Algae is driving me nuts

[Sprocket]

Sounds good .

If you want really trouble free summer get that CYA to 30-35 . Mine is that this summer and it's so easy now that anyone could take care of it .

Higher CYA = less cleaning at more "normal" lvls of FC .

[shadowman]

I will have to wait until next summer to get my CYA down to a reasonable level. Inspite of our reputation in Oregon, water is not so cheap and plentiful that I can justify draining 10,000 gals into the street. I will just manage it this year and then drain it more than usual in the fall and let the rain fill it up. Now watch us have a record shortfall But I definitely have gone all BBB!

[CarlD]

I'm not surprised that Buckman says it's good for mustard algae--I frequently buy "Mustard Algaecide" because it's just Polyquat.

You CAN safely "overdose" your pool on Polyquat, dumping in a full quart or even two. What will happen is within 48 hours your chlorine level will drop to ZERO! Don't worry, that's normal. Just add bleach/LC to get it back to the shock level and let it come down gradually.

The algae won't start growing when you this and FC plunges--I guess the Polyquat does its job! But you MUST re-shock the pool to kill other stuff. An added bonus is that Poly is also an excellent flocculant so it will cause smaller particles to clump and be captured by the filter.

Remember: The BIGGEST problem with algae is that it consumes your chlorine, leaving you no protection against bacteria and other nasty stuff. Yeah, it's ugly and gross, but that's not the issue. It drains the ability to keep the water sanitary.

It's very important to remember this difference, especially if you are using one of the alternative systems like Nature2 that claims to reduce chlorine usage. THEY ONLY ACT AS ALGAECIDES! You still need chlorine for sanitation.

[chem geek]

Buckman Labs had indicated in an earlier answer to a question that I had (see this post) that high doses of PolyQuat and chlorine will cause the chlorine to break down the PolyQuat polymer into smaller pieces, but that these pieces are still effective as an algaecide. Of course, the chlorine gets consumed when this happens, as Carl described, but no biggie, just add more. So generally if you are going to add a lot of chlorine and PolyQuat, such as when you are going to close a pool for the winter, you first shock with chlorine, then when the chlorine drops to more normal levels, you add a bunch of PolyQuat and close up. That was their recommendation for winter closing.

Richard

[CarlD]

... So generally if you are going to add a lot of chlorine and PolyQuat, such as when you are going to close a pool for the winter, you first shock with chlorine, then when the chlorine drops to more normal levels, you add a bunch of PolyQuat and close up. That was their recommendation for winter closing.

Richard

I go the next step, wait 48 hours, and THEN shock the pool back up to 14 or 15 and close. This is the 4th year in a row I've opened to perfectly clear water in the spring. Junk on the bottom of course, but the water is clear and NOT green.

[shadowman]

I dumped a whole quart of Polyquat in and didn't notice much impact on chlorine. We are having a strange summer here with temps over 100 one week and 70's with rain the next. The blanket has been on since Sunday and I've hardly added any chlorine. I hope some day to actually be able to swim in it again and enjoy the clear water!!!

[chem geek]

It's the combination of high PolyQuat concentration AND high chlorine concentration that leads to rapid consumption. If either is at lower concentration, then their mutual reaction and destruction of chlorine is slower -- proportional to the product of the two concentrations.

So unless your chlorine was at a higher shock level, you might not notice the slower reaction.

[CarlD]

...

So unless your chlorine was at a higher shock level, you might not notice the slower reaction.

I did not know that. Good to know!