What chemical(s) did our contractor use to green to clean our pool with this process?

[Sventory]

Our previous contractor took a 3 month VERY green pool and did a "green to clean" on it. He did some magic, put the pool in circulate for a few hours, then turned off the pump and let it sit overnight. Next day, spotless pool sans un-scrubbed algae on plaster and a big mass of nasty gunk sitting at the bottom of the pool, but otherwise the water was crystal clear. He vacuumed that gunk up and basically repeated this process twice, brushed the algae, and I assume did some final chemical balancing. Was on site for 2ish hours per day over a 3 day period.

Fast forward a year, that guy quiet quit and ghosted us and the pool is green again. I am trying to emulate that process. My research online tells me this sounds like flocc. Ok, I bought some flocc and put in 22oz (it says 8oz per 10k, our pool is 22k and was very bad). I did the same thing, put the chemical in, set to recirc for 3 hours, switch off and let it sit overnight. You can see my result below. It seemed to sort of work, there was some coagulation at the bottom to vacuum up (left of vacuum was vacuumed and its clearer, right of vacuum was not) and it looks much better than before, but still obviously very bad and not crystal clear like when the contractor did it. So what am I missing? More flocc? Some other chemical completely? A combination of chemicals?

Also I am aware of the SLAM process, but I am trying to copy the process I saw and want to know more about it. From the videos I've seen, this surely isn't SLAM since that involves leaving your pump on 24/7. So there seems to be more than one way to crack this egg.

 

[TO116]

Did you add any chlorine before you added the floc? You need to actually kill the algae, or it will just keep growing (hence the SLAM).

You''ll find that using flocculant is not advised here. It not used properly, you run the risk of causing some serious issues with your filtration system. It's also not really necessary.

 

[jimbethesda]

There is only one method that not only clears it up, but keeps it clean all the time. It's taught on here. The good news is it will also save you money. Follow the SLAM process, then follow the guidelines here. It might seem like a steep learning curve, but it isn't. Once you're on the other side, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

I've owned my pool for about 5 years. I never: had algae, shocked the pool, put in algaecide, floc, clarifier, copper, or any other magic potion. I spend way less $$ then most other pool owners, and spend less time too.

Stick with it!

 

[Sventory]

There is only one method that not only clears it up, but keeps it clean all the time. It's taught on here. The good news is it will also save you money. Follow the SLAM process, then follow the guidelines here. It might seem like a steep learning curve, but it isn't. Once you're on the other side, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

I've owned my pool for about 5 years. I never: had algae, shocked the pool, put in algaecide, floc, clarifier, copper, or any other magic potion. I spend way less $$ then most other pool owners, and spend less time too.

Stick with it!

Whatever the previous contractor did wasn't SLAM and it worked very well and once cleaned it was spotless for the next 9 months until he quiet quit. I understand SLAM is the holy grail here, but I specifically am asking about this process. Surely someone is familiar with it. The process I saw the pool contractor do was less time intensive and easier to do than SLAM, running the tests several times a day, putting the chlorine in 3-4 times per day as the instructions mentioned. I understand it's a good method, but the amount of "watching" and "maintenance" made me want to look into this other way. Cost wise I have no clue since I can't seem to get a straight answer on what the contractor did.

 

[duraleigh]

TFP is a teaching forum and we teach a methodology that works......period.

Other methods may work or they may not. It is not within our purview to test and study them.

 

[Bperry]

Whatever the previous contractor did wasn't SLAM and it worked very well and once cleaned it was spotless for the next 9 months until he quiet quit. I understand SLAM is the holy grail here, but I specifically am asking about this process. Surely someone is familiar with it. The process I saw the pool contractor do was less time intensive and easier to do than SLAM, running the tests several times a day, putting the chlorine in 3-4 times per day as the instructions mentioned. I understand it's a good method, but the amount of "watching" and "maintenance" made me want to look into this other way. Cost wise I have no clue since I can't seem to get a straight answer on what the contractor did.

If you dont know what he did then its not possible for anyone else to explain how he did it. Its likely he dumped an enormous amount of chlorine in the water and then came back to vaccuum it up. It may have bleached items in the pool or corroded equipment, or pushed your CYA or calcium levels sky high but we’ll never know. Floc is for non-organic stuff, not algae.

 

[Newdude]

Call it what it is. 'Dump and pray'.

Without an overnight test with no FC loss to prove it worked, continual prayers are needed.

Some time later, it's disguised as a 'new problem' more often than not when the microscopic algae grows back to the point it can be seen. The unsuspecting pool owner will want to repeat what worked so well last time, and here we are.

 

[ajw22]

Many threads here about Green To Clean...

Google search results

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Sventory]

If you dont know what he did then its not possible for anyone else to explain how he did it. Its likely he dumped an enormous amount of chlorine in the water and then came back to vaccuum it up. It may have bleached items in the pool or corroded equipment, or pushed your CYA or calcium levels sky high but we’ll never know. Floc is for non-organic stuff, not algae.

Sure of course. I was hoping from my explanation of it that it would be something obvious and commonly known among those with experience and not something niche. I pretty much know everything except the chemicals used so I hoped that would be enough info.

I mean maybe it was just shock, does shock cause an accumulation of sludge on the bottom? I've never used it as I'm a super novice. But the videos I've seen didn't seem to indicate that, but I've also yet to see a pool as bad as ours was when the guy did his thing. I watch a lot of videos on youtube to try and prepare myself for something, but this is my first hands-on deal and obviously videos cannot substitute experience. So maybe what I thought was miraculous and "specific" wasn't. But the pool did look different throuhgout the process compared to the previous previous contractor when he did it. I think that guy just dumped a bunch of shock, it wouldn't be green but super cloudy, and then slowly over a week or two it would clear up, it wasn't that instant clearness after one night. But I don't know what the guy before him did either so.

 

[jimbethesda]

Sure of course. I was hoping from my explanation of it that it would be something obvious and commonly known among those with experience and not something niche. I pretty much know everything except the chemicals used so I hoped that would be enough info.

I mean maybe it was just shock, does shock cause an accumulation of sludge on the bottom? I've never used it as I'm a super novice. But the videos I've seen didn't seem to indicate that, but I've also yet to see a pool as bad as ours was when the guy did his thing. I watch a lot of videos on youtube to try and prepare myself for something, but this is my first hands-on deal and obviously videos cannot substitute experience. So maybe what I thought was miraculous and "specific" wasn't. But the pool did look different throuhgout the process compared to the previous previous contractor when he did it. I think that guy just dumped a bunch of shock, it wouldn't be green but super cloudy, and then slowly over a week or two it would clear up, it wasn't that instant clearness after one night. But I don't know what the guy before him did either so.

"shock" is another word for chlorine in pool store speak. Here "shock" is a verb which means to bring your chlorine up to 40% of your CYA (stabilizer) level.

To answer your question, I'm sure your contractor did put some form of chlorine in your pool. Most likely it was either cal-hypo (chlorine + calcium), or dichlor/trichlor (chlorine + CYA). Both of those add unwanted stuff (calcium or CYA). We only recommend liquid chlorine which is chlorine, water, and a little salt.

Also, just because there is no algae, doesn't mean it's safe to swim. I always say algae is like the canary in a coal mine. If there is algae, it's not safe to swim, not because of the algae, but because you don't have enough chlorine (at least 7.5% of your CYA at all times) to kill all the nasty germs. Sure, you can remove the canary (algae), but it doesn't make it safe. The good news is chlorine will kill algae and germs!

We hope you stick around. The main difference between this site and the pool stores, or pool maintenance companies is that we don't want to separate you from your money. We want you to have a safe and clean pool while saving you money too.

 

[Newdude]

safe

This is the operative word. Anyone can uncontrollably 'nuke' a pool and clear the algae quickly. Whether it's safe for the finish or equipment? Well. They're long gone by the time anyone figures it out.

 

[Sventory]

"shock" is another word for chlorine in pool store speak. Here "shock" is a verb which means to bring your chlorine up to 40% of your CYA (stabilizer) level.

To answer your question, I'm sure your contractor did put some form of chlorine in your pool. Most likely it was either cal-hypo (chlorine + calcium), or dichlor/trichlor (chlorine + CYA). Both of those add unwanted stuff (calcium or CYA). We only recommend liquid chlorine which is chlorine, water, and a little salt.

Also, just because there is no algae, doesn't mean it's safe to swim. I always say algae is like the canary in a coal mine. If there is algae, it's not safe to swim, not because of the algae, but because you don't have enough chlorine (at least 7.5% of your CYA at all times) to kill all the nasty germs. Sure, you can remove the canary (algae), but it doesn't make it safe. The good news is chlorine will kill algae and germs!

We hope you stick around. The main difference between this site and the pool stores, or pool maintenance companies is that we don't want to separate you from your money. We want you to have a safe and clean pool while saving you money too.

Thank you for the explanation. Certainly I would get the test kits and all that to check everything. The guides on here are very helpful.

Besides ghosting after our water leveler broker and the water fell below skimmer so no exchange (no main drain), that guy kept the pool spotless for 9 months, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't even showing up once a week like agreed because sometimes I would check the skimmer basket and it was overloaded. And he was very reasonably priced. So yeah good on price and pool cleanliness, bad on everything else. And as you say, I think I can spend much less even. Shoot, from the instructions looks like for SLAM, looks like I would need less than $150 worth of chlorine to fix the pool. Contractors are charging $700+ to green to clean it.

 

[jimbethesda]

Good luck! And post here as often as you like. We'll help you step by step.

 

[Deb04]

Sorry we aren't familiar with that process. We're really not trying to be contrary. Every long term member here uses the method taught here and the method your contractor used isn't it. It's like we all speak Spanish and you're asking us to translate a Russian sentence.

If you decide to give our method a try, let us know.