Added chlorine and pool water turned green

Chlorinating, maintaining the right chlorine levels,
chlorine problems. Dichlor, trichlor, cal hypo, bleach,
granules, chlorine pucks and chlorine sticks.
Random Diva
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Added chlorine and pool water turned green

Postby Random Diva » Sun 24 Dec, 2006 22:01

Any ideas anyone??? I've just added the correct dose of chlorine to my pool and the water has turned a bright emerald green. It's clear, but green. There's no algae in the pool so the colour isn't coming from that, I am at a loss as to what has caused this. It happened last summer too but was towards the end of the swimming season so I just left it. But this time, well, we're just getting into swim season and I would like to be able to use the darn thing.
Any suggestions would be most welcome, my late husband used to take care of pool maintenance.
Thanks in advance,
Lorri.


Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.-- Mark Twain
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Postby dynamictiger » Mon 25 Dec, 2006 19:25

Emerald green is a common colour for cyanuric acid 'lock'. Do you know your chemical levels? Please post them.

The other factor that can create instant green is iron residual in the pool water from somewhere. I would need to know a lot more to be more precise.

HTH
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Postby Pool Owner » Wed 27 Dec, 2006 13:55

It sounds like there is a water chemistry problem. Without a good set of tests, it is just shooting in the dark. Taking a water sample in for testing and/or getting a quality test kit will get things going on the right track. Since you are new to this here is a list of test results you should get: pH, TA (Total Alkalinity), FAC (Free Available Chlorine), TAC (Total Available Chlorine), Calcium Hardness, TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), CYA (Cyanuric Acid, a.k.a. Stabilizer or Conditioner), Copper, Iron, and Phosphate. Then implement the corrections in steps to allow the water to “balance” (a day to a week on infrequent drastic changes).

It is important to keep in mind that most pool test procedures are accurate (easily repeatable with results within an acceptable range) but not precise (it is just not that critical – close is good enough in horseshoes, hand grenades, and pool chemistry). For example, look at the range found on most test strips. Because of this variation, I always test at least twice if anything looks unusual or there is a visible water problem (as in your case).

For the future, you may want to invest about $30 into getting a good reference pool book. If you have not yet done so, check your local library for books on the subject of pool maintenance/construction to see if there is one you like. I have a short review of a few books on my blog (noted below). While it is very large, I think you will find “The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual” a good choice. Since it is almost 700 pages, you need to use it like these pool bulletin boards, search for the information you need and only read the part that covers your problem.
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Random Diva
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Postby Random Diva » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 19:42

I had the water tested yesterday - here are the results with the ideal numbers in brackets (according to my test place) -
Total Dissolved Solids - 100 (<2500)
Stabiliser - 70 (30-50)
Total Chlorine - 5. (1-3)
Free Chlorine - 5. (1-3)
pH - 6.8 (7.5)
Total Alkalinity - 49 (125-150)
Calcium 50 (175-225)
Copper, Iron and Manganese all 0.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was advised to add 4.5kg of Sodium Carbonate to rectify the alkalinity (which I did yesterday,) unfortunately I can't test that at the moment, it's Saturday afternoon here and the pool place closed a couple of hours ago.
As to the rest of it, I'm blonde, or is that clueless. :roll: I have no idea how to rectify these things, no idea at all, so help from you good folks would be much appreciated.
I have no idea why this should happen after me managing to get the pool up and running for a few summers without any problems. I bought a new pump for the summer of 2004/2005. I replaced the filter sand last summer, those are the only things which have changed since my being able to have clear, clean BLUE water in my pool, hence my confusion.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Lorri.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.-- Mark Twain
dynamictiger
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Postby dynamictiger » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 20:32

I note you are a Kiwi. So am I. The indication from your water test is that you may have too high cyanuric / stabiliser. I know others here will argue the cyanuric won't effect your pool until 100+, however, they have not owned a pool shop in NZ.

I strongly suggest you try diluting the pool water. Don't worry about anything else just yet. Top the pool up until it is at the brim, waste the water off to the bottom of your skimmer box three times. Then shock the pool and see what it looks like.

I have seen several pools in Aoteroa where the CA 'lock' seems to occur at around that 70 mark. I cannot explain why this occurs I am sure there is something else going on, but I am not sure what that is.

HTH

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