New Pool, Fresh Fill, What a lovely GREEN!

[LRobyn]

Hi all! Long time reader, first time poster. Just bought a new pool and finished filling it an hour ago, thought I would share the results PRIOR to any chemical additives. This is water straight from our outside tap, municipal water supply. This is our second pool (slightly larger) and I will be using the BBB method since it worked to keep our other pool crystal clear for 2 summers.

Haven't run any tests just yet, I'm off to the store later for more supplies. Fairly certain this is a chloramine issue as we have no copper tubing anywhere in our water supply. (Husband replaced all water lines when we moved in.)

Intex ABG pool 14' X 48"

Nifty green water!

Turned the outflow upwards to aerate as much as possible.

My shadow...water is a clear green.

Neighbor's tree in background for color comparison.

This pool will have a large canopy over it (like our old one) as soon as I get everything stabilized. Wish me luck! This is the first time I've started with a green fill. Water has been nice and clear in the past... will update soon. (Hopefully with good results!)

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, LRobyn

Since your water is still clear and tinted green/yellow, it looks like metals in the water (probably iron) to me.

It does not look too bad (when people post about this it typically looks much worse), and it might filter out. However, if you have the stock cartridge filter that comes with the intex, it is unlikely that will filter it out. In some cases, people have had luck putting paper towels in the skimmer to "pre-filter" the metals out. If either of those don't work, then a metal sequestrant will be needed. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/metal stains

 

[dmanb2b]

Yup...I was going to guess Iron too. Adjust your PH 1st if needed and then add FC and CYA. Welcome to TFP

 

[onBalance]

It may well be an "iron" issue as is often the case. But I have seen many pools fill up looking like that that wasn't an iron problem. Tap water from nearby reserviors supplying homes may not be as effectively filtered as does most pool filters. They also do not add a sufficient chlorine residual to do the right job. Tap water that comes from wells is almost always clearer than reservoir water. Chlorine and a little DE (if you don't have that type of filter) to the skimmer should do the trick in either case.

 

[LRobyn]

Thanks so much! I hadn't considered iron since we've never had an indoor staining problem. We do however live in southern Oklahoma, land of the red clay and our city water system is ancient with frequent water main breaks. Occasionally (once or twice a year) the water indoors does turn a murky brown for a few hours and then clears, Husband (ex-water co employee) says it IS caused by rust and clay in the lines. Our municipal water is supplied from local lakes and there have been blue-green algae blooms in the lake that provides our water.

Now I REALLY wish I had paid closer attention to the water as it filled, since it may be more cost effective to drain and refill in a week or so. I had filled our smaller 12 X 36" pool 3 times prior and it NEVER looked like this. I tested the water straight from the hose right after the fill, the PH barely registered and the Chlorine level was around 3ppm. (Same for the pool) I replaced the Intex cartridge filter with the Wal-mart brand filters and changed them twice this afternoon...nothing but reddish rust/clay when I rinsed. Raised the PH, and re-tested this evening, Chlorine was nearly nil... less than .5ppm PH in the 7.5 range.

Tried adding 3 cups of bleach and the water picked up a brownish hue, so the iron may be correct.

This pool setup did not come with a skimmer, just an in-wall pump but I think I can get one if they aren't sold out for the season. (Small town Oklahoma! LOL)

At the moment I am stuck with a standard HTH OTO/Red phenol dropper kit, but I will visit TFTestkits and order something more appropriate tomorrow. We do have a SMALL pool store in town, I will have to call and see if they do water testing. (for the metals)

 

[LRobyn]

Quick update: after reading about others success using paper towels in the skimmer, I decided to try a little ingenuity instead of more chemicals! :idea: (This pool is for the Grandkids ages 5, 3 and 2) Putting CLEAN old socks over the intake (no reduction in outflow) and pulling a TON of nasty brown out of the water. May just be my optimistic imagination, but I can see a visible difference in just the first hour. Hoping this combined with frequent filter changes will do the trick. - signed, Gramma on a mission!