Can't stop water from turning green-please help.

[lexilani]

Hi,
We have an Intex pool, 15x42, with a Krystal Clear filter pump Model 637R. We are rural and have well water. It seems no matter what we do, once we add chlorine tabs to the water it will turn green. It starts out light and eventually turns darker.

We have talked for weeks with a pool store, taking their advice and buying their products until we've almost spent more than the pool cost. We've gotten several "water tests" done by them with varying results. We know that our well has some iron because if I use bleach in the laundry the whites turn brown. At one point their test said our well had no iron.

Here's what we've done so far...first fill-up well water test results were PH:7.4, CH:100, TA:150, CyA:20, Cop: 0.25, IR: 0.10, TDS: 200 We were told to add one Qt Haviland Super Rust-n-Scale right after fill-up and wait 12 hours then add 1 inch tab of chlorine. Did that and it turned green within 5 hours of adding chlorine.
Next fill up they said add 2 quarts of the rust n scale, then add chlorine. Did that--it turned green.

Next fill up--they said we were contaminating the water because we needed a new filter as we had just been rinsing the one out. The pool has never had water in it for more than 3 days so far. So bought new filter and repeated steps above. Turned green again.

Next fill up-- took a sample of pool water and pump water back to store was told there was no iron in my well water and the reading for the pool water were; FCI:2.51, TCI:2.52, CH:90, TA:170, CyA: 10, Cop: 0.08, IR: 0.33. We were told to buy and use 6 oz. of Sierra Super Algaecide 60 to the green pool water and it should be clear the next day. It wasn't.

Last fill up-- we were sold an Eco One Spa Treatment Systems Pre-Filter garden hose filter ($60 bucks) told we should get 2 fill ups with this. Also told to add one bottle of the Rust n Scale and wait the 12 hours and add the chlorine and all should be fine. The water is green again...light but green.

At this point I want to stab the pool and kill it! Anyone please help me understand what is going on with this water.

[anne4]

I am no expert in pools, but I did have a similar problem in the city.. I kept adding stuff until I was turning green. I ended up emptying the pool and scrubbing it down, and when I refilled it, it started to rip. scrapped it.

Last year I did something different. I didn't use the pump that came with the new pool I bought, but instead bought a salt-water filter/pump system from Intex. (there are other makers too, I believe)

Here is Canada, they cost around $249 at Zellers or Walmart, but in August you can usually pick one up for half price.. which I did.

Honestly, it was the best $125 I ever spent. It's all you need.. (plus salt (lots.. but it's also cheaper this time of year.. about $8 per bag of 50 lbs).. that you put in at the beginning of the season and then can pretty well forget about it, oh, and a couple of filters) I did buy some stabilizer tablets which I put in a floater as well.

I never think about the pool anymore, except to love it for the crystal clear water I have ALL THE TIME! The pump comes on every evening for 3 hours with a timer, and I don't even look at it.

Besides having clear water, your eyes don't burn, and you know that you are not killing yourself with all these unknown things you are dumping into the water.

Hope this helps, and happy swimming!

[mistymorn]

Hi,

I had similar problems and went nuts! Our water once was a bright orange. After emptying and trying again, our pool turned a pretty purple color.

We had no help from the pool store until I found a knowledgeable soul who know what she was talking about.

My problem was the iron and the magnesium in my water. Depending on the concentrations from our well, the chemicals reacted with the chlorine we were using. Too much iron and the water turned red. Too much magnesium and the water turned purple.

We have switched these year to a non-chlorine system called Softswim.

It worked!!! We had a beautiful year of clean, crystal clear water. I tested it once a week and had to add a small amount of chemicals every two weeks.

Check it out!v You may have chemicals in your water that are reacting to the chlorine.

[chem geek]

Just note that Softswim is Baquacil/biguanide/PHMB so search on "Baqua" on this site and others to find out the issues that occur after 2-3 years if you aren't careful (see here, here and here).

You could have dealt with your iron in the pool by using a combination of filtration (for solid particles) and a metal sequestrant or if the pool is small enough, a water filter (ion exchange system). The magnesium in the pool was not particularly relevant. Purple usually comes from copper cyanurate so could come from a combination of high Cyanuric Acid (CYA) levels along with high copper levels, the latter usually from copper-based algicides.