green water in my quick up pool

angelaarmstrong · Postby **angelaarmstrong** » Fri 13 Jul, 2007 15:49

Have been a bit distracted by family tragidy and only just realised the pool has turned green. I am a complete beginner at this - first time pool owner. Because my 10 year old is allergic to most chemicals I use planet pool active oxygen and algicide special. Only I forgot to put them in for the past month (and it rained every day).
I understand that I should 'shock' treat the water which inspite of the rain had half evaporated anyway. So my 18'x12'x4' oval pool is only about 3' deep at the moment. I shocked with 250g of active oxygen and 100ml of algicide special. That was 4 hours ago. Should anything have changed yet.

Backglass · Postby **Backglass** » Sat 14 Jul, 2007 10:15

<dupe>

Backglass · Postby **Backglass** » Sat 14 Jul, 2007 10:18

Using your test kit, please post a full set of numbers so we can see where you are at.

That way we can give real advice rather than guessing.

Is your son violently allergic to chlorine? A properly chlorinated pool has only 3 parts chlorine to every million parts of water and is what you need at this moment.

angelaarmstrong · Postby **angelaarmstrong** » Sat 14 Jul, 2007 14:46

ok I have one of those test kits and the ph is 8.0 and the O2 is looking like it is 15 or more

I can now see things wiggling in the water - lava? and I was getting ready to empty the pool but have discovered that the water empty outlet is a 1 1/4 inch male rather than the 1 inch we use for our hose pipe connections.

I now have a big pond instead of a swimming pool!

angelaarmstrong · Postby **angelaarmstrong** » Sat 14 Jul, 2007 16:39

Oh dear, just when I thought I had solved something! I found the 1 1/4" connector and it fits however, the water just trickles out the other end because my garden drain where I want the water to go down is higher than the pool.
I am not yet beaten - as long as there is someone out there to tell what to do next - please.

Backglass · Postby **Backglass** » Sat 14 Jul, 2007 20:46

angelaarmstrong wrote:Oh dear, just when I thought I had solved something! I found the 1 1/4" connector and it fits however, the water just trickles out the other end because my garden drain where I want the water to go down is higher than the pool.
I am not yet beaten - as long as there is someone out there to tell what to do next - please.

Using your test kit, please post a full set of numbers so we can see where you are at.

That way we can give real advice rather than guessing.

crokett · Postby **crokett** » Sun 15 Jul, 2007 15:02

Do you want to drain the pool or try and fix it? If you want to drain it, you either need to run the drain somewhere lower than the pool or get a small sump pump and pump it to your garden drain.

Backglass · Postby **Backglass** » Sun 15 Jul, 2007 15:54

Your PH is too high...aim for 7.2. As for "O2" isn't that just Oxygen? I don't see how this would do much of anything, unless you are a fish. Chemgeek?

Unless your son has been tested and is known to be allergic to chlorine (almost unheard of from what what I have Googled), you you need to get your pool up to shock level and keep it there for 24 hours. Without knowing your CYA numbers it will be difficult to give you the proper advice.

You must kill the algae...algaecide is a preventative and not very effective once a bloom is upon you.

angelaarmstrong · Postby **angelaarmstrong** » Sun 15 Jul, 2007 16:39

Thank you. You are being very patient with me. I have emptied the pool to about 1 foot of water. Just ran out of steam really as the last leg meant bucketing it out. This has been something out of a farce. I thought I was leting the water out into a drain until I saw a small spring appear further down my garden. To be honest I just let that happen as this drain was the only one that was a bit lower then the water in the pool. When they hit the same level I started to use the bucket. The 10 year old is a girl and so far she is allergic to egg whites, dust mite waste, all artificial additives in food, chalk, clay, brick dust, pollen, mould, steam etc etc.
So now I have 1 foot of water. I have given you the figures from the test kit that came with my chemical pack. My local swim bath uses chlorine and causes my child red itchy eyes, runny nose (she has rhinitus as well as asthma). But she also reacted to the chemicals I bought as well and they are supposed to be chlorine free. I am ready to use anything you tell me to at this stage. I am filling the pool - it looks clear but has a little dusting of the green algae here and there on the bottom of the pool.

angelaarmstrong · Postby **angelaarmstrong** » Mon 16 Jul, 2007 09:52

If my ph is too high, wont putting chlorine in make it higher.
The pool is almost full - water is clear but still a light dusting of green algae on bottom of pool.

Please talk chemicals to me - I dont really understand them yet and I need to dose the pool today.

Backglass · Postby **Backglass** » Mon 16 Jul, 2007 10:26

angelaarmstrong wrote:If my ph is too high, wont putting chlorine in make it higher.
The pool is almost full - water is clear but still a light dusting of green algae on bottom of pool.

Please talk chemicals to me - I dont really understand them yet and I need to dose the pool today.

Unfortunately, all I know is chlorine. You said your daughter gets red, itchy eyes in chlorine pools. This might not be an allergy at all, but just poorly maintained pool water. (Incorrect PH and LOW chlorine causes itchy red eyes).

That being said, there are many chlorine free alternatives but as you have learned some work marginally and many are pure snake oil.

If it were me, I would try properly chlorinating and see if she has problems. If so you could always switch to something else as chlorine dissipates readily over time. I would shock to 10ppm, keep it there for 24 hours and then maintain a free chlorine of 3ppm.

angelaarmstrong · Postby **angelaarmstrong** » Mon 16 Jul, 2007 16:06

Backglass
Thank you. I think your right. I will go to shop tomorrow and get those chemicals. I will let you know the outcome.

angelaarmstrong · Postby **angelaarmstrong** » Tue 17 Jul, 2007 05:30

ok, I have liquid shock in a big black container. My pool is 18x12x4'. How much liquid should I put in.

pk4217 · Postby **pk4217** » Tue 17 Jul, 2007 06:34

your daughter is allergic to a lot of things, if I were you, I'll seek opinion from a doctor, and not use her to try the chemicals.

ever consider UV system, or you're using ozone system? it might worth a research for your case.

Backglass · Postby **Backglass** » Tue 17 Jul, 2007 08:47

angelaarmstrong wrote:ok, I have liquid shock in a big black container. My pool is 18x12x4'. How much liquid should I put in.

You need to use your test kit. You need enough to get above 10ppm to begin with and that is assuming no CYA. We need to know your CYA level. You didn't need to buy pool store "liquid shock", bleach from the grocery store is the exact same thing (although a lower concentration).

Regardless, in order to give you a ballpark dose, we need to know what you bought. What is the concentration?