Green, cloudy water

[Melanie]

My ph levels are fine and my clorine level is fine, I have been running my pump for 3 days. The water is still green and cloudy, what is the cause?

[Gov]

Add algacide,
Then clarifier,
Then vacuum and backwash.

[Dan R]

If it where my pool...

I would make sure the pH stays at 7.2 to 7.4

Brush the heck out of it, (Assuming we are talking about a white plaster pool), using a combo wall brush, 50% nylon bristles, 50% stainless bristles.

Then I would add some type of algaecide, my favorites contain silver. (But, be careful here, the metals will stay in solution and keep working as long as you don't let the pH slip too high, if it does, they fall out of solution and the nasty metal stains begin.)

Then, I would shock it with a pH neutral granular chlorine, maybe dichlor or lithium hypo. (Can be pricey) And, if the algae is really bad, I would use more than a normal dose. But that is just me.

Then, with the filter running all the time, (assuming you are starting with a clean filter, freshly backwashed or rinsed off if a cartridge), I would add several ounces of a really good floc! I love Clearex 500, it works in the filter thus is added to the skimmer, I also love Golden Clear, it works in the water thus dispersed around the pool surface.

Then once all the algae is gone, clean, clean, clean your filter!!! Old dead algae tends to feed the growth of new algae.

Then once this done and your pool is cleared up, take a sample of your water to someplace reputable and have the Cyanuric Acid level tested. Most likely it’s too high. If you have a pool with a cartridge filter and you are using trichlor tabs, it is most for sure too high. Unless you just filled it within the last year or so… The two most typical things that kill the chlorine from being effective in the water are: Too high pH and too high Cyanuric Acid. (Chlorine stabilizer). You said your pH is good, so…

Again, this is what I would do…

P.S. Never click on links from "spammers" in forums...

[Larry]

Dan, you say

I would shock it with a pH neutral granular chlorine, maybe dichlor or lithium hypo. . .
. . . have the Cyanuric Acid level tested. Most likely it’s too high.

Dichlor is over 50% cyanuric acid by weight. Shocking with dichlor or trichlor is not recommended as it can push the CYA levels over the limit instantly.

I have also found that using dichlor to shock the pool often leaves you with water that resembles a glass of milk.

I usually add a substantial amount of pH reducer and then shock with a hypochlorite, either sodium hypo (liquid) or calcium hypo (granule). When I use the granules, I dissolve them first in a bucket before adding to the pool. I find pre-dissolving allows the chlorine to act faster.

[Dan R]

I forgot about the dichlor and it's level of stabilizer. Sheeesh! Where is my pool book!

Liquid chlorine and Cal hypo are much better choices, but the important thing to do, as you said is watch that pH level, (For Melanie's benefit, Liquid chlorine and calhypo shock raise pH in addition to raising the chlorine level in the pool). The more I think about it, the more I think, a 1 to four ratio of Liquid chlorine would be real good. Depending on the size of the pool, mine for instance, I could drop four gallons of bleach in it and about 1 gallon of acid and be right on target and get a real fine shock!

Larry, is that correct, I am not sure about the ratio, I seem to recall hearing that if you add one gallon of bleach to a pool and you want to counter the pH increase, you should add one quarter gallon of acid.

Melanie (NEVER MIX POOL CHEMICALS!!) Pour in the acid first to lower pH, wait a bit, then add the liquid chlorine to the pool.


Larry - Love seeing the spam bleached out of your forums![/b]

[Larry]

You got me there. The pH of cal hypo is around 10, and the pH of sodium hypo in its pure form is around 13.

Household bleach is usually watered down from the normal 12-15% chlorine to somewhere near 5%. I imagine the manufacturers migh add hydroxide or other similar alkalis, which help to keep the chlorine stable. The chlorine in its liquid form becomes more stable and long-lasting as the pH increases.

We use commercial grade liquid chlorine and not supermarket bleach. When I need to shock a pool gone bad, I add 2-3 gallons of chlorine per 10,000 gallons of pool water. The pH of a pool with major algae is almost always high, so I add about a gallon of muriatic acid. I prefer the pH to be around 7 after the shock, to make the chlorine more active and effective.

This works in our area where the fill water has a total alk value of 300ppm and a pH around 8. I suggest adding half this amount, filtering the water for 6-8 hours and then testing the pH again. Only add more muriatic if the pH is above 7.5

So I guess this is pretty much what you estimated, Dan. A gallon of acid for every 4 gallons of sodium hypo.

Spam - the bane of these forums. I have been patiently weeding it out in an attempt to make posting open to all without registration. I know my own reservations in giving out my email address in order to register at a site. In the end I'll probably have to make registration compulsory for posting, though I will suggest that a "real" email address is optional. After all I have no intention of using the addresses registered.

[Guest]

My ph levels are fine and my clorine level is fine, I have been running my pump for 3 days. The water is still green and cloudy, what is the cause?

[Mom needs help.....QUICK!]

Please help me!!!!!! I have added everything under the sun and STILL my pool is GREEN!!!!!!! Chlorine, shock, clarifier.......My 4 kids are tired of seeing a green cloudy pool on these oh so hot daze.......