Anything else I can do?

[22wendylou]

On a daily basis I have some small piles of debris (I'm assuming/pretty sure it's algae) on the bottom of my pool that "poof" when I get near them with my vacuum unless I move very slowly. Being that I've dealt with an algae problem two summers ago, (thank goodness for Ben who helped me out of it!!!) I made sure my ph/alk my levels were all good and raised my chlorine up to about 12ppm.

I had hoped this would rid my pool of its algae....However, it's been several days since then, I've been keeping my CC up to 6, but I'm still having to vacuum up debris daily. (Normally I'm vacuuming to waste unless my son is doing it-he takes too long and I'd be out of water....) I've been adding polyquat weekly. Although, when I first noticed the debris, I added a whole bottle of it....

A little history...

My levels when I opened the pool in June were:

CC 0
ph7.0
alk 80
CYA 0

My ph fell to about 6.8 recently, but I bought Borax and and got it up to 7.2. It did take 3 boxes though, which I found odd. I thought one should've done the trick....I also adjusted my alk (after learning here that this will keep ph more stable) to 110. I've had to re-check my CYA so often after adding stabilizer in small doses (I didn't want it too high) that I ran out of tester for it...Upon last check, though it was at 30. I did add one more 4lb container of stabilzier but haven't been able to test it without my solution.... However, my chlorine is remaining very stable...


As of this morning my test results are as follows....

CC 6
pH 7.2
Alk 110
CYA 30? I'm assuming since I'm out of chemicals...

Water temp is 80 degrees and my son just finished vacuuming debris again. Unfortunately every day it seems to return! ...Normally my pool gets virtually nothing in it...No leafy trees, etc nearby....Water looks good, if not slightly cloudy in the deep end...

One small note: I was using the bleach method for 2 years but this year we switched to the tri-chlor 3"tablets....Too many incidents of bleaching out clothing and a hassle to cart around the gallon size jugs....Don't know if that should have any effects or not, just thought I'd mention it...Also, we have a sand filter which we just put new sand into when we opened pool this season.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what could be happening or what else I could do to fix the problem? I'm fresh out of ideas...


Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

[22wendylou]

Okay, I just read CarlD's sticky regarding water problems....and I now see SEVERAL things I can do to help my aforementioned problem....

Sorry I didn't see it sooner! Thanks for the invaluable resource! I guess I've forgotten a couple things about solving algae problems!

[NWMNMom]

BTW, you may just have piles of tree or other pollen at the bottom rather than algae. Its pretty common at this time of year. Looks dark colored, collects in piles and will "poof" away if disturbed.

[22wendylou]

Hmmmm....That would explain why my chlorine remains stable. When I had algae once before, I was constantly adding it to no avail....This time my levels are really staying stable with normal chlorine maintenance...I wonder if there is any way to determine which it is....We do have several junky "scrub" (my husband refers to them as) pine trees and some large blue spruce pines around the pool...

I did go to the local Pools Plus to check my CYA level....However, they would not give me the actual number!!!! He just kept telling me it was "plenty to get me through the season". I told him I had tested it myself and had gotten 30 and he responded that it was "definately more than that now". But, he would not give me the number!?! At last testing (I recently ran out of regeant) I got 30ppm but I added 4lbs of stabilizer since then. I was overshooting 30 because it seemed to bounce down slightly a day or two after I added stablilizer. This way I had hoped to land somewhere in the 30-50 range and begin to shock from there.

They also informed me that my ph was 7.1 which jives with my test results, but that my alk was 73! Which I tested at 100ppm this morning. He suggested I may need to buy new regeant. The stuff I have, I bought from Ben two years ago. Does anyone concur that it's too old? I've never needed to replace the ph regeant and that stills working.... He told me to buy $35 worth of alk increaser (25lb bag) and some ph down because that would jump when I increased the alk....I know I can get baking soda cheaper. Will it really make my ph go so high that I have to decrease it? If I'm at 7.1 right now and possibly battling algae anyway, don't I have some room to let it go up a little, anyhow?

I guess if I treat this debris problem like its algae, and it goes away, I'm good. If it doesn't go away, maybe it IS pollen! Oh, I would LOVE that!

Is it safe to swim in if I'm shocking at 15ppm with a stablizer level between 30-50? Or does this mean I need to keep swimmers out until it falls lower?

Thanks again!

[doggie]

Pines? I bet it's just pollen. We have lots of pine trees around us and we get lots of little "poofs" that are a gold/brown sort of color.

[22wendylou]

Hey, I'm from Michigan, too! I'm glad to hear pollen may be the source of my problem...I cannot explain the "pit in the bottom of my stomach" feeling I get when I see that in my pool thinking it's algae....UGH!

Thanks for the input!

[22wendylou]

My husband and I recently discovered TONS of white floatie things in the sand in our filter....Those things that float around in the air in the spring/summer in Michingan.....He cleaned it all out, but that may also further enhance the possibility that this is just pollen and NOT algae...

Still wondering if anyone has a good way to determine which it is?