Pool is a hot mess

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D

diamondsbybree

0
Jul 19, 2015
4
Cairo
Ok, my pool is a hot mess..... It was all great in May when we initially put it up and filled it (10,000 gallon pool).
Here is when the trouble started. We have had NOTHING but rain for the last 5-6 weeks. Now it is cloudy and green.
We did the shock and swim, algaeside, chlorine tabs, etc....
We check the water about every other day, and we googled and googles to get it clear again; but instead it is getting worse and worse.
The filter system with the pool is obviously a cheap one and doesn't have the power to keep up with it. Possibly maybe get a new one today.
Can over shocking it make it cloudy? How am I ever going to get the green algae out?
HELP HELP HELP~ We are going to have a week without rain starting tomorrow. Would LOVE to swim in a pretty clear pool.
 
Hi,
welcome to TFP.
To bluntly answer your question, yes, shocking can make your pool cloudy if the chemistry is out of whack.

Pool water is ALL about chemistry. If the FC is too low, you get algae, if your CYA is too high, you get algae.
The relationship between FC and CYA is CRITICAL to having a sparkly algae free pool.

It can be cleared up, but it is a process. There is no magic cure.
The process is known as a SLAM, short for Shock Level And Maintain. Maintaining enough level of FC to kill ALL of the algae is paramount to getting rid of it. You cannot use any powdered chlorine products to do this. We recommend Liquid Chlorine, either regular household bleach, or liquid pool shock. The only differnce between the two is the concnetration of Sodium Hypochlorite.

In order to know the chemistry parameters, you have to have a proper test kit in order to measure them. Most of us here at TFP use the TF100 test kit. I recommend you get one if you are going to maintain your pool yourself and keep the water sparkly.
They are only available online at TFTestkits.net (I am not a test kit salesman, I get no commission etc. I recommend it, because it works and it gives RELIABLE test results). Since you have algae, I recommend you get the XL option, because to clear it up using the SLAM process, you will have to test a lot, and the XL option provides enough test regent to get through it.

Below are some links to the SLAM process, and Pool Math which is very handy tool.
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html


After you have rid the pool of algae and finished the SLAM process, keeping your pool sparkly is simply a matter of keeping all of hte water parameters within their proper range. Here is a link to the Recommended Levels. If you do this, you will never have to deal with algae or expensive pool chemicals again.
Pool School - Recommended Levels

If you decide to follow the TroubleFreePool care method, then get your test kit on order right away. In the meantime, read up on the links provided so you have some idea of the lingo and reasoning behind further suggestions that may be made.

Also, you can hold off the algae from getting any worse, by adding 1 gallon of regular cocentrated household bleach to your pool each day. No fancy splashless or scented ones.
DO NOT add more than 1 gallon a day until you can reliably test your pool water and finally get rid of the troubles you have.

Hope this helps get you started
 
singingpond said:
I'm guessing Illinois, given the weather report.
Click to expand...


Actually Ohio........ And weather again has changed..... more rain today, tonight, and tomorrow..... I swear, I should just build an ark and be done~:cool:

Thanks for the help~ Funny, forgot my mom was expert with "pooling" as we had one growing up... But she did it all when it came to the pool. She just
told me nearly exactly what you suggested..... Liquid bleach..... Who would have thought? I am going to order the pool testing kit... It is a must~
 
That test kit will be the best investment you can possibly make, other than just a bit of time, to maintain it.
You wont be disappointed.

If there is one thing to remember, its the relationship between Chlorine and the Stabliizer level. If the stabilizer level is too high, it buffers the effect of the chlorine too much, for it to be effective. Its a chemistry fact that the pool stores refuse to recognize.
 
BR is bromine. Bromine is an alternative sanitizer to chlorine. But if you are not using bromine, then that reading means nothing.

5 is the Total Chlorine reading. But chemically speaking there are two different types of chlorine.
There is Free Chlorine (FC), and there is Combined Chlorine (CC, also called chloramines or monochloramines). The sum of them both is the total chlorine, which is what your color kit is measuring.

Free Chloirine is the chlorine available to sanitize the pool and fight off algae
Combined Chlorine is chlorine that is basically used up and not available. It get used up oxidizing organics in the water, such as algae. Since you know you have algae, I would suspect your CC is high and so in essence, you dont have as much good chlorine as the test kit you are using may lead you to believe. This is explained fairly well in the ABCs of Pool Chemistry which I provided a link to.

The TF100 test kit lets you test for FC and CC independently, and is one of the big reasons why you need it. Being able to reliably test for all the different parameters independently of their interaction with each other is in many ways the foundation of having a crystal clear pool 100% of the time.
 

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Never let rain deter you from adding chlorine to the pool. If you don't want to get wet, the alternative is a green pool.

I'm right next door in Pennsylvania and my pool has not even gone cloudy, let alone green. It's not the rain... it's the lack of chlorine.
 
Follow the advise on here for the slam and you will be in good shape......
I would rather go out in the rain to test my water and add bleach than have a hot sunny day and not be able to swim. Had to do that many times so far this summer here in pa.
 
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