Algae stains in my pool (pics)

lbj23 · Postby **lbj23** » Sat 15 Aug, 2009 18:55

I've been trying to brush this away for weeks and the stains don't move. I showed these pictures to the guy at Leslies, he told me to squeeze a lemon on it to see if it helped move the stain, that didnt work.

What can I do to get rid of this?

RMS1 · Postby **RMS1** » Sun 16 Aug, 2009 01:27

You have a problem, no doubt. Pool algae happens, but stains take a while to form. First you need to shock the pool, if you haven't already done so. I don't know the size or gallon pool you have, but go for shock advice.

Get your pH low, about 7.0 before you shock. I suggest using Calcium Hypo. for a shock.

Just keep scrubbing before, during, and after the shock. You may want to bring your chlorine up to 20-25ppm, really hammer the algae. And look into a good algaecide as well. Remember to back-wash and be sure your filter is clean.

Last, you may need to drain and do an acid wash, but this is done as a last resort.

lbj23 · Postby **lbj23** » Sun 16 Aug, 2009 17:20

thanks for the reply

i backwashed it yesterday. ive used tons of shock. i took a chlorine tab and rubbed it directly against the green and nothing happened. ive spent hours brushing that stuff, it doesnt move

has anyone seen something like this?

Guest · Postby **Guest** » Sun 16 Aug, 2009 20:31

I have the same exact problem and have done pretty much the same things. A friend told me that as marcite wears, it can become much more conducive to staining like this. I think our choices are drain and acid wash, or diamond brite the pool. I am leaning toward diamond brite because I am at the end of the useful life of the marcite, since it is pretty old and starting to wear out in spots, but acid wash will work if you dont want to spend the money just yet. Be careful with the acid of course...it packs a punch.

lbj23 · Postby **lbj23** » Mon 17 Aug, 2009 00:12

i dont want to drain the pool and acid wash unless i have too...the pool is pretty big. last time i emptied the pool and refilled it i got a $340.00 water bill

, the pool was left filthy for like 6 months until i bought this house. i moved in and drained the pool and there were no stains. i didnt start having this problems until i got a leak in my pool and i couldnt clean it for maybe 2 weeks because the water level was too low, this is when the problem started (i think maybe it had something to do with the extreme heat?)

this is so frustrating

Postby **Denali** » Mon 17 Aug, 2009 13:56

lbj23 wrote:i dont want to drain the pool and acid wash unless i have too...the pool is pretty big. last time i emptied the pool and refilled it i got a $340.00 water bill

, the pool was left filthy for like 6 months until i bought this house. i moved in and drained the pool and there were no stains. i didnt start having this problems until i got a leak in my pool and i couldnt clean it for maybe 2 weeks because the water level was too low, this is when the problem started (i think maybe it had something to do with the extreme heat?)

this is so frustrating

Hi,

Do you know what the CYA level is in the pool? Often referred to as conditioner or stabilizer. To effectively shock the pool you need to know this level. If it is sky high then you may not be reaching a shock level even with adding what seems like huge amounts of chlorine.

A stainless steel algae brush is what you want for the brushing. The more brushing the better.

tlw · Postby **tlw** » Tue 20 Apr, 2010 14:13

Are you sure it's not staining from metals in the water? I had similar stains in our pool, and I used "Stain Free" from Natural Chemistry, and it cleared it right up. That stuff is amazing! Check on E-bay, it's sold cheaper there.

Dollmaker · Postby **Dollmaker** » Wed 05 May, 2010 22:42

tlw wrote:Are you sure it's not staining from metals in the water? I had similar stains in our pool, and I used "Stain Free" from Natural Chemistry, and it cleared it right up. That stuff is amazing! Check on E-bay, it's sold cheaper there.

You are so right, this stuff is MAGIC!! I was told to be sure to use Metal Free along with it. I didn't have green stains, but brown ones from the Oak trash falling into the pool. I was told it was the metal in the water that was "locking" the stains to the pool surfaces. Whatever it was, within three days my pool was clean as a pin!
I honestly didn't think it would work, but I'd tried everything else and it worked. I now ALWAYS have a container of Stain Free and Metal Free at the ready!
:thumbup:

cjm · Postby **cjm** » Fri 25 Jun, 2010 15:18

[quote="lbj23"]I've been trying to brush this away for weeks and the stains don't move. I showed these pictures to the guy at Leslies, he told me to squeeze a lemon on it to see if it helped move the stain, that didnt work.

What can I do to get rid of this?

SHOCK IT

fstpolow · Postby **fstpolow** » Tue 31 May, 2011 22:38

I have owned my pool for about 13 yrs w/o problems. Suddenly I had too much pollen seemingly overnight. Back-washed 10 times, shocked, cleaned filter and water is now bright lagoon blue as it should be. However, there are dark green stains (spots) on bottom. Tried scrubbing. Nothing seems to work. Read you used something called "Stain-Free" along with "Metal Free" and that you got good results. Your pool pictures appear to be an inground cement pool. My pool in inground cement and has gunite which makes the water look like a blue lagoon. Did the products really work for you? Did the water foam up? I don't want to create more problems. Need some reassurance. Has your problem reoccurred?