Clear, but no chlorine???

[PoolDoc]

Just checking in on this thread; obviously some good progress has been made.

But I have a couple of suggestions.

1. Unless you know of some reason not to do so, remove the Nature2 cartridge, even though it's old. ANY cartridge or filter media is a potential reservoir of accumulated oxidizable 'goo'.

2. For the same reason, clean the filter cartridges. Be sure to do it correctly. Spraying them off (with the hose; NOT with a pressure washer!!) is a good intermediate cleaning, but a full cleaning, which should remove any oxidizable 'goo' that could create chlorine demand takes more. See http://pool9.net/cart-clean/

3. It wasn't clear to me whether you ever inspected light niches or other recessed or hidden areas in the pool. If there are any such recesses, and if it's at all possible, inspect them. It does happen that such locations will fill completely with live 'slime'. Physical cleaning is required; otherwise, the slime will just 'recover' when chlorine levels drop.

Good luck!

[mary jo]

WOW- just checking in to ask about the Nature2 and cleaning the light niche…
to reply to your suggestions:
1. Nature2 cartridge: to be clear- remove old cartridge and clean the empty vessel? No way to remove the whole unit huh?
2. New Pentair filters installed a few weeks ago. Initial pressure set at 10, it is now 12. Strainer basket is clean and no debris.
3. My husband is home for the day: Should he clean the niches today or wait and see for a few more days? Don't think there are any other hidden areas: built-in ladder, built-in stairs, skimmers look clean, never much in them at all.
is there a youtube vid that shows the process of cleaning a niche (besides turning off the circuit breakers)!

I also took a look in the auto pool cover "pit". Removed the incredibly heavy concrete cover pads to find just a little wet/dry debris (mostly leaf pods). No funky smell or dead animals... The pit only goes down about 8" before you hit gravel backfill. Poured and wiped the cover with diluted bleach water as is was rolling up and unrolling.

the lawn guys were here and i closes the cover to see if any grass/debris was getting onto the cover. I don't think it is: the pool's elevation is much higher than the grass area: 5' drop on one end (foundation wall) and 45 degree slope to grass on the other.


btw: How do you remove and clean the lights when the FC is 35? You can't safely go into the pool at that level, right?

[PoolDoc]

35 ppm is not dangerous to people at all. With a CYA level = 150 ppm, 35 ppm FC is LESS aggressive than pool water that has 1 ppm FC and no CYA! (There is a difference -- 1 ppm FC will be used up rapidly by swimmers in the water; 35 pp will not. The 'extra' held by the CYA will continuously replace the 'active' chlorine as it gets used up).

But, it *may* be 'dangerous' to some swim suits, so wear an old one. It will also be somewhat irritating to your eyes, but, when trying to open the light niche, it would be best to use goggles or a mask regardless of chlorine level. In most cases, there's a single screw that needs to be removed to allow the light niche to 'flop' out.

This video, from Inyo pools, comes closest to showing what's involved. Obviously, you don't need to focus on the bits about actually replacing the bulb or lamp.

[mary jo]

OK- watched the video. Seems like it's something I need to do. I'm assuming that any slime or goo I find will have a color? Meaning that if the niche is not covered with visible goo, than I just need to wipe it down and re-assemble?
Good to know that high FC levels won't melt your skin off or anything. I've got an active imagination where chemicals are involved….

[mary jo]

Yesterday @ 5:00 pm my husband cleaned the light niches: One niche and light fixture perfectly clean. The other had a very small amount of brown stuff in niche and on fixture- wiped w/ a white cloth, let everything soak for 20 minutes before my husband had to leave town. I then scrubbed the skimmers again. Don't know if it's important but for first time ever I noticed a thin ring of solid black at the very top of the water line in both skimmers. It looks and feels like black grease, but wiped off w/ chlorine and cloth. hope this does something…anything else to clean or check?

overnight numbers:
last night - tested @10:00pm FC=33 CC=3
this morning - tested @7:00 FC=33 CC=3

[BigDave]

How much bleach did you use yesterday?

[mary jo]

one jug in the morning, and about 1/3 jug that i poured into the skimmers when wiping them down again.

[PoolDoc]

Commonly, a black line around the pool water line (and the inside of the skimmer) is a combo of people goo and lotion. At pools where many of the users are what my employees used to call "slip & dippers" (slop on the oil till they were slippery, then rinse it off in the pool, then repeat) the accumulation could be heavy.

I've also seen it occur when trichlor tabs with unusually high amounts of silicone mold release (from the process that presses trichlor powder into tabs) compound were used.

Regardless, you DEFINITELY want to clean it off if you can; time + sunlight + chlorine tend to make the black mark permanent.

[mary jo]

That certainly makes sense. What I find odd (and why I mentioned it) is the timing…I've been shocking my pool for a solid week now (to 30-35 FC), with nothing/no one in the pool during this time (other than my arm to retrieve water samples) so why would a black ring of goo suddenly show up on Sunday morning? I check and empty my skimmer/baskets daily and Saturday there was no line at all.

I've had dozens of (mostly) girls in the pool with very health-conscious mom's who indeed slather and spray them right before they swim…even tho I tell them repeatedly it's just going to come off in the water. I've never had anything black before. Is it the high FC levels "leeching" stuff out?

[FormerBromineUser]

...ANY cartridge or filter media is a potential reservoir of accumulated oxidizable 'goo'. 2. For the same reason, clean the filter cartridges. Be sure to do it correctly. Spraying them off (with the hose; NOT with a pressure washer!!) is a good intermediate cleaning, but a full cleaning, which should remove any oxidizable 'goo' that could create chlorine demand takes more. See http://pool9.net/cart-clean/

Still want you to do this..... Can't hurt and can only help.