Nasty Water Solution

[GTGallop]

I find a lot of people who have questions regarding nasty water conditions and struggling with recovery, so I thought I'd post my own tale of how I over came that issue.

My wife has been very interested in learning "how the pool works" but we have never had the time. The arrangement is that as long as she keeps sleeping with the pool boy (me) he keeps the pool clean and doesn't push the issue.

I was out of town the other week and while I was out the pool "made a funny noise." From what she described it sounded like it was pulling in some air on the suction side. No biggie, but to keep from causing any damage, she shut the pump off - for four days in the heat of summer (98 degrees here).

Fortunately I'm the Pool Nazi when it comes to keeping the chemistry balanced, so we started down this path with nearly perfect water. By the time I got back from my business trip, the pool was ORANGE (Mustard Algae). Ewwwww!

Step 1 - I made sure the Pool Frog was full of 1" chlorine tablets.

Step 2 - I added Super Zappit to shock the pool.

Step 3 - After 12 hours, I added No Mor Problems to the water.

Step 4 - I let the Kreepy Krauley run for 8 hours.

I thought I would be done after that, but Nooooooooo...! The water was very cloudy. Chlorine and Sodium Bromide had effectively killed the Mustard Algae, but the dead algae bodies were still floating around in the pool as they continued to break down. Often times they are so small they will pass through a sand or Zeolite Filter and return to the pool.

Step 5 - After the water failed to filter clear, I added Pool First Aid. It is an enzyme that gobbles up the dead algae and makes the water so clear it is almost invisible.

When I back-washed the filter it ran all sorts of junk out. The water started out orange then brown, then grey, then milky white and on to clear. I also noticed a drop of pressure by about 3 lbs at the filter as well. I ended up taking several inches out of the pool to complete the backwash and then rinse cycle due to the amount of gunk that came out., maybe 1000 gallons (est).

That was it. I topped off the pool and bumped up the Pool Frog to around setting #3 to keep the levels high and then we went swimming!

I think the chlorine and No Mor Problems do a good job in keeping the pool clear, but the real star was the Pool First Aid. It really helped me recover!

[GTGallop]

FC 1.0 ppm

TC 1.0 ppm

pH 7.4

Hardness 130ppm (vinyl)

Alk 105 ppm

Cyanuratic Acid 100 ppm

Copper 0 ppm

Iron 0 ppm

TTL Dis Sol 500 ppm