Very Large pool with alot of algae - help!

[hillsswim]

Topic Split Off by Moderator

I am currently running a swimming pool of 188,000 gallons of water and now have an algea problem. Its green algea and I have been having people scrubbing and shocking the pool at night and it does not seen to be going away. I want to purchase an algecide but do not know what kind, help!

SJ

 

[anonapersona]

Re: Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparking Oasis

I am currently running a swimming pool of 188,000 gallons of water and now have an algea problem. Its green algea and I have been having people scrubbing and shocking the pool at night and it does not seen to be going away. I want to purchase an algecide but do not know what kind, help!
SJ

You might want to post this as a separate topic. I can flag this so a moderator can decide about that.

Meanwhile, the first thing you ought to do is to read Pool School. If you are running a pool that size, most of this will be stuff you know but since the CYA/chlorine relationships is not taught in most training, you may find some info that helps you tremendously.

Where are you located? Sometimes that may affect what you can do; we get posts from all over the world it seems.

Can you provide a full test; FC, CC, TC, pH, TA, CH, CYA.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Anona has given you good advice - you need to read Pool School and how to shock a pool properly. We need more info like what are you testing with, what are you shocking with, and what are your test results. In all likelyhood you probably aren't shocking high enough.

Is the water clear, but you are seeing algae on the sides, etc? could be mustard algae which is resistant to "normal" levels of chlorine.

So if you post back with more info we can advise you better.

 

[Nod]

Topic Split Off by Moderator

I am currently running a swimming pool of 188,000 gallons of water and now have an algea problem. Its green algea and I have been having people scrubbing and shocking the pool at night and it does not seen to be going away. I want to purchase an algecide but do not know what kind, help!

SJ

You have to keep your shock levels up until the algae is killed off completely. You cannot just shock at night, as it will come back during the day. Are you using liquid chlorine? Also what does your CYA look like as that is the most important factor to know what the shock process is. I am betting it is higher than you realize and this is why algae started growing. Most home owners just forget to put chlorine in the pool, but as someone running a pool this is your only job as it is a serious liability for a commercial pool to drop below safe levels, so whatever amount of chlorine you were adding, wasn't adequate for sanitizing and now you realize that with algae growth. I believe your main concern at this point, isn't the algae in the pool, but the safety of your bathers. Post your FC, CC, and CYA levels, and the pros will be by to guide you through the process.