Have 24 ft round pool with sand filter. Shocked Friday night, came home on Monday and water looks like the Caribbean. Had water tested have copper- filled pool with well water. pH is 7.8, free chlorine is 0, put metal treatment in but nothing has happened. Should I add clarifier, keep back washing or just drain and get water brought in. Have huge party in 2 days. Please help!

Is the water clear green or cloudy green? Which metal treatment did you use and how much?

Lower the PH to 7.2 with MA. Get some FC in there per your CYA level. What is your CYA? See the CHlorine/CYA chart in pool school.

United Chemical pool stain treat- sequestrant and chelator-32 oz. Pool is cloudy green. At first it was clear green, after treatment looks worse.

CYA is 25

Although the stain treat says it works for copper, it is primarily recommended for iron. It may have taken care of the copper but now you have no FC and your CYA is a little low. Cloudy green is usually a sign of algae. How long since the treatment?

2 days since treatment. Just found some green on ladder, didn't have that yesterday. I guess i'll have to drain and start over or we will have no pool for weekend.

No need to drain.. You most likely have algae and need to shock. Shocking a pool is a process... not a product. Find "How to Shock" in pool school.

Even if you drain and fill w/water w/o metals you will have to deal w/the algae because it's already present. You might reduce the amount you're dealing with by draining and filling, but you will still have to go through the shock process before it's safe to swim.

If you do decide to drain, will you be refilling with the well water or will you have water brought in? If you use any of the well water get some copper sequestrant in there while you are filling. Bring the FC up to shock level as soon as you can according to the sequestrant directions. If you don't use the well, then bring the pool to shock level as soon as it is filled. Brush the bottom and sides and keep the pump running 24/7. Use the recommended levels to balance the pool after completing the shock process. You can use The Pool Calculator to determine how much of each chemical you will need. The pool calculator will also show what your shock level should be.

Do I need to add MA to get pH down? Should I use bleach instead of the 73% Calcium Hypo I have? I've always just put my 3" tabs in and shocked once a week, never had issues. This is all new to me.

We would need to see a complete set of test results before we could tell you to use cal hypo. I prefer the bleach since it doesn't add anything you don't need to the water. I don't know what your CH (calcium) level is so if it is high I would not want you to add more. I also am not comfortable telling you to continue using the 3" tabs since I don't know what your CYA level is. If it is too high you will need to stop using the tablets.

Adjust pH to 7.5 with MA or dry acid, then start the shock process. Read defeating algae and how to shock your pool for more information. If your pool turns clear green again you will need more sequestrant.

Thank you