Chem log, to see....

[Charlie_R]

Ok, thanks for that. It may just be the differences in available light.

Next question: I've read in another thread here that bleach and LC deteriorate over time. Does high heat tend to accelerate this? I don't have a temperature controlled environment to keep my bleach in (no A/C in the house), so I keep it by the pool in a shaded area.

I suspect that currently I am "teasing" the algae, as I am still having a very small amount of regrowth overnight, and still losing 5 -15ppm overnight (dang it all, NEED those CC readings!!). Assumption is that the 100+ weather is destroying the bleach before I can get it into the pool. By late afternoon even with dosing the pool multiple times during the day, the water goes from having the chloramine smell back to swamp water odor by sundown. Not sure what is happening here.

Using the dilution method until my kit arrives on friday, I'm trying to keep the chl at 20 - 25ppm, but I fear that the loss of effectiveness of the bleach is slowing the clean-up process considerably. Also, the water is beginning to take on a slight "salty" taste.

Correction: just came in from the pool, and the overnight regrowth HAS diminished greatly over the original appearance several days ago. Only a small amount in the wrinkles of the floor, compared to every wrinkle having been filed with the algae dust. But then, I dosed VERY heavy last night at sundown, FC level unknown. This mornings reading is between 15 - 18ppm.

[Watermom]

Unless you are hitting it hard enough with bleach, then you are right, you are probably just "teasing" the algae. As Ben likes to say, if you aren't winning against algae, then you are losing. There is no such thing as just keeping algae stable. Keep hammering it with the large doses to get past this.

Regarding the strength of bleach being diminished by heat, yes, it does. Do you have a basement or garage that is a little cooler? My house is air conditioned but I still keep my bleach in a utility room in the basement on the concrete floor.

If you are interested, you can test the strength of the bleach (when you get your kit) to see how potent it actually is when you use it. Maybe test it when you buy it and then test it again after it sits outside in the shade before you use it to see how much it is degrading. The procedure (written by CarlD awhile back) is below:

Put ten liters of tap water ( That's 5 soda-bottles full) in a 5 gallon bucket.

Test that water for chlorine using the FAS-DPD test to get a chlorine baseline (you may have some).

Then I take a 1 ml eyedropper full of the LC or bleach I'm testing and put it in the bucket and mix it up.

(1 ml in 10 liters of water is the same as putting 1 gallon of LC in a 10,000 gallon pool -- it's 1/10,000th. )

I then measure the bucket with the FAS-DPD test just like pool water. Of course, subtract any chlorine you measured in the tap water.

I use a glass eyedropper so it will hold up. Pharmacies sell them.

[Charlie_R]

Thanks!

Suspicions pretty much confirmed then. I'll double the dose, and see where I'm at Friday night.

Will do on the bucket test, when kit arrives.

Hopefully, by then I'll be on the "let it ramp down" stage.

[Charlie_R]

K-2006 came in today. Immediately went out to try out the FAS-DPD test. Showing FC=35, CC=0. Still have what looks like a brown algae accumulating in the wrinkles on the bottom of the pool. Not sure what that is at this point. Will be letting the chl ramp itself back down to 10, while keeping an eye open for any growth of the brown fuzzy stuff.

Here's a picture of what I've been trying to eliminate:



This stuff disappears as soon as it's disturbed, but with careful use of the vacuum hose without the head and connected directly to the filter inlet, it is filtered out. Problem is, it seems to regrow overnight, to about this same level.

I'll get a full set of readings posted tonight.

[Watermom]

I bet it is just dirt. My pool does the same thing. (I don't have wrinkles in the bottom of my pool floor but there are slight indention lines where the pad beneath the liner is taped together.) When you vacuum, no matter how slow you go, some of it gets disturbed into suspension in the water. Then, overnight when the water quiets down, the dirt settles back out on the floor. It is no big deal because as soon as people are in the pool, it gets mixed in again and you can't see it. It is not possible to have an outdoor pool with absolutely no dust/dirt in it.

[Charlie_R]

Just came in from a dip in the pool followed by the evening tests.

Results:

FC.......32.5 using 10mL sample.
CC........0.0
TA.........60
CH.......180
CYA.......70

Note on the TA: test solution didn't turn from blue to red, went yellow. Don't know what that is supposed to mean, but there it is.

I'll run the filter overnight tonight, and check the FC/CC in the morning.

When I see that brown stuff on the filter, it kinda resembles a series of filaments, but that could be nothing more than dirt clinging to hairs and (low quality pleatco/intex) filter fuzz.

Note to anyone sitting on the fence about the K-2006: BUY IT! As all the moderators have already stated, it is well worth the $$ spent. NO guesswork on "How much of that chlorine level is FC and how much CC"?

Thank you all for your advice and help for this pool newbie! To parrot what several others have said, This forum and the people in it are a wonderful, helpful community of people.

[Charlie_R]

A quick question:

A few posts back, I noted that the TA test turned yellow instead of red, using the 2 drops of R-0009. My question is -- Is this chemical a chlorine neutralizer? I just did another test, and instead of the 2 drops I put in 3. This time, the color DID change to red. Now the follow-up question: Does this affect the outcome of the test?

[Charlie_R]

Ok, I must have goofed a bit last night and this morning.

Last test yesterday evening showed (10mL sample) FC 9.5, CC 0

This morning, pool was a bit cloudy, (10mL sample) FC 6.5, CC .5, and I observed a small water boatman swimming around. Brought FC up to 10.5.

Current readings, (25mL sample) FC 7.2, CC 0 water still slightly cloudy, with lots of leaves floating around and on the bottom.

Another thing I'm seeing, is my TA keeps climbing back up to the 140 - 160 range. I know, this is not normally a problem in this type of pool, however, from what I've been reading here, things seem to work better if I try to keep it <100. So brought pH down to 7.2, and aerating again.

Re the slight cloudy, possible algae trying to get started? Or as noted earlier with the occasional white flakes, could it be the CH trying to precipitate out?