Dark Green Pool

[sweetjrgal008]

We have come home to a pool that is dark green. Went to the pool store and she suggested 2 jugs of 2 1/2 gallon chlorine. She said to dump those in and then check in the morning and see what you have.

I have done that and I know that I am not going to see any progress .

Question is, What else can I do?
All my tests are too high and im sure that I have green and black algae.....
Not going back to that store, as they didnt know what they were doing.

Any suggestions?

Misty

 

[frogabog]

Did the store give you your test results? Can you list those please?


We need the following values:
FC
TC
CC
PH
CH
TA
CYA

 

[RobbieH]

At least they told you to use liquid chlorine instead of giving you 10 different products with no idea of what you need, wasting several hundred bucks!

 

[sweetjrgal008]

@frogabog . I cant seem to find the test results....probably flew out the window. I did a test when I got home from aquachem and every one of them were the highest color. Except for chlorine.

This morning I went to check pool and it is blue again just very, very cloudy.

Misty

 

[Bama Rambler]

What size is your pool.
How do you normally chlorinate your pool?

5 gallons of 12.5% chlorine would have put a good bit of FC in the pool.

You should consider getting a good test kit.

 

[frogabog]

Hi Misty,

OK, so what you've done to the pool is like a baby shock. That's good, but not quite good enough. Chances are that the algae is re-growing already. Yes the pool isn't dark green, but in order for this to work you have to understand that shocking is a process. You can't just pour chlorine in and walk away because the shock level of chlorine has to be maintained until all the algae is dead and can not re-grow.

Go read pool school (upper right of this page, white button) and look at the algae section. Read how to shock your pool and within that link is another that details how to clear a green swamp. Good information there and it will help you understand how to complete the transformation of your pool.

Next, as you will be told over and over on this forum, you can't do this without a proper test kit. The information regarding test kits is also in pool school. Depending on your location, you could have one by Friday if you order today. The best bang for your buck is the TF100 from http://www.tftestkits.net. It is important that any kit you purchase be a FAS-DPD test kit, NOT just the DPD test kit. But should you have a DPD kit already or locate one of those to use, there are simple options to complete it. Got any neighbors with pools you can check with?

To help us help you for the time being, you will probably have to go back to a pool store and have them run a full set of tests again. Without knowing your CYA level, it's hard to know how much chlorine you'll need to maintain so we can help you until you get a proper kit.

Plus... ^^^^^^ What Bama said ^^^^^^

 

[rastoma]

At least they told you to use liquid chlorine instead of giving you 10 different products with no idea of what you need, wasting several hundred bucks!

Exactly. I was going to post the same thing.

What is the name of the store? A local business or a national chain?

Although as it has been suggested, getting a drop test kit instead of strips and coming here for help, we'll help you get your pool sparkling clean for the least amount of money...... at least you have a place locally that it sounds like you can half-way trust.... unless they start telling you to use a bunch of other junk.

Chlorine or bleach (same chemical just different names) is all you need to shock your pool and kill the algae. But as mentioned you have to know how much CYA (stablizer) you have in the pool before you can properly shock it. Until you get a good test kit (recommended to get from tftestkits.net) I would put at least a gallon or two or generic non-scented bleach in the pool every day for the next 2-3 days. Get a box of cheap stockings from Walmart or the dollar store and stretch it over the skimmer basket to collect the dead algae. Keep an eye on it because you will probably have to change or rinse it out every few hours if you have a lot of dead algae which it sounds like you do.