CLEAR green water after adding PH Minus

[tlefco]

Hello,

pool 28000 gallons, vinyl FC very high, TA was almost 0. PH was VERY high, off the charts.

I just opened up my pool. Was very clear and blue. Shocked it a few times thought life was good.
I saw PH was high so I added PH minus. and it turned green, CLEAR green, in an hour.

went to pool store they gave me what I should do. I needed 42 lbs of sodium bicarbonate. I got that in good range.
I took chlorine tabs out as chlorine is off the charts. (But it does not smell strong at all, people have swam in it and no eye complaints or skin)

I am getting frustrated....Could this me copper?

Please help.... I have had a few pools in my time and NEVER had this occur.
Thanks
Tom

 

[RobbieH]

High chlorine will not make a chlorine smell. You get chlorine smell when your CCs are high, when chlorine is working hard to kill organics. From what I have seen, you are more likely to smell that chlorine smell when there's not enough chlorine, not when there's too much.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum :lol: Without test results, we're sort of just flailing. Can you post some current ones?

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

With high chlorine, you can't trust your pH test results.

It could be metals in the water. Do you use algaecide (if so, what kind), a mineral cartridge or the tabs from Walmart?

 

[tlefco]

thanks, but won't high chlorine burn eyes? Skin?
What is CC??

 

[tlefco]

I am working on getting those will retest again today.

 

[tlefco]

no algaecide put in yet....

 

[RobbieH]

thanks, but won't high chlorine burn eyes? Skin?
What is CC??

Not necessarily, although you shouldn't be swimming in the pool at shock levels.

pool-school/pool_water_chemistry

The pool school is your friend. If you can get the concepts in there, it'll make taking care of your pool a whole lot easier. It will also help you understand what is what, so that if you smell, see, or feel certain things in your pool you'll know what the issue is and how to resolve them.

Even when my chlorine creeps up too high in my pool, there is never a chlorine smell, no burning eyes, etc.

 

[Voodoo_Pool]

Welcome to the forum.

From Pool School:

Myth #2: Chlorine pools smell bad
Yes, Mr. Honest-Pool-Store-Man, I agree chlorine pools smell awful! How much for that alternative NatureBaquaFrog2 system? A properly maintained chlorine pool has virtually no smell at all. The "chlorine odor" actually comes from combined chloramines (CCs). CCs are formed as the free chlorine is 'used up' by organics in the water. If you are only testing for 'total chlorine' you may think your chlorine levels are fine. But CCs are no good at sanitizing your water, and in fact you need to get rid of them. The sun also burns them off, but you need to bring your water up to shock level and hold it there until you have 0ppm CCs.

Myth #3: Rashes, swimmer's ear, and red stinging eyes are caused by high levels of chlorine
Ouch! Stupid chlorine in the community pool caused my baby to get a rash on his tushy! Rashes and swimmer's ear are usually caused by bacteria. Many times the rashes develop under the bathing suit, where the environment is warm and damp. Same thing for swimmer's ear. The bacteria get into the ear, water is trapped with it, and the bacteria thrive. To help prevent rashes, rinse promptly after getting out of the pool. You can use commercial drops, or drops made from one part alcohol and one part vinegar before and after swimming to help prevent swimmer's ear. You also need to shock your pool to kill the bacteria and maintain a safe, sanitary environment.

My eyes! My eyes! Most of the time, red stinging eyes are caused either from improper pH or high CC levels. Your tears have a pH of 7.4, and any value too far either higher or lower causes irritation. Again, the presence of CCs indicate that you need to shock the water.

CC
Combined Chlorine
The stuff that smells like chlorine and burns your eyes that you get rid of by shocking your pool.

Hope this helps. By the way, how are you testing your water?

 

[tlefco]

using HTH test strips, but then took sample to local pool place.
Of course my daughter is home sleeping with the darn data sheet!!!

 

[Voodoo_Pool]

using HTH test strips, but then took sample to local pool place.

Both of these are notoriously unreliable, as you can read on this forum. I highly recommend a quality test kit such as from http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html. A quality test kit will enable you to take control of your pool's chemistry, thus saving money on added chemicals and time from driving to the pool store. It sounds like time is something you may not have a lot of in the 'extra' column.