Help! Brand New SW Pool Just turned green

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I went back out right after I wrote the above post and it is green. I am trying to work out the Pool Math calculator and if I am doing it right it took us 6 hours to get the pool up to 21" or approx 2,400 gallons (it is really only 21" of water but I couldn't change the calculator to inches so I put 2 feet into the equation instead of 21".) The calculator says "Raise FC by NaN and raise salt by NaN". My husband thinks we are probably about another 5 hours away from being full so we won't be able to run the pump for hours unless he disconnects the hoses and put them down under the water. Don is on the phone calling everyone postponing his 71st birthday party because the 11 grandkids will be so disappointed about the pool. So now that we have more time do we just wait the 5 hours until the water is above the skimmer to do anything or should we try to do something now. Feeling really disappointed but ready to move on with what we have to do next.
 
Can you describe this green you are seeing? Is it a cloudy green (algae) or is it a more transparent emerald green that could be related to metal (iron from the well). Can you post a picture for us to see?

Also clarify what (if anything) you have added to the water to this point).

Thank you.
 
Have you tried linking your photos from Photobucket? That's what many of us do here on TFP. Upload your pics to Photobucket (free), then copy & paste the IMG code for that pic from Photobucket to your TFP post. Works great.

Also, you can try going to the bottom of your quick reply post where it says “Go Advanced”, and then down to where it says “Manage Attachments”. It may let you upload them that way. They may show-up large because you can't adjust the size of the attachment, but it may work.
 
Have you had your well tested for metals? I suggest that you take a sample of water to a local pool store have them test for metals. This is one of the only times we suggest pool store testing.

Metal can cause the pool to turn different colors, but the clarity will be clear... a transparent green without any haze points to metals.

If you do have metals, you will need a sequestrant, either PH ProTeam's Metal Magic or Jack's Magic The Pink Stuff. Here is an article on metals: Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains
 
Well was tested when drilled a couple of years ago no metals were found. The water in the pool was crystal clear up until around noon (from 9:30 until noon) when it slowly started to turn yellowish green then green. The first time we filled it the water was clear for 3 or 4 days then turned green. The weather was quite cool then and is very hot and sunny now. The water in the little jar (see photo) is from the pool it looks clear when you take it out of the pool.
 
Wasn't it around noon or so when you added that little bit of bleach? If so, I suspect it is indeed metals. I went back to your very first post and here's what I saw. We were all focused on the fact your pool was green and you had no CYA which is used to protect FC. There was no hint of well water until about yesterday at 2:00PM when you mentioned about giving the well pump "breaks" while filling. By then the water draining had commenced. Not the worse thing, but I think we know more now. Back when this first started happening, you had no CYA but were producing FC (with your SWG) and adding some bleach. FC (Free Chlorine) can enhance color changes in water with metals (iron or copper). When you have no CYA (stabilizer) the FC is even stronger. So now it looks like your primary culprit is metal in the water.

There are a couple things you need to try and do for the next couple days:
- Add stabilizer (CYA) to help protect FC and serve as a buffer to the pool. Try to get that in the water as soon as you can.
- Keep FC relatively consistent but on the low end - about 3 ppm for now. A higher/stronger FC can make the metals react faster and more prominent.
- If you can test pH, try to also keep that low for now - about 7.2-7.4

The fact that your well never showed metals before isn't conclusive. Water sources can change over time, even city water. Your brand-new water didn't just develop an algae bloom, it's reacting (the metals) with the chlorine. So let's see how the water changes as you fill it all the way to the top and keep track of those 3 things I mentioned above. At some point, you may find that you will have to add a sequestrant periodically to help control that metal content to keep it from precipitating-out into the water and against the pool surfaces. But keep us posted on the water as you continue to fill.
 
Just to clarify that the chlorine was added after water turned green not before.
For the first three days with clear water there was only salt in the water with the pump running. The SWG was not on and there was no chlorine in the water. It turned green before we turned on the SWG, so before there was any chlorine in the water.
Today the water was clear until about noon when it started to turn. I added the chlorine after it turned green, not before, I think it was close to 1:00 at that point. I would have to look back at my post to be certain of time.
We had to stop adding water around 4:00 as the pump was bringing up sand.

So right now with the pool half full and the water not above the skimmer is is safe to add the liquid cya and chlorine with no pump running? I am wondering if it won't get mixed in with the pump not running? My husband said he might be able to detach the hoses and weigh them down so they are under the water and that way we could try starting the pump. Do you think we should try that? We won't be able to have the water tested by a pool company until Friday.
 
By clarifying the timeline and that no chlorine had effected the green water is quite helpful. There's still hope then that any metal content is not too bad if at all. We'll see. Yes, you can add some stabilizer if you can dilute it first and perhaps try to stir it around a bit. Just keep good notes on how much you add and what your projected CYA target was in case you only add stabilizer in small stages. Same for chlorine (FC), only add enough to maintain FC at about 3 ppm. No need to go real high.

It got hot today, and your pool filled slowly, but I can't see algae growing that fast, so I still think you may have a metal issue there. The other thing that will begin to make things tricky is not having your own proper test kit yet. So we'll have to just wait for that.
 

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I am trying to work out the Pool Math calculator and if I am doing it right we have 21" or approx 2,400 gallons (it is really only 21" of water but I couldn't change the calculator to inches so I put 2 feet into the equation instead of 21".) The calculator says "Raise FC by NaN and raise salt by NaN". I don't know what that means so I don't know how much cya or chlorine to add? Which do I add first or do I add them together? Should my husband rig the pump hoses so they are under water to run the pump, would that help things move more quickly?
 
What I would do is at the top of the calculator, simply change your pool volume from 4500 (or 4800) to an estimated 2400 gallons. From there you should be able to load new "NOW" and "TARGET" values to get a good reading on what you need to add at the present time.
 
On the calculator, I changed your pool size to 2400 gallons for now. Going from FC zero to 3 = 11 ounces of regular 8.25% bleach. To increase CYA from zero to 50 (for now) = 42 ounces of liquid conditioner. To increase salt from zero to 1500 ppm (for now) = 30 pounds. Hope that helps. :)
 
I want to get these chemicals in the pool asap as you recommend but I can't get the Pool Math calculator to tell me how much Cya and chlorine to put in and if I need to put salt in now or not?? No matter how many times I try to get it to input the answers for 2,400 gal in a 9 x 18 pool it won't fill in the numbers. I keep trying to read over all the treads to find clues but the numbers I was given earlier were for the pool when it was full. I just don't know what to do at this point as far as measurements for chemicals.

- - - Updated - - -

Cross posted sorry

Texas Splash said:
On the calculator, I changed your pool size to 2400 gallons for now. Going from FC zero to 3 = 11 ounces of regular 8.25% bleach. To increase CYA from zero to 50 (for now) = 42 ounces of liquid conditioner. To increase salt from zero to 1500 ppm (for now) = 30 pounds. Hope that helps. :)
Click to expand...
 
Later when things settle down, I want you to try an experiment for me as follows:
- Click on the Poolmath calculator link in my sig below or from the Home Page tab
- Enter 2400 at the top where it says "Size _ Gallons"
- Just below that is the FC row. Enter "0" in the "NOW" block, then enter "3" in the "TARGET" block. Next to that there is a field titled "WEIGHT". Enter "8.25" in that area.

Now move your mouse arrow/cursor over that yellow area on the FC row. Where you see the small word "Add", it should say "11 oz", and at the same time when your mouse cursor is over that item, above it should say "1 cup, 3 ounces".

Hopefully you are able to duplicate those actions to use the calculator correctly. Let me know if you encounter any problems.
 
I really appreciate the help and I am sorry to keep asking these 2 things over and over again, but do we add all the chemicals at the same time or do we space them out.
If we need to space them out, how far apart?
My husband is yelling at me because I have not given him an answer yet as to whether or not he should rig up the pump so the hoses are under the water so we can turn it on after adding the chemicals in and circulate them. We will not be able to add anymore water until tomorrow so the chess will just sit in the water over night if there is no pump.
I wish I could figure out the Pool Math thing so I didn't have to keep asking you to help me.
Sitting here is tears over this darn pool :-(
 
You can add the stabilizer and bleach now. The only thing you need to keep separated is bleach and "muriatic" acid (for pH).

- - - Updated - - -

If you two are able to manually stir the water a bit, that will work for this evening. No need to have him juggle the hoses. Just dilute the liquid stabilizer and pour it in. Then pour the small amount of bleach in (no need to separate). Then with a broom, paddle, or anything you can reach into the water, try to move the water around and stir it for a few minutes. It should be okay for this evening now that the sun will be down soon.
 
sorry for taking so long in getting back to you...

keep pouring water into the pool with the chemicals you have been told.

You do not need to space them out, you can add them all at the same time without worries.

There are no need for tears, we will get you through this.
 
We just got finished adding the chemicals. It is unbearably hot here so we were moving slowly. We called the kids and grandkids and canceled Don's birthday/pool party for the weekend so that will give us more time to get the pool balanced. That was sad but it is what it is. We had hired someone to help us drain and bleach it out this morning, we thoroughly bleached every bit of it and rinsed like crazy so I really thought all would be well when we refilled it. The pool is a big brown mess now. We will add more water tomorrow when the well recovers. I will test the water in the morning too. Friday we will take a sample to the pool place in a larger town south of us and see if they can test the water for metals.
 

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