Green pool water still

Algae problems in swimming pool water.
Green (cloudy) water or slimy pool walls.
Black algae. Mustard algae. Pink or white pool mold.
readforfun
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Green pool water still

Postby readforfun » Thu 02 Jul, 2009 08:51

I have been working on this problem for a while today is the 7th day. I have made numerous trip to the pool store. My water is green to describe it best is like green particles suspended in a think solution. I am new to having problems with my pool so please bear with me.I have the readings from three different days at the pool store. My pump runs 24/7 & it's 3yrs old. I have been vacuuming to waste, backwashing and refilling.
6/26-Temp 78, Sat Idx -0.1, TDS 8000, CYA 151, TC 1.2, FC 1.1, ph 7.6, tot alk. 180, adj tot alk, 135, tot hardness 116. From that I was told to add 4 lbs Burn Out Extreme, 32oz Banish--did it & of course we had a storm, but next morning problem is worse--now I can't see my bottom main drains.
6/27--shocked again
6/28 can't remember if I add chemicals to be honest but used Strip Swik on sand
6/29 pool store temp 74, Sat ind -.02, TDS 700, CYA 105, TC 10, FC 20, pH 7.5, Tot alk 134, Adj tot alk 102, tot hardness 165, Copper .5 (pool store said it was from Banish) Shocked and Banished again
6/30 pool store tem 74, Sat -0.1, TDS 680, CYA 110, Tota 10, FC 10, pH 7.6, tot alk 160, adj tot alk 127, tot hardness 124. Bought Optimizer Plus--48 lbs and Lo 'N Slo--24 lbs
7/01 shocked again-- I have added around 14 lbs of shock total to date.
7/02 Maybe getting a litte better but still can't see bottom.


chem geek
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Green pool water still

Postby chem geek » Thu 02 Jul, 2009 10:06

Your CYA level is too high and needs partial drain/refill to lower it. Read Defeating Algae.
readforfun
I'm new here
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Joined: Thu 02 Jul, 2009 08:28
My Pool: 18X36, 24,0000 gallons, Vinyl, in-ground, sand filter, 1hp pump
Location: Virginia

Green pool water still

Postby readforfun » Thu 02 Jul, 2009 20:03

Thanks for the answer but I have been backwashing, draining and refilling my pool since Friday along with the vacuuming. I can only drain so much at time because of the location of the jets and I'm on a well and need to give my well pump a break once in a while.

Talked with another pool person who suggested 15 lbs of shock at once and taking my auto chlorinator up more. He said it should be cloudy tomorrow if I do this and then add floc.

I have add the shock, husband says the water is starting to look more cloudy so hope that this works. I will update in the morning.
chem geek
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Green pool water still

Postby chem geek » Thu 02 Jul, 2009 20:24

Do NOT turn up your inline chlorinator (I assume that's what you meant and not a saltwater chlorine generator) because the Trichlor pucks will only add to the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) making the problem worse. For every 10 ppm FC added by Trichlor, it also increases CYA by 6 ppm.

You should use unstabilized chlorine such as chlorinating liquid or bleach to shock your pool and maintain a high Free Chlorine (FC) level.

What did you add for shock? If it was Cal-Hypo and your pool was already fairly saturated with calcium carbonate, then that would make the water cloudy. Chlorinating liquid or bleach will not increase the calcium nor CYA levels. Read the Pool School for more info. Did you read the section on Defeating Algae?
readforfun
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My Pool: 18X36, 24,0000 gallons, Vinyl, in-ground, sand filter, 1hp pump
Location: Virginia

Green pool water still

Postby readforfun » Fri 03 Jul, 2009 06:49

Thanks for your help. I woke up this morning and my water is cloudy. I am working on filling the pool up some more so I can backwash. I am going to get the water tested at the pool store while I'm out. I will post the #s.

I did read the pool school and that's why I posted. I should have started with this forum before adding all the other chemicals. Now I needed to get rid of the cloudy water. Is it safe now to bring my FC down to a level that I can swim since the water is just cloudy?

Am I correct in reading that the best thing for my pool now is draining and refilling? Someone I know with a pool suggested floc when the water turns cloudy after algae treatment. I read that floc wasn't really recommended or is that in the case that the algae isn't dead? I'm worried that the algea will come back like I have read on line time and time again.

On my CYA, my pool gets a lots of direct sun light all day, should my CYA be above 50-60? I thought I read somewhere on here that it should be higher with alot of direct sunlight.

Thanks again for your help, if I every have problems again I know I will head here.

Have heard of your user name on other sites and they all say you know what you are talking about.
chem geek
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Green pool water still

Postby chem geek » Fri 03 Jul, 2009 11:56

You really should get your own good test kit. I would not trust the pool store numbers and without knowing accurate numbers you can't really know exactly what to do. Get yourself the Taylor K-2006 kit at a good online price here or the TF100 from tftestkits.net here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so is less expensive per test.

If the pool is not so cloudy that you can't see the main drain and you have measurable Free Chlorine (FC) and not too much Combined Chlorine (CC) (say <= 0.5 ppm), then you can go swimming. You don't want to swim in the water if it's so cloudy that you can't see the bottom -- if someone were to accidentally drown, you want to see them to save them.

However, to clear the cloudy water, if it's dead algae, then it takes a SUSTAINED and MAINTAINED high Free Chlorine (FC) level relative to the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level. With your pool's high CYA level, it would take a LOT of chlorine, so you are probably better off doing a partial drain/refill to get the CYA lower first. Also, you've added Banish which has copper in it so are now at the risk of staining your pool whenever the pH goes up, such as when shocking with chlorine. Diluting the water to lower the CYA will also dilute it for reducing copper, but please do not add any more algaecide, especially not copper-based algaecide, to the pool.

As for the appropriate CYA level, that depends on your specific situation. You could lower the CYA to 60-80 ppm and then see how things go, but shocking the pool with chlorine to clear algae quickly is going to take a level of around 30 ppm FC which is a lot of chlorine. That's the main problem with a higher CYA level -- it's fine so long as you are preventing algae growth (with a minimum FC of 4 ppm), but if you need to shock the pool, then it takes a lot of chlorine to do so. You can use a lower shock level of chlorine (around 15 ppm FC or so), but it takes longer to clear the pool.

A floc treatment is a last resort if your pool has poor water circulation, as with above-ground pools with no floor drain and weak pumps (as with many Intex pools). However, in your case, we don't even know if the cloudiness is all due to algae or if all of the Cal-Hypo you have added (granular shock) has now clouded the water from over-saturation of calcium carbonate. If you had a full set of test numbers, you could enter them into The Pool Calculator to see if the saturation index is high. Again, please get yourself a good test kit so you can take charge or your pool. Otherwise, you should just go to pool stores, do what they say, and probably spend many $$$ maybe getting your pool clear, or maybe not.
readforfun
I'm new here
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Posts: 4
Joined: Thu 02 Jul, 2009 08:28
My Pool: 18X36, 24,0000 gallons, Vinyl, in-ground, sand filter, 1hp pump
Location: Virginia

Green pool water still

Postby readforfun » Wed 08 Jul, 2009 16:44

Still need to get a good test kit but in the meantime I went to the pool store to check my numbers. The water is clear. They finally told me that their test doesn't register FC over 10 but here are the #s. They suggested stuff but the only thing I bought was filter cleaner.

Temp 74
Satur idx -.7
TDS 700
CYA 120
FC 10 but who knows
pH 7.3
Tot alk 127
adj. tot alk 91
tot hardness 92

I need to know how to get the FC down. If I raise the alk will that help bring the FC down?
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Green pool water still

Postby chem geek » Wed 08 Jul, 2009 20:47

Your CYA level is still too high and will make it hard to keep away algae unless you keep a minimum FC of 9 ppm, so don't let the FC drop too far. It's perfectly safe to swim in since 9 ppm FC with 120 ppm CYA is technically equivalent to around 0.08 ppm FC with no CYA or to 2.2 ppm FC with 30 ppm CYA.

Changing the TA won't affect the FC. Just let sunlight bring it down which it will do over time (perhaps a day or two). You can dilute the pool water with tap water and then measure in your test kit to get a rough idea of the FC -- just in case it's 20 or 30 ppm or something like that (I doubt it's that high).

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