HELP! Green pool after $250+

[green_pool]

I have an inground pool, 30,000 gallons of water. When we opened our pool about 3 weeks ago, it was green. We added chlorine and algaecide and it cleared up, but was still cloudy. Our pump bearings were bad so we had to take it in to be fixed. We finally got our pump back after a week and by then, the water was green. We have had the water tested numerous times and the pH and alkalinity have been very low. We finally got those levels under control, but our stabilizer is still very high, over 100. We have added several rounds of algaecide and have vacuumed over and over. We are going through about 10 pounds of chlorine every few days. It has been rainy for 2 days now and the pH keeps going down so we keep adding soda ash. We have not had this problem in the 4 years we have had the pool. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have read to had flocculant. I don't know much about it though, so I am reluctant...Please HELP! Thanks

[Buggsw]

10 lbs of chlorine every day? What are you using? Cal Hypo, Dichlor or TriChlor? If so you are adding to your CYA problem and also reducing your PH with these.
You probably have chlorine lock.

What are your test readings for FC, CC, TC? What is your PH & TA test readings? Is this an IG concrete or IG vinyl pool?

Use liquid chlorine. If your CYA is at 100 you need to shock to least to 25 ppm and keep it there for 3 or 4 days at least.

Keep backwashing and brushing daily and possibly more often.

Consider draining some water and replacing the water to reduce your CYA.

[green_pool]

I am not very smart with all of the technical words you are using. We are not real experienced with the problems, so bear with me. I took a sample in today and we did not test the stabilizer (is that what you are calling CYA?) We are maintaining chlorine levels so I assume the stabilizer has leveled out...we did drain water over the weekend (enough as if we were closing the pool). What are you referring to when you say FC, CC, and TC? The pool place told us we have metals and we have added 2 quarts of suspend all. We are hoping that will clear it up. They say it is not locked up...if it is not clear tomorrow, I will be adding non-chlorinated shock to see if that works. We are at the end of our ropes, not to mention checkbook, with this problem. Thank you for your advice, we do appreciate it. Thanks again

[Buggsw]

CYA is cyanuric acid and is stabilizer. Dumping part of your water may have brought your level down, but you should have a full test, done.

I've never taken water to a pool store where they haven't tested for all of it.

Cl is chlorine
FC is Free Chlorine
CC is Combined Chlorine

[green_pool]

CYA is 70, Free Chlorine is 4.0 ppm, Total Chlorine is 4.0 ppm, combined chlorine is 0.0, pH is 7.4. All readings are good. The Hardness is a little low, but was not low the previous day. We added 8 pounds of shock so that probably brought it down a little. The shallow end is now blue, but still a little cloudy. The deep end is still light green, blue around the edges, but cloudy. We added 4 more pounds of shock yesterday just to the deep end and it has gotten better. There is tons of dirt and what seems to be dead algae. We will vacuum today to try to get some of that up. I am wondering if we need a clarifier now? Thanks for your help...it is getting better, just very slowly. I wish there was an easy overnight fix...Thanks again

[Backglass]

Are you running your filter 24/7? What kind of filter is it? A little DE in a sand filter will help immensely with tiny particles.

A previous pool I had just wouldn't clear and I got some Super-Floc which you squirt on the surface of the pool and turn everything off for 24-48 hours. It is basically a coagulant that binds the particles together and they fall to the bottom. The entire bottom of my pool looked like it was filled with cotton balls! You then gently vacuum the fluff to waste and problem solved. Of course you have to make sure you pool is balanced first and eliminate any other causes.

[Buggsw]

As Blackglass hints at, you should be running your pump 7/24 until this get's cleared up. You should vacuum and backwash at least daily during this clearing up phase.

It doesn't sound like you are getting good circulation by your description, if you are still seeing green in some areas of the water.

I really wouldn't use floc/clarifier unless after a week or so and it hasn't cleared.

[Michael Silvester]

Hi,

I see this all the time!

Add this add that! Now you need to add that!

What a load of rubbish...

It's quite obvious that you need to
floc your pool. Just do it! It will not
affect any chemicals in your pool.

Obviously all the shock in the world
will not help...

1. Put your filter onto recirculate.
2. Add floc to the water
3. Let it pump around for 30 mins
4. Turn off everything so the water is still for 24-48 hours
5. Wait till the gunk has settled
6. Vacuum it to waste.
7. Get your water balanced to finish

Pools have to be looked at in 2 ways...

1. Chemically
2. Visually

You pool maybe fine chemically and look
like crap visually. Or vice versa.

Hope this helps?

Take Care,

Michael Silvester

[Buggsw]

Floc is expensive though. My point is, with patience and right chemistry, it will clear, usually in a couple of days.

[pool hell]

$140 in chemicals and $540 to a pool lady and our pool is now clear with all the algae fuzz dropped to the bottom. We were almost at this point - clear in shallow but still little cloudy in deep - two weeks ago, then the pool lady vacuumed and it just stirred everything up again and caused the pump to bogg down and run at too much pressure. Pump is finally running right again and we are ready to start vacuuming up the gunk. It is extremely thick, slimy, almost hairball-looking gunk. I should probably mention that we are still attempting to open the pool for the season and that is why there is so much gunk. Should we be vacuuming to waste or to filter? PH is low - been adding soda ash - and having trouble maintaining chlorine levels but for today, it is clear.

[Backglass]

Should we be vacuuming to waste or to filter?

If it's "thick, slimy, hairball like gunk", by all means send it to waste. There is no reason to filter mud!

[chem geek]

Though normally I would agree that a combination of a high level of chlorine plus constant filtering and possibly vacuum to waste or scooping of larger items and use of a skimmer sock will clear a pool, some pools don't even have a main drain (they only have a skimmer) so have very poor circulation. In these cases, using a floc such as OMNI Liquid Floc Plus is very effective at consolidating particles so that they fall to the bottom (with the pump turned off) and can then be vacuumed to waste (pump on, of course). Also, some people would rather spend money and have a problem cleared up quickly rather than wait. This is a personal choice and there is no one right answer.