Green pool

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

Green pool

Postby Andrwe » Wed 18 Mar, 2009 10:59

I had a green pool so I went to the pool store with a water sample to have levels checked. They told me the levels were fine. I told them that I had a green pool and they told me to use backing soda- let sit for 4 hours, 4lbs of algicide and 4lbs of shock let filter for 12 hours, 4lbs of shock let filter for 12 hours, 4lbs of shock filter for 12 hours. My pool went from green to blue and cloudy. I ran the filter 12 hours a day and it started to go from blue cloudy to clearer and green tint. Now its back to bright green again after a week.. I have to clean my filter every day because its not in that great of shape. Is my filter causing the issue of am I doing something wrong. Please help..


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Larry
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Green pool

Postby Larry » Wed 18 Mar, 2009 13:45

Hi Andrwe (or should it have been Andrew? :) )

This sounds suspiciously like chlorine lock. Unfortunately the information you gave is too vague.
Please read Asking for Pool Algae Support

If you could give a history of this problem and of your pool care routine, we could put the problem in perspective.
Has the pool been running?
What season is it?
What chemicals have you been using?
How was the pool water prior to this "green episode"?

8) And please try to include as much information in the problem reporting template as possible:

Problem:

FC:
TC:
pH:
TA:
CH:
CYA:

My pool:
Pool chemicals:
My pump & filter:
Other info:

Without the facts an accurate diagnosis is extremely difficult :!:

Larry
Guest

Green pool

Postby Guest » Wed 18 Mar, 2009 14:09

Larry yes it is Andrew... ( I want to let you know that I dont know alot of the pool lingo but have lived in a house with a pool in Florida my whole life. This is the first time I have had to care for one.) I moved in to this home in Febuary and the pool was bad but the landlord said he would fix. He didnt... So I took a sample of the water to the pool store and they said that the levels were correct. I then expressed my concern for the Green pool. They reccomended "soda ash" or baking soda - 2 cups.. an algicide called "green out" and 12 lbs of powder shock and chorine. Over 36 hours I shocked and and filtered.. after turning blue and clowdy it went green again.. This pool was not cared for by the previous tenets. our back yard had a lot of leaves so we have a net that we put over the pool to keep the leaves and such out. The only other thing that i didnt tell you is that there is leaves and such at the bottom of the pool in the deep end of the pool.

Filter- Cartridge Filter- ( I clean it every day right now)
pool- stand oval 12,000 gall
chem- I use power chorine and shock + two floaters
I live in tampa florida temp around 75 degrees

If you need the other spec I can go to the pool store tonight.. thanks for the help
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Larry
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Posts: 370
Joined: Thu 09 Dec, 2004 20:19
My Pool: Pool Pro
Exclusively tiled concrete pools

Green pool

Postby Larry » Wed 18 Mar, 2009 16:52

I'm sorry you got a bad deal with the green pool Andrew. :( Well, to try figure things out we need a few pool water readings.
So I took a sample of the water to the pool store and they said that the levels were correct.

These are the levels the pool store should measure and give a value for:
* FC: free chlorine level
* TC: total chlorine level
* pH:
* TA: total alkalinity level
* CH: calcium hardness level
* CYA: cyanuric acid level (stabilizer / conditioner)

The results of these tests will give an overall snapshot of the state of your pool water and will allow us to help you. Once the water is balanced and the pool is running well, routine maintenance is not that big an issue. Getting the water right at the start is the hard part. :wtf:

Larry
Guest

Green pool

Postby Guest » Sat 21 Mar, 2009 19:21

Larry,

I went to the pool store and below are the readings they gave me.. I told me to buy an algicide and shock/ chlorine( he split it with me) what do you think?


FC: 0
* TC: 0
* pH: 7.4
* TA: 80
* CH: 330
* CYA: 50
TDS: 1100
Phosphates: 100
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Larry
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Posts: 370
Joined: Thu 09 Dec, 2004 20:19
My Pool: Pool Pro
Exclusively tiled concrete pools

Green pool

Postby Larry » Mon 23 Mar, 2009 03:12

You definitely do need to shock the pool. The FC (free chlorine) should reach at least 3-5ppm and be kept there for a few days to be certain the algae is all dead.

The CYA level, at 50ppm, is great. You should avoid using stabilized chlorine (dichlor granules, tablets and sticks) or the level will rise creating further problems. :thumbup:

If you use calcium hypochlorite (granules) as a regular chlorine regimen, it will result in your CH (hardness) going up too much. :thumbdown: Ideally you should switch to liquid chlorine or bleach (whichever is more economical in your area).

Typically bleach contains 5% - 6% available chlorine and chlorinating liquid 12% - 15%. Do a price per chlorine comparison (you need roughly 2 gallons of bleach for each gallon of liquid chlorine).

You wrote:there are leaves and such at the bottom of the pool in the deep end of the pool.

Make sure there are no leaves or debris remaining in the pool as this is a "chlorine killer". :(

Larry
Guest

Green pool

Postby Guest » Mon 23 Mar, 2009 08:44

Larry,

Sat morning I cleaned out as many leaves as I could.. ( its hard because i cant see the bottom) Brushed the entire pool and did a algicide and shock/ chlorine.. over the last 48 hours I have put 6 1lb bags of the shock/ chlorine in the pool. The pool is now blue I can start to see the bottom in the shallow end. Do I need to start adding bleach now or is the stuff I got from the pool store ok? Also Should I vacuum the bottom soon? I have two floaters in the pool are those the tablets that I should take out? Thanks for all the help larry...
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Larry
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Posts: 370
Joined: Thu 09 Dec, 2004 20:19
My Pool: Pool Pro
Exclusively tiled concrete pools

Green pool

Postby Larry » Tue 24 Mar, 2009 03:29

The pool is now blue I can start to see the bottom in the shallow end.

Things are looking good. This shows that the water is on its way to recovery. The cloudiness will dissipate slowly until the water clears completely. The process can take days.

Should I vacuum the bottom soon?

You should vacuum as soon as you can see the bottom well enough to vacuum. When the water is very cloudy and you vacuum "blind" you generally end up disturbing the dirt and make the water cloudier.

You should be checking the pH and free chlorine levels every day. Make sure that the free chlorine doesn't fall below 3.0ppm until your pool is perfectly clear. You can use the shock chlorine for now, but be aware that your hardness level (330ppm) is slowly approaching the maximum recommended level of 400ppm. Once you have used up the shock chlorine you should consider switching to a liquid. You could keep a bag or two of the shock in reserve for future use if you prefer.

chem geek wrote:Every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor (18oz of tablets), also increases CYA by 6 ppm.
Every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo (1.5lbs), also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by 7 ppm.

Ideally you should remove the floaters once they are empty and make the final switch to a liquid chlorine product.

Larry
Debula

Green pool

Postby Debula » Mon 20 Apr, 2009 19:34

Hi, I hope you can help us too!!
We have an above ground vinyl pool. We have neglected it during the winter and now we have a green pool
Most of the stuff we sucked up from the bottom was dust and pollen but now the bottom is green and it will not brush up. My husband has been shocking it for 2 days and yet the chlorine level is still zero
We went to the pool supply place today and got two conflicting stories
The fist guy told us to go home and get a sample because if it was calcium then the algaecide (sp?)would not work
and he told us if that is the case we need to just add acid and it will soften the calcium and loosen the algae.
We took the sample back and there was another guy there and he sold my husband the algaecide and told him to shock and throw in the algaecide and within a couple of hours we should be able to brush it off
It didn't work and the bottom is hard where the green is and it won't brush off
The levels they gave us are as follows
Chlorine 0
PH 7.6
Alkalinity 70.80
Conditioner 0
Calcium Hardness---------- (that what he did just a line)
TDS Meter 800
Phosphate 0.100
Salt-------- (another line)
Our filtration system is what came with the pool and is a cartridge filter
The pool is about a 6500 gallon pool (18ft round about 48 inches high)

What I don't understand is how two people from the same store can give us such conflicting info
That seems to be the norm and our experience depending on who you ask and its soooooooooooo frustrating :x

PLease help!! Also please explain in easy terms and I don't understand all the pool tech lingo :crazy:

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