Polyquat or not ?

[chrisexv6]

I have to ask (sorry to resurrect an old thread)....

I have a mesh safety cover on my vinyl IG pool. Closing it consists of shocking to high FC (15-20), adding PQ and letting it circ for 24 hours, then covering the pool.

Every year, I open and the water is clear but the bottom of the pool is a mess with algae. Granted it doesnt take long to get rid of it (a couple vacuum to waste sessions and its gone), but I was wondering if there is a way to avoid it.

The only thing I can think of is that the mesh is allowing too much sun thru. I wanted to open it earlier than normal this year but current projects forced me to open on Memorial Day weekend. Is my best solution just to open earlier next time?

Thanks!
-Chris

[ChuckD]

I'll wager that it's not algae, but some other kind sediment you're seeing.
I think if it was algae the water wouldn't be clear. The algae would still be alive and not dead on the bottom.

If you use a mesh cover (as I do too) expect all manner of stuff to blow in, like tree pollen, etc.
But how does your water stay clear when you use basically the same technique as I do, and mine is (was) pea soup.


Chuck

[chrisexv6]

Thats a very good question And I couldnt believe it with my own eyes, but it was definitely clear (you could even see the main drain in the deep end). Maybe we had so much extra rain water that it caused enough dilution to remain clear? Dunno. We did have an awful lot of rain in April.

I suppose what was on the bottom could have been some sediment, but it was coming out green and slimy whatever it was, and there was a lot of it. I just assumed algae because it looked like a dark green. Shocked the pool for about 2 days, vacuumed to waste and 90% of it went away, I brushed the rest towards the main drain (aka "lazy mans vacuum") and am waiting for the water to completely clear up again (just a little cloudy towards the deep end, clear in the rest of the pool). All in all took 4 days from open to swimmable. Id like to see it down to 2, because Im lazy that way

[Rbrenton]

Hello all, sorry to open up an older thread, but I too open up a NJ pool to pea soup every year using a mesh cover. A friend insists that their pool is crystal clear in the spring because they use a solid tarp under the mesh which is designed to use the mesh cover's anchors.

I can't see how this would impact green algea, but I don't know what chemicals are used by their closing company. Mine apparently doesn't do much, but I'm never around when they show up in early October.

Does anyone have an opinion on what this solid layer is capable of?

[doggie]

Hello all, sorry to open up an older thread, but I too open up a NJ pool to pea soup every year using a mesh cover. A friend insists that their pool is crystal clear in the spring because they use a solid tarp under the mesh which is designed to use the mesh cover's anchors.

I can't see how this would impact green algea, but I don't know what chemicals are used by their closing company. Mine apparently doesn't do much, but I'm never around when they show up in early October.

Does anyone have an opinion on what this solid layer is capable of?

We also have a mesh cover and opened to a crystal clear pool. The 2 things we did were 1st: we opened in early May before the water had a chance to heat up too much (we are in West Michigan). And 2nd: we used a Keeper Klean on the water which prevented sunlight from getting in. http://www.poolproducts.com/-c-FCATHPIKKC-FNM-92.htm

I'm not sure which one did the most good, or maybe a combo of both, but from now on we'll always use this method.

[myLABSpool]

Has anyone been told to use an enzyme called "pool magic" at closing to prevent algae growth? My neighbor uses it and he said a few pool stores recommend it in addition to algaecide.

I was only planning on shocking with liquid followed by polyquat before I blew out the lines and covered. Any thoughts or experience on using or not using pool magic at closing? Or if I'm using Polyquat is that enough?

FYI I'm using a mesh cover on a 24K gal vinyl pool in ROC NY.

Thanks
Andy

[chem geek]

According to this link, this enzyme product will break down organics to help prevent scum lines, but it says nothing about killing algae. Technically, enzymes are catalysts and simply accelerate specific chemical reactions, in this case the breakdown of organics by chlorine (or, to a lesser extent, dissolved oxygen if there is no chlorine left). Though technically algae is organic, I don't think this product will do much good at killing algae faster than it can reproduce, but it might speed up the breakdown and clearing of already killed algae IF chlorine is present.

So chlorine is really the key to having the enzyme work effectively -- it can be thought of as a "chlorine helper".

The bottom line is that I don't think this is particularly helpful for winter closing unless you have a modest amount of organics (i.e. leaves, etc.) fall into your pool and have both chlorine and this enzyme to break them down more quickly. The PolyQuat is a better choice for preventing algae, though simply regularly adding chlorine will work as well -- probably only once a month or even less since at cold water temps the chlorine lasts a LONG time.

Richard