green cloudy water/algae

[Guest]

We have been struggling with green cloudy water for about 1 month. Recently we shocked it hard to try to kill the algea, but it still looks green and cloudy. We are at a loss and don't know what to do next!

[chem geek]

You don't just shock once. The chlorine gets used up so you need to add more to maintain a high Free Chlorine (FC) level. However, if the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level is high, it takes a lot of chlorine to kill algae and a higher level to keep it away so a partial drain/refill is usually best in that case. You can read more about clearing a pool of algae here.

When done properly, the process looks like this and takes 3-7 days depending on the quality of circulation and filtration. In a pool with poor circulation/filtration, such as Intex pools and some other above-ground pools with no floor drain, the use of a flocculant such as OMNI Liquid Floc Plus can help as you then vacuum to waste, BUT you only use this AFTER the algae is killed and the water is just cloudy (not green).