Hello from Montreal!

[nick182]

You're totally right Anna; my testing kits limitations force me to "guesstimate" the current chem levels. Thankfully, with 2 different test kits (drops and strips), + occasional pool store tests + visual inspection of the pool, I think I'm operating on a bit of information, although it is indeed a lot of guesswork (and hope!!). I would love to have a sophisticated kit, and will certainly look to acquire one this summer. Can't believe how many pool owners and even some pool stores are using almost pre-historic testing!

I am happy to report that there was a LOT of improvement overnight, after the latest agressive shock treatment, with the addition of 4 gallons of bleach (10% active chlorine). The water has turned from green to pretty almost turquoise overnight!! Very encouraging. Visibility has improved to almost 3-4 feet, although the water is still blurry/cloudy of course. I now have a cloudy but turquoise pool, with almost to remnants of shades of green in the background. THe battle ain't over, but the green monster has become a turquoise wounded beast and it is definitely retreating.

Latest tests show that Chlorine levels are holding up definitely over 12ppm here at noon in full sunlight (dunno by how much over 12ppm... again testing limitations... but from the look of things, it is above 15ppm)

I am short on time today, but I believe I will be able to be much more effective on the cleanup job in the next few days and over the weekend, since visibility has improved and will keep improving hopefully. There doesn't seem to be that much debris after all, from the look of things, although the deep end (over 8' deep) is not clear enough to be 100% sure. Filter is doing well, backwashing every other day at this point (whenever it raises by 4-5 PSI)

We're moving on to phase 2 of the battle. Now I want to eliminate the "cloudiness" and improve true visibility. I am assuming that close monitoring of essential chem values (pH and Cl, as well as keeping an eye on CYA) will be key, as well as maintaining strong Free Cl levels (well above the 10ppm mark)...... and eventually the cloudiness will subside?

I am not yet considering adding algaecide, as you've made the point that it might be wasted on such high chlorine levels anyways.. and besides, Chlorine remains one of the best algaecide. I'll save the algaecide I have for maintenance and prevention of recurrence.

Cheers and thanks again for the support!!

[AnnaK]

Sounds good! Keep the chlorine at shock level until your overnight chlorine loss is less than 1 ppm, and that'll be tricky to do since you don't have a way of testing accurately. Going from cloudy to clear means filtering and more filtering. Once the FC level passes the overnight test you can let FC drop to the appropriate target for the CYA level and maintain that FC target.

[PoolDoc]

You're totally right Anna; my testing kits limitations force me to "guesstimate" the current chem levels.

The test kit info page in my sig has links to a Canadian company selling the K-2006 -- though at this point you may only need the supplemental K-1515

[nick182]

Day 5= the battle against visible Algae Monster is now pretty much won! Water is clear blue, visibility is good, seeing easily the details in 4 foot depth and seeing relatively clearly even in the deepest spots. A little bit of blurriness in deeper waters still remains, but this pool can no longer be considered "cloudy". I could vacuum efficiently for the first time (vacuum to waste of course).

So in all, it took approximately 1 week and half from pool opening to get things under control, but I wasn't agressive with the filtering and BBB from the get go. I did invest a few days mostly stabilizing the pH and alkalinity, with no bleach attack AKA shock treatment. This was following pool store advice, but now I know better; whilst I don't regret working on the pH and overall chemistry, shock treatment really is the key. From the moment when I started chlorinating agressively with Liquid Bleach, it took only 5 days to really clear this thing. At its peak, my shock treatment was 4 gallons of bleach in a night; overall, I might have poured in approx. 7 gallons of bleach + a few pounds of calcium hypochlorite (in the early stages only, before I knew more about BBB methodology), along with my tablets in the floater.

Moderators, I believe we can now close this thread. I know that I will certainly need a lot more work to get this pool crystal clear, and will certainly benefit again from your experience! But at least now, the invasive green algae issue (topic of this thread) has been dealt with and I can move on to other phases.

Over the course of the summer, I intend to:
-keep chlorinating with tabs once in a while, whenever I leave for a few days and to get some stabilizer in the pool (not to often)
-otherwise, keep chlorinating with bleach for maintenance and keeping in the 5ppm range
- use algaecide very sparsely, just to help with prevention when the water gets a little blurry and that I feel unsure about algae resistance
- monitor my water chemistry and adjust accordingly (Cl, pH, Alk, CYA); I intend to to at least one trip in the USA so that might be the opportunity to invest in that Taylok K2006 testing kit!


Thanks again AnnaK and PoolDoc for the support!

[BigDave]

Do you friends in the U.S. to visit? Perhaps you could have them order a K-2006C for you; It won't be easy (probably impossible) to find in stores. I suggest the C version because the reagents supplied are 2oz instead of 0.75oz.

[Watermom]

- use algaecide very sparsely, just to help with prevention when the water gets a little blurry and that I feel unsure about algae resistance

If you do decide to use an algaecide, make sure is it Polyquat 60%. Most cheap algaecides causes foamy water.

- monitor my water chemistry and adjust accordingly (Cl, pH, Alk, CYA); I intend to to at least one trip in the USA so that might be the opportunity to invest in that Taylor K2006 testing kit!

The Taylor K-2006 kit is only available online. So to get it, you'll have to order it and send it somewhere in the US and then pick it up on your trip here. While you're at it, I think I'd go ahead and order some extra CYA testing reagent R-0013 so you'll have some for if you run out, especially if you are going to use Trichlor tabs. (The kit only has enough for a handful of tests.) The R-0013 is listed on the test kit page.