HELP...have green algae growing now in metal frame pool

[jcarr492]

We've had about two solid weeks of rain and storms. No one has been able to swim at all during all the bad weather. I was told by the HTH hotline to add 5oz of shock to the pool. Well, I did and the algae is still there. The pool is a 15x42 metal frame, vinyl liner pool. The green algae is growing along the bottom half of the sides and all across the bottom. I added 8oz more of shock two days ago and yesterday poured in about 3/4 gallon of bleach I had on hand because I noticed the chlorine puck was nearly dissolved and I wasn't heading to the store soon. Now the water is cloudy, apparently because of the shock, but still green on the sides and bottom. Am I adding enough shock? Is there something I need to be doing to it? Am I supposed to scrub it down also? I only have the HTH test strips on hand and these were the readings..nearest pool store to do testing is nearly 40 miles away.
Total Hardness: 200
Chlorine: 0/0
alkalinity: 180
pH: 8.0
CYA: 30-40

[Backglass]

You need to keep your chlorine at 3ppm minimum at all times to keep things from growing. This requires testing every other day at least and dosing when needed, even when it rains and you aren't using the pool. Your's is -0- which means things are growing in your pool as you read this.

You need to get your pool to shock levels and keep it there 24 hours to make sure everything is dead. Don't let it get to -0- as you will be starting all over. Run your pump & filter 24/7 and brush a lot to keep things stirred up so it can be "touched" by the chlorine and filter. If you have a cartridge filter, clean it often.

No worries about the pool store distance...all you need is Bleach, Baking soda, Borax and Muriatic acid. You can get the first three from Walmart and the last from your neighborhood hardware store. Your CYA is perfect so stop using the pucks and powdered shock and switch to straight bleach.

Remember "shock" (verb) is something you do by raising your chlorine levels, not something you buy (noun). You can shock with any form of chlorine...even chlorine bleach which is cheapest.

You ph is high...you need to add some Muriatic acid to get it down to 7.2-7.4. You can get it at the hardware store, sometimes called Hydrochloric acid. It is sold for cleaning masonry. Add it a LITTLE at a time (1/2 cup in your case), let it circulate for 30 minutes and re-test as it is very strong...so be careful.

[Guest]

So using the bleach and the muriatic acid will be okay on a vinyl liner? After I poured in that 3/4 gallon of bleach, someone on another group told me not to use the bleach as it will cause my liner to become "brittle" if I use it too much. So I got confused. We just bought the pool brand new in June, so I don't want to ruin it just yet. LOL

Also, what do you recommend for brushing the pool down? It only came with one of those tiny vacuum heads you attach the water hose too..and to me..not worth a penny. Is there a brush I need to buy for the pool? Use a mop, a broom? I looked out this evening after my OP and wow...the green is now almost all the way up to the top of the water! Only about 4" below the water level....yesterday it was 1/2 way down! Guess I'm out to buy bleach tomorrow...how many gallons do I need to add?? Do I do it all at once...dilute it and pour...pour directly over the pool or in the skimmer? I already have a huge box of borax and baking soda. How much of those will I add? The yard is still really gross outside..so I practically have to wear rubber boots out there cause of all the standing water and now tall grass..can't mow because of water.

Also...should we be keeping the pool covered when not in use? We were covering it every evening becuase of some debris that kept getting in at night...but someone said to leave it off. And do I use the cover while trying to get rid of the algae or keep it off till it all clears up??

sorry so many questions!

[Backglass]

So using the bleach and the muriatic acid will be okay on a vinyl liner? After I poured in that 3/4 gallon of bleach, someone on another group told me not to use the bleach as it will cause my liner to become "brittle" if I use it too much. So I got confused. We just bought the pool brand new in June, so I don't want to ruin it just yet. LOL

I understand...that person was mis-informed, or a pool store chemical rep.

The thing is...household bleach is exactly the same chemical as pool store "liquid chlorine", except it is 5-6% strength instead of 11-12%. It is also dramatically cheaper! People are just so used to thinking "Bleach bleaches things" and "pool chlorine sanitizes" even though both will do both in the correct amounts. Chlorine is chlorine and ANY chlorine product will damage a liner if you were to go nuts. For example if you were to pour 5 pounds of granulate chlorine in to your pool and let it sit in a pile, it too would bleach/brittle your liner. The key is common sense. Add it while the pump is running and water circulating so it dilutes and doesn't settle to the bottom.

Also, what do you recommend for brushing the pool down? It only came with one of those tiny vacuum heads you attach the water hose too..and to me..not worth a penny.

You are correct. Those "venturi" type vaccums are worthless for anyting but leaves, twigs and bugs. Any dirt/algea/pool dust is just going to be "poofed" back into the water with that. If you are serious about the pool, you should invest in a vacuum hose that attaches to your skimmer, pole & vacuum head so you can really vacuum to the filter. You can also get attachments for the pole such as a brush, leaf net, etc.

Guess I'm out to buy bleach tomorrow...how many gallons do I need to add?? Do I do it all at once...dilute it and pour...pour directly over the pool or in the skimmer?[ I already have a huge box of borax and baking soda. How much of those will I add?

All this depends on the results of your test kit. You need to add enough chlorine to get your pool to 10ppm, and enough borax/bakingsoda or acid to get your ph up or down to 7.2-7.4. Baking soda & borax can be poured into your skimmer or broadcast over the surface of the pool. Acid should be carefully poured near your water return with the pump running so it is instantly diluted. Chlorine can be slowly poured into your skimmer with the pump running.

Download BLEACHCALC from the address in my signature to help you figure out how much you need,

If you decide to dilute first, remember you ALWAYS add the chemicals to a bucket of water, not some water to a bucket of chemicals.

Also...should we be keeping the pool covered when not in use? We were covering it every evening becuase of some debris that kept getting in at night...but someone said to leave it off. And do I use the cover while trying to get rid of the algae or keep it off till it all clears up??

Normally you keep it covered but since you are trying to clear up an algae bloom leave it uncovered during all this.

[dstinyz]

No worries about the pool store distance...all you need is Bleach, Baking soda, Borax and Muriatic acid. You can get the first three from Walmart and the last from your neighborhood hardware store. Your CYA is perfect so stop using the pucks and powdered shock and switch to straight bleach.

Can u please tell what each of these are used for? I think Bleach is chlorine, muriatic acid lowers PH and TA. Not sure about the other two. Thanx

[Guest]

Borax raises pH and Baking Soda raises TA.

[jcarr492]

Okay...I did a gallon of bleach yesterday morning and the fc shot up really well. Of course, the sun was out all day yesterday so it was short lived, but I got hubby to get in and scrub all the green loose with an old broom I had and cleaned off really well before putting it in the pool. Got it all stirred up. In the afternoon I added 1/2cup of muriatic acid to the pool too and retested it before dusk. pH was down to 7.8. Dh poured in another gallon of bleach last night about 9pm. Got up this morning and wow...NO GREEN anymore! But...its all cloudy now. I checked the levels and FC is at 0 again, but the pH is down to 7.5..should I add another dose or half the dose I did yesterday of muriatic acid to get it to 7.2? CYA was at the 30-50 level, hardness was still about 200 and TA was still about 180 maybe just slightly lower, but wasn't light enough on the stick to move down a level. Should I add more bleach today or wait until dark again? How many days will or should it take for the cloudiness to clear up? It just has that little filter pump that comes with the pool. I'm cleaning the filter 3x a day. Should I add the HTH super clarifier concentrate to the water or leave it be? Will I end up with any type of residue on the bottom of the pool eventually?

[Backglass]

Okay...I did a gallon of bleach yesterday morning and the fc shot up really well. Of course, the sun was out all day yesterday so it was short lived, but I got hubby to get in and scrub all the green loose with an old broom I had and cleaned off really well before putting it in the pool. Got it all stirred up. In the afternoon I added 1/2cup of muriatic acid to the pool too and retested it before dusk. pH was down to 7.8. Dh poured in another gallon of bleach last night about 9pm. Got up this morning and wow...NO GREEN anymore! But...its all cloudy now. I checked the levels and FC is at 0 again, but the pH is down to 7.5..should I add another dose or half the dose I did yesterday of muriatic acid to get it to 7.2? CYA was at the 30-50 level, hardness was still about 200 and TA was still about 180 maybe just slightly lower, but wasn't light enough on the stick to move down a level. Should I add more bleach today or wait until dark again? How many days will or should it take for the cloudiness to clear up? It just has that little filter pump that comes with the pool. I'm cleaning the filter 3x a day. Should I add the HTH super clarifier concentrate to the water or leave it be? Will I end up with any type of residue on the bottom of the pool eventually?

Woohoo! You are showing progress! Just keep at it...don't stop now, you are almost there. You must keep the chlorine UP (bleach) and keep your filter running 24/7. The fact that you have a CYA of 30-50 and your pool is still eating the chlorine means something is still living there. Keep doing this nightly until the chlorine holds for 24 hours, THEN you know you have it all killed and your pool will start to clear fast!

Keep it up and DON'T let your free chlorine drop to zero or you are taking steps backwards!