I think it is algae now....

[waterbear]

My understanding of mustard algae is that it tends to creep up on the sides of the pool. Your stuff appears to settle in and get trapped by the small creases in the liner.

You said the pool hasn't been used or vacuumed in a week which is a good long time for dirt and dust to collect on the bottom.



AnnaK

Anna, Good Catch!

Mustard will not just settle in the cracks but ususally covers the sides and bottom, particulalrly in the shady parts of the pool. If you brush it away it's usually back in a few hours. This is not what you have been describing.
Not vacuuming for a week will allow a lot of dirt to collect in the cracks. I suspect that is what is going on here.

[denanbob]

This is interesting because the chlorine does not seem to be budging at all (not losing any). I cannot get an accurate chlorine reading. I have the WalMart test and when I test chlorine, it is a dark dark orange color. So I tried last night to dilute it until it turned yellow and it never did. It went straight from orange to clear so I can't tell what the chlorine reading is. As of Monday when my chlorine was 2, I've added a total of 5 3qt. jugs of 6% bleach which would equal almost 4 gallons which SHOULD have raised my chlorine to a total of 26. However, even when I dilute up to 7 times (which if the color was equal at the 5 line would be 35 chlorine) it is still dark orange. So is my chlorine even higher than 35? Yikes I hope not. The stuff had returned yesterday although not as heavy and I brushed it to mix it back up with the chlorine. There was some yellow staining on the walls here and there, but mostly this stuff in my original picture pretty much concentrated to one area of the pool (NOT the part in the most shade). I haven't kept up with the discussions between smallpooldad and waterbear because it is beyond my level of comprehension (LOL), but just wanted to update everyone since you all were kind enough to help me with my problem (even though the verdict is still up in the air as to what the problem actually IS).

[waterbear]

It's not mustard. Mustard doesn't settle in the cracks. Also, when you brush or vacuum it it's back in place in about an hour or two. I suspect it's just normal junk from not vacuuming, possibly some pollen mixed in to give it color.
I would strongly suggest getting a better test kit that uses FAS-DPD chlorine testing such as a Taylor K-2006 or a TF100 from TF Test Kits. (google them, it's owned by someone who is a member here but I don't think he is active on this particular forum much but he is busy on another pool forum.)

[chem geek]

I've responded to smallpooldad's post above in this thread in The China Shop.

[smallpooldad]

Question posted here:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...6952#post56952