HELP my pool is GREEN and cloudy!! (Pictures)

[Help!]

Okay, I just scrubbed down the sides of my pool and added a gallon of bleach. I still have a lot of dead algae on the bottom of the pool, but I'm going to work on figuring out a vacuum solution tomorrow. I tested the water at a 3:1 ratio, but it read too high for that. So, I tried a 7:1 ratio. Then the chlorine read at a 3.0 - 3.5, I multiplied that by 7. My chlorine levels are at 21.0 - 24.5. I will take pictures and test again in the morning to see how much chlorine I lose. My pool just has the filter that came with the pool, a Krystal Clear 637R filter pump. I will take a picture tomorrow in the sunlight. Thanks again for helping us with our green pool!

 

[Charlie_R]

Ok, with the 637R, there should be an adapter insidethe pool that looks like this, witha short hose that goes to something that looks like this. That firs thing is the adapter I was talking about. My pool hose fits inside that, and even with the smaller 637R gave decent suction with a new filter. Really pulls with the current 1/2 hp 633T.

 

[Help!]

Well, last night it rained...and the forecast for the next three days is the same.. :| Will this mess up everything I've worked on?? My camera kept giving me different lighting, so the pool colors kept being inconsistent. I tried to pick the best picture..but, I think that it actually looks better than the picture depicts. To me it looks better than yesterday! The water is much clearer, I can see right to the bottom, but it is a bit cloudy. My water wasn't ever "sparkly", I'd have to say this is about what it usually looks like...maybe a bit clearer?

I only have one picture of my pool before it turned green (6/4?/13):

Thanks for the links! I watched a video on youtube on using your filter as a vacuum. I plan on getting a long pool vacuum hose and attach it to the intake (into the pump, or out of the pool.) valve on the pump. Then have the filter take care of most of the algae while vacuuming (and I'm not losing or adding any water!). I also thought of putting a small piece of felt between the cap and the tube on the outtake valve to catch the smaller particles. Here is a picture of my outtake valve:

My filter seems pretty stained...this is the one that came with the pump. I also bought another one, it has a much better weave, which is also pretty stained.

I also noticed a lot of grime on the side of my dispenser (my camera was acting funny again..the pool isn't really that green!):

I tested the water again this morning. I did the 7:1 ratio, my levels are 1.5 - 2.0 which is really a 10.5 - 14.0. I lost quite a bit of Chlorine over night..but, I did test it immediately after dumping in a gallon of bleach on the sides then I tested it in the same spot. So it was probably reading higher than it should. Is the algae just eating up my chlorine? Do I need to dump a few gallons of bleach in to kill it? Or, do you think it is already dead and just needs to be vacuumed?

 

[alanpaul]

If your FC (free chlorine) level dropped overnight, it was used up in killing some algae.

You must keep the FC at Shock Level until the FC chlorine level does not drop overnight, AND until your pool is clear, AND until the test results for CC = 0.

Your pool will then be free of live, growing algae.

Bear in mind that once it's dead, the cloudy, dead, gray-white algae must be filtered out.

You are on the right track.

Unless you get a huge amount of rain, the amount of chlorine or bleach you use should not rise a lot. But remember that a significant amount of rain can add some organic debris to the pool, requiring the chlorine to eat that as well as your algae.

 

[Help!]

It's pouring ....now it is raining even harder than when I took this picture!

 

[copotay]

What part of the country are you in?, I am Louisiana and our heat and humidity is terrible and helps the algae grow in anything. As the others have said too, the test kit is essential whenever you are able to get it, along with learning pool school.

Before I built my pool I had the same exact Intex and if you go into the Above Ground Pool section you will see many discussions that say that little filter is not sufficient for the pool size, Intex basically underrated the pool filter. I bought an Intex sand filter when I had my Intex pool and it made the world of difference giving you good vacumming power and water turn over. If you are like me, that little filter gets dirty in no time and you have to take it out and wash it, and then it does not last long and you have to buy another one, thats why they sell them in six packs some places.

http://www.amazon.com/Intex-56671EG-650 ... B002V1H11W

I know its another expense for you, but thats what I had to do.

 

[Charlie_R]

You should consider buying a couple of Unicel C-4607 carts. Cleanable, and will last a couple of seasons if you take care of them.

Have a look at this thread Cartridge filter comparison, and read pool school for how to clean them.

If you buy from Amazon, make sure you are getting a genuine Unicel. Look at the description and seller. What you don't want is "replaces Unicel" or "compatible with Unicel" anywhere in there.

 

[yeggim]

...Suggestion on your shock level -- besides buy the kit! -- dilute pool water by 3:1 with distilled water. that's 3 parts distilled to 1 part pool water and multiply the reading by 3......you get the idea. Accuracy goes away, but the OTO tester isn't accurate to begin with. It will get you closer to what you need temporarily.

Wouldn't that be X4?

 

[jblizzle]

...Suggestion on your shock level -- besides buy the kit! -- dilute pool water by 3:1 with distilled water. that's 3 parts distilled to 1 part pool water and multiply the reading by 3......you get the idea. Accuracy goes away, but the OTO tester isn't accurate to begin with. It will get you closer to what you need temporarily.

Wouldn't that be X4?

Yes it would be 4x

 

[Charlie_R]

Oops....my math skills failed me. The thing is, the pool seems to be clearing, and aside from the rain and what looks like it could be iron staining, The OP is happy, and learning that the TF-100 or K-2006 is a necessity.

As to the staining, That will need someone else's expertise. Of that I know very little. I know, POOL SCHOOL!! I'll have to learn it, won't I.....

 

[TheNthTraveler]

... I just put another 3 inch tablet in my floating dispenser...

I'm pretty new, but a fast learner (I hope), so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Somewhere in pool school it talks about how the tablets (Trichlor I beleive) intentionally add chlorine, but unintentionally add cyanuric acid (CYA, a.k.a. stabilizer). And as CYA levels increase, you have to add more and more chlorine to sanitize properly. So, if you keep using the tabs, eventually you'll have algae no matter how much "shock" you put in there. Use bleach or liquid chlorine (it doesn't add CYA).

Read the pool school part about shocking being a process for help.

Hope this helps!

 

[TheNthTraveler]

... I just put another 3 inch tablet in my floating dispenser...

I'm pretty new...

And it shows! I didn't look to see there was a 2nd page on this subject.

Sorry!

 

[Help!]

Thanks for clearing up the math, I'll be sure to calculate correctly! We went to the store last night, I got a nifty little vacuum (it's amazing!!), 4 gallons of bleach, 4 bags of shock, a new filter, and a HTH 6-way pool test kit (unopened). Will that kit be good for me? What numbers are really important at this point? I added a gallon of bleach and a bag of shock last night, after cleaning the filter and vacuuming. I woke up this morning and vacuumed again, then tested the water. I did the 7:1 x 8, my chlorine level is 32.0. I also took out the 3 inch tablet. What should I do now?

 

[Help!]

... I just put another 3 inch tablet in my floating dispenser...

I'm pretty new, but a fast learner (I hope), so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Somewhere in pool school it talks about how the tablets (Trichlor I beleive) intentionally add chlorine, but unintentionally add cyanuric acid (CYA, a.k.a. stabilizer). And as CYA levels increase, you have to add more and more chlorine to sanitize properly. So, if you keep using the tabs, eventually you'll have algae no matter how much "shock" you put in there. Use bleach or liquid chlorine (it doesn't add CYA).

Read the pool school part about shocking being a process for help.

Hope this helps!

Thank you! I noticed that my shock is a Dichlor (sp?), is that okay?

 

[Help!]

Oops....my math skills failed me. The thing is, the pool seems to be clearing, and aside from the rain and what looks like it could be iron staining, The OP is happy, and learning that the TF-100 or K-2006 is a necessity.

As to the staining, That will need someone else's expertise. Of that I know very little. I know, POOL SCHOOL!! I'll have to learn it, won't I.....

What is the OP?

 

[Help!]

When do you think we can go swimming again?

 

[jblizzle]

Slow down there

Dichlor will add CYA faster than the pucks (trichlor) will ... I just scanned through and did not see it ... What is your CYA now? Your FC appears to be awfully high unless you CYA is also pretty high already.

Likely you should not have bought the "shock" and stick with the liquid.

OP = Original Poster

You can swim when you complete the shock process by meeting the 3 criteria to stop.

 

[Help!]

Well, my test only shows TC. My TC this morning was at 32.0, I just got the HTH 6-way test kit ( I read somewhere that it doesn't check for both types of chlorine though, is that correct??) and haven't opened it yet. I'm not sure what to do just yet.. The last time I did the CYA test was using a paper strip (I posted pictures on the 1st page), it read 100 which was in the green line (is 100 good?). Yes, I am happy! I'm a bit confused and stressed, but I'm glad that my pool isn't green anymore! I just went out and looked at it again, it's sparkly and blue!!! Why do all the professional pool guys on youtube use the shock if it's so bad?? It seems to work. I can test my CYA again later, I'll let you know what it is.

 

[jblizzle]

Your CYA should ideally be between 30-50ppm ... 100ppm is much too high and the pucks and dichlor will only make it higher.

Well, the "professionals" on youtube do not understand the CYA/FC relationship. Sure adding a bunch of dichlor may temporarily clear the pool, but it would also vastly increase the likelihood of the pool turning green again because now the CYA is higher, therefore you need to maintain a higher FC level.

There are other forms of powder too ... cal-hypo adds calcium which you do not need, lithium is ridiculously expensive.

The only thing you need to clear a pool is chlorine ... and liquid is almost always the cheapest way to add it without the side-effects.

 

[Help!]

Okay..how do I lower my CYA? Do I need too? I was reading pool school and found different information on what my levels should be...

CYA (Stabilizer) Minimum FC Target FC Shock FC
20 2 3 10
30 2 4 12
40 3 5 16
50 4 6 20
60 5 7 24
70 5 8 28
80 6 9 31
90 7 10 35
100 7 12 39

Chart found here: pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

Then I saw this too:

Vinyl with Bleach
FC 3-7
pH 7.5-7.8
TA 70-90+
CH 50-300
CYA 30-50

Chart found here: pool-school/recommended_levels

So, what should the levels be for my pool?? I was told that the chlorine shouldn't go over 4.0ppm, that it would burn your skin if you swam in it.. Is that wrong?!

I just tested my pool again, at 7:1 x 8. It read 1.5, so it is really 12.0. It doesn't have a very strong bleach smell, when I tried testing it the normal way the chlorine level was so dark (which is why I did the 7:1 ratio). So, it has lowered quite a bit during the day (it was a 32.0 this morning)..is that normal??