Algae - need a primer!

[KurtV]

Kurt, do you know anything about ozonators? I noticed mine isn't working - the UV light isn't on, and it's too coincidental that it would go out and now we get algae for the first time. I'm sure that the chlorine level was the main problem, but that ozonator does help. I don't think pool stores carry the UV lights so I guess I have to send for one from the company.

I don't know anything about them except that the ones that are usually sold to homeowners are generally not very effective. And I know you don't need it. If it were me, I wouldn't bother replacing the lamp.

I think you said it was still safe to swim in a pool with a 25 ppm cl level?
No, your shock level is 25 ppm. Acording to the Best Guess Chart your minimum free chlorine level is 8 ppm and the maximum is 15 ppm. You should only swim when the free chlorine level is between those two numbers.

Is your water clearing?

[heymom1]

Yes, the water has been clear since the first shock. No sign of the algae returning, but I'm going to keep the CL level high and dump some more shock in before we leave town. The water has never been murky - just the yellow slime on the pool walls, and that was gone the next morning after the shock.

but we did have a funny incident yesterday afternoon.

Younger son comes running inside after checking the pool "Something is really wrong with the pool! There's a big green blotch in it!" Older son runs outside to check...He comes back in after a few minutes, with a smile on his face.

The light green pool umbrella had been blown into the pool and was sitting on the bottom.

[heymom1]

The algae returned while we were out of town. Since I had the filter cartridges cleaned before we left, I'm just going to have to battle it away step by step. Raised the cl level back up with some Zappit and now the algae isn't visible. I'm going to order a test kit today.

My FIL actually came by twice and if I'd known he was going to do that I'd have asked him to dump in some bleach! Next time...