Green Water, beginner pool people!

[Allyrose1029]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum, and new to owning a pool. I have a 22'x52" high Intex pool. I filled it from my well. I originally shocked it right after it was full, and it automatically turned green. Not a dark cloudy green, it is light and clear. I called the pool supply store, and they told me it sounds like I have copper in my water. So I bought Metalfree, and put half of it in. Now the ph is high, and the chlorine is high. Woke up this morning, and it is still green. Does anyone have any advice on how to fix this? Thanks in advance!

Ally

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello Ally and welcome to TFP! Not so sure about the copper, I'd be willing to be it's iron. Either way, it's a downfall from filling from a well. I'm going to give you a couple things to read first:
Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

Metals can change the water colors when chlorine is added, usually yellow, green (clear), or brown, and this can be complicated by the reflection of the water against the color of your pool surface (i.e. blue pool with yellow tint from metals = emerald green water). When iron is left untreated, it can settle and leave stains on the pool surfaces.
If you are not able to have fresh (non-well) water delivered, and are stuck with well water, then the more “pre-filtering” of iron you can do to physically remove it before treating chemically the better. Some folks have had decent success placing layers of dishrags, paper towels, or pillow batting in the skimmer to catch iron/rust particles. Others place socks, micro-filters, or other products over the garden hose as they fill from the water source to serve as a pre-filter.
Your best and most reliable method of metals management is to add sequestrant to the water and replenish it periodically. Sequestrant is a chemical that binds to the iron in the water so that it can't form stains or turn brown. Sequestrant breaks down slowly, so you need to add more regularly. ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic the Pink Stuff (regular), the Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and the Purple Stuff (SWG) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find other brands with similar products, some of which are noticeably less expensive. Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective.

If your water is new (fresh fill) you should not have algae yet, so let the FC drop a bit. Forget the term "shocking" as you've learned from the pool store. In fact, stay away from the pool store. Order your own proper test kit (TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C) right away and post a full set of numbers for us. Until then, without knowing your true CYA level, keep your FC around 3-5 ppm using just regular bleach (plain) - no splashless or scented stuff. Do not use bags of shock or tabs/pucks. Also, it is important to lower your pH to the low 7s for now. Use muriatic acid to lower the pH to about 7.2. Hopefully lowering the pH and keeping the FC at a level of around 3-5 will help the green go away. But make sure to get one of those test kits so we can see your true readings as soon as possible.

Keep in touch and let us know how things are going or if you have anymore questions.

 

[zea3]

Just FYI, very rarely does a well contain copper. Copper usually enters the pool by treating the water with mineral packs such as Frog, or Nature 2, treating the water with copper based algaecides, and copper pipes/heat exchangers that have degraded. It is not unusual for wells to have iron content. You are lucky the water is clear green, that means the iron will sequester easier with the correct product. If the iron had oxidized and turned brown you would have a bigger mess to clean up first. If Jack's Magic or Metal Magic is not available look for a sequestrant based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives. Just check the active ingredients.