Pool Opening and Cleanup

[Christian]

I am a lifeguard at a country club, and I have been given responsibility for opening the pool. The underground pool was uncovered over the winter, the water is a dark green color, and there is green algae all over the bottom and sides of the pool. Is there any hope of me cleaning this pool without draining it? What do I need to do?
Thanks.

[chem geek]

You can read this sticky but please get yourself a good test kit as indicated -- either the Taylor K-2006 you can get for a good online price here or the TF100 from tftestkits(dot)com here that has 36% more volume of reagents so is comparably priced. Be sure and check in either here or at TroubleFreePool in case you run into trouble or the pool is taking too long to clear. If you want to spend more money but want a somewhat faster clearing, you can use a flocculant (OMNI Liquid Floc Plus) and vacuum to waste after you've killed the algae (i.e. when the water is cloudy). Chlorine alone can clear a pool as shown here. You'll need to determine your pool's Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level since too little or too much are problems that need to be resolved before you can begin (you need some CYA or else the chlorine will break down too quickly in sunlight and if you have too much CYA then a partial drain/refill is better to do first). Remember that it took a long time for the pool to get to the state that it is now in so it's not going to clear in a day or two, but should be able to get cleared within a week (possibly 4 days) depending on your diligence at removing debris, brushing, filtering and cleaning/backwashing, and maintaining a high chlorine level (an FC that is 40% of the CYA level).

Richard

[SummerTimeLove]

Good Luck and keep us posted!