Re: clear green water... TEST UPDATE!

[mcgeggy]

Re: clear green water... TEST UPDATE!

So we finally got our new (replacement) 24'x52" AG pool up this past Sunday. It took the next few days to fill it using well water. Added hockey puck tabs to a float dispenser, gallon of liquid shock, pool store PH raiser, pump with sand filter has been running constant for 48 hours and the water is green. It seemed a bit cloudier on Wed. when I first turned the pump on than it does tonight. Last night I added another gallon of shock, but a storm came through and dumped a lot of debris (leaves) into the pool, and this morning the pressure was very low out of the return. A backwash fixed it.

I ordered the TF100 test kit last night, probably won't be here till sometime next week. The strip testers show the PH on the high side.

Anyway, I'm thinking metal? Even though it took three days to fill the pool and it was hot, it doesn't seem like algae to me since it was greenish all along. In my last pool, whenever I had algae the water would be clear and blue and the algae would grow on the liner. No sign of algae on any pool surfaces. On the other hand, I've always topped of the old pool with well water and last summer drained about a third of the water out and refilled with well water with no hint of green.

Still, I'm anxious to see if something like Mineral Magnet might help (it's not like the test kit will test for metals anyway). I don't want to take the water to the pool store for testing because they will want to sell me all kinds of chemicals - and I trust everyone here more anyway!

Does it sound more like metal than algae in this scenario? Should I try the Mineral Magnet? Any downside to using it?

 

[JasonLion]

Re: clear green water...

If the water is a clear transparent sparkly green, then yes metals. But if it is cloudy or murky then it is algae.

The only downside to using sequestrant is that it costs something and might use up just a little chlorine.

 

[mcgeggy]

Re: clear green water...

The water is not sparkly, but I can see the bottom clearly. For eight years I dealt with algae problems every late summer. The algae would always grow on the sides and bottom and the water would remain crystal clear blue until I got into the pool and churned up all of the algae while vacuuming and cleaning it.

But that liner had a more textured surface than the new liner we have just installed in the new pool. So maybe the algae would now behave differently, since the new liner is very smooth, and not textured? But I would always get algae on my ladder too, and the ladder is the same (no algae on it now).

I added a bottle and a half of Mineral Magnet as per instructions last night and ran the filter continuously. This morning the pool looks pretty much the same, maybe just slightly less green. I don't see any staining or metal particles on the pool floor.

Does the Mineral Magnet take a few days to work?

If it was algae, wouldn't it keep getting worse everyday?

Maybe I need to lower the PH level with muriatic acid? If I lower it will the Mineral Magnet work better, or do I have to add more?

Can I just buy the muriatic acid at Home Depot, or does it have to be formulated for pool use?

Would clarifier help at all?

Should have my fancy new test kit Tuesday! Will post results then. What a great site this is! Well worth the price of becoming a lifetime supporter!

 

[duraleigh]

Re: clear green water...

Does the Mineral Magnet take a few days to work?
Not normally, you may need to add some more. Wait for other advice. I have never used it

If it was algae, wouldn't it keep getting worse everyday? Likely, but not absolutely. Your test kit will help us sort that out but I think you can probably assume metals is the primary cause

Maybe I need to lower the PH level with muriatic acid? If I lower it will the Mineral Magnet work better, or do I have to add more? What do your strips show for pH? They are propbably best at pH but still unreliable.

Can I just buy the muriatic acid at Home Depot, or does it have to be formulated for pool use? HD/Lowe's is the place to go!!

Would clarifier help at all?
No. Get some valid test results on Tuesday and we'll help you progress from there. It will be hard to be patient,but, aside from bringing down your pH (if it's in the 8"s) I would do little else for now.

 

[mcgeggy]

Re: clear green water...

OK, thanks for the reply! I will be patient for two more days. Funny thing is, for eight years with the old pool I always just "winged it" (never thought to look for a pool forum). Used the test strips and just threw chemicals into the pool. The water was always clear when I puled off the cover to open the pool, dumped a gallon of shock, ph raiser, clarifier, and used the hockey pucks (Blue Shield Jumbo Slow Poke) in the skimmer and floating dispenser. Water was always sparkly crystal clear blue. Late summer the algae would start and I'd add shock and dump algaecide, and basically struggle with the algae until I closed it.

This year after putting up the new pool and finding this site, I decided to try to be more accurate and deliberate, and hopefully save some money and be smarter about the whole thing. I just don't get why I'm having such a hard time with the green (mineral polluted?) water, when in the past there was never a hint of an issue with nine years of topping off with the same well water (and partial refill last summer). I'm betting the previous home owners who installed the original pool used the same well water for the initial fill too... And after reading through posts here, I was expecting well water to be on the reddish side if there was going to be a mineral problem.

And if it is algae, seems strange that it would not continue to get worse as time passes, or at least see some sign of algae somewhere.

I'll try to post some pics later...

 

[mcgeggy]

Re: clear green water... TEST UPDATE!

OK! Received my TF-100 test kit today and just finished first test.

FC 7
CC 0
TC 7
pH 7.2
T/A 50
CH 20
CYA 20

I still have clear green water, and I purchased two quarts of ProTeam Metal Magic. Hopefully it will work better than the Mineral Magnet. The water color has not changed any in the past two days since I added the Mineral Magnet (hopefully another sign that this is not algae...)

Should I just go ahead and pour in the Metal Magic tonight and leave the filter running 24 hours?

Or do I need to adjust any of the above levels?

I know the CYA is probably on the low side, but I have a summer's worth of jumbo pucks to use up, and I know that they will continue to increase the CYA level as the summer progresses.

Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

Your numbers could use some minor adjustments, especially if you are going to be using trichlor tablets. For trichlor you want to raise TA up to around 140 to 150, and raise the PH to around 7.7 or 7.8. With CYA at 20, FC of 7 is noticeably higher than you really need. FC around 2 to 5, and never below 2, should be fine while CYA is that low.

Trying the Metal Magic and leaving the filter running sounds like a great idea. It is best to do this now, and wait on raising the TA until tomorrow, so the two don't interfere with each other.

 

[mcgeggy]

Your numbers could use some minor adjustments, especially if you are going to be using trichlor tablets. For trichlor you want to raise TA up to around 140 to 150, and raise the PH to around 7.7 or 7.8. With CYA at 20, FC of 7 is noticeably higher than you really need. FC around 2 to 5, and never below 2, should be fine while CYA is that low.

Trying the Metal Magic and leaving the filter running sounds like a great idea. It is best to do this now, and wait on raising the TA until tomorrow, so the two don't interfere with each other.

Ok, sounds like a plan! And if the water turns a paler shade of green, keep adding sequestrant until it turns blue?

 

[JasonLion]

Yep

 

[mcgeggy]

Re: clear green water... TEST UPDATE!

Looking a lot better this morning! One more application should do it. :-D