of it. I would suggest you switch to chlorine now, because you will be spending a lot of money in a baquacil pool getting rid of this - I know because I had it with baquacil, and so did a friend of mine. She kept getting it back and finally discovered a bunch of it behind the light in the pool. You have to brush it off and try to find it everywhere it hides, unless you switch to chlorine and super chlorinate. Once I swithed to chlorine, I didn't get back again.