Chlorine Resistant Algae Treatment
Are you looking for a chlorine resistant algae treatment? This spring I was in the same boat. I had started up my pool this spring when something changed. I thought that it would be the usual process. Clean the pool filter. Test the water. Set the pH to the low end of the range. Ad phosphate remover. Brush down the pool and shock it. Crystal clear water will be waiting at the end of this process.
Water with a greenish tint to it
Not this time. The water had a greenish tint to it. It definitely was not crystal clear it had a green tint to it, but it no longer looked like a green pool. It looked like the shock had done its job. But the algae came back onto the walls of the pool almost immediately. So I thought that possibly my filter had reintroduced the algae to the pool so I cleaned my pool sand filter again. I added a few more of the chlorine tabs to the chlorinator for good measure and brushed down the pool. Still, I could see a greenish tint to the water.
Why the low end of the pH range?
In my area, the pH of my pool is always rising. I attribute it to the peat bogs north of my pool. I could be wrong.
A low pH will help the shock to be more effective. Also, I found that when I shock the pool the chlorine will tend to move the pH levels higher. So I like to start out at the low end of the range.
Remember that a Low pH level is crucial to successfully shocking a pool. At a pH level of 8.0, over half of your shock is ineffective and wasted. At a pH level of 7.2 however, over 90% of your shock will become active algae and bacteria killers.
Swimming Pool Shock https://www.intheswim.com/eGuides/swimming-pool-shock
Life gets in the way(rant)
I deep cleaned my sand filter. As I was putting my pool filter back together I snapped(broke in two pieces) a union ring while tightening it. So after a failed attempt at reusing an old PVC union(I didn’t wait long enough for the glue to dry). I had to get another union, take everything apart again, and glue in the new union with a small section of pipe. This time I waited 24 hours for the glue to dry. Success! So I start up the pump and the pump seal starts to leak like someone opened a faucet. Another day without water flow to the pool while I replaced the pump seal. By now my pool is very green.
Shock Treatment, Event or Process?
When I look back at what happened with the shock treatment, I came to the realization that I had been treating the shock treatment as an event and not a process. I shock the pool and move on without verifying that the shock had completely eradicated the algae, definitely an event. The following video at timestamp 4:24 explains how to maintain a high shock level for an extended amount of time. I agree with this concept. But I didn’t exactly get into it as deep as they recommend.
The first thing I must say is that my pool was not a swampy mess as in the video. It just hadn’t received a steady diet of chlorine and pH care over the winter.
I shocked the pool at my normal shock rate(I use bagged shock not liquid). I shocked the pool again the next day at half the rate of a normal shock and then on the third day, I added a quarter of the amount of shock. Each day I brushed down the walls and vacuumed up any dead algae carcasses before adding shock.
All the time I am looking for the water changes they describe in the video. Green water, blue water but cloudy, and finally Clear but with algae carcasses on the bottom of the pool. I didn’t clean my filter every day. I didn’t do any testing as they recommend(more on this later). When the floor of the pool had the last dead algae carcasses and the water was no longer tinted green but instead was crystal clear I declared success.
Why I didn’t test
I didn’t test because I don’t own a test kit. When I first got the pool I had a test kit and learned about how the chemicals used in those kits could quickly deteriorate and affect your test accuracy. Essentially you have to buy a new test kit at the start of every season or replace all the chemicals in your old kit to have accurate results.
Advantages of a no test kit life
Since I came to that realization I no longer have a test kit but instead, rely on the local pool store to test for me. They replace their test chemicals in a regular time frame so I can always count on their tests to be accurate. Besides, I like that with the test results they list the amounts of chemicals I will need to bring that out-of-range part back into the normal range. You don’t get that with a home kit.
Something for me, something for them
I don’t need to test often. Once for starting the pool, possibly another test every two to three months. In return, I buy my copper algaecide, shock, acid, and phosphate remover(as needed) from them.
What I took away from this video
I like the concept of maintaining a high shock level for starting up my pool. Maintaining a high shock level and removing all algae makes this a process and not an event. This process is very similar to ridding a pool of black algae. I also like that this process makes the environment for the algae extremely hostile and keeps it that way until they succumb. Together with the phosphate remover(removes the algae’s food source) it is a good fit for my pool startup. This is going to become a permanent part of my pool start-up plan. I finally have my chlorine resistant algae treatment.
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