Green now cloudy and won't budge

[Ericstac]

Hey guys, newbie here..I've lurked for a few years but always decided not to get a pool even though we love them. Well, got one this year and I thought I would keep it simple by just letting the local pool store test my water and guide me.. Lol..

I have a 20ft intex pool with the frame and a 50lb sand filter. We are also on well water.. Got it filled a couple months ago and made e mistake of using the fake sand.. Would not filter correctly and got algae quickly.. Pool co guided me with algicide and a bunch of other stuff and a few days later it was beautiful. Changed to regular sand and we were swimming.. Three weeks into swimming it started to turn green. I had been shocking regularly because we swam everyday but it still turned.. Then it rained for about a week nonstop. So I just waited.

Then I began to tackle, super shocking with 6x the recommended doses and acid daily.. No testing or anything just figured why not.. After a couple hundred dollars and no change I went to the pool co and they did another algicide followed by shock. BOOM! Beautiful blue colored water but was white cloudy.. Dead algae right? Shocking didn't clear that, filter was getting it. They had my do a clarifier followed by shocking every 12 hours and after a week still nothing. I haven't touched it for 3 days now..figured maybe let it sit and it would clear up.. Nothing.

Help

I order the recommended tst kit and I'm waiting on its arrival but can I or should I do anything to get started?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

If you have been lurking, why would you let the pool store test??? And why would you be using algeacide? And why are you using clarifiers? And why are you just throwing money away in general?

At least you have now ordered a kit, but without any numbers, we really can not offer any advice besides ... read Pool School a few times and stop trusting the pool store.

Likely you will need to verify your CYA is not sky high due to all the "shock powder" you have used and then will need to SLAM the pool. [slam:2ctjmjgj][/slam:2ctjmjgj]

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to TFP!

Poor filtering by itself will not cause algae. Low chlorine, however, will.

...super shocking with 6x the recommended doses...

Do you remember the brand name of this product or, if possible, the active ingredient? Most "shock" products are either dichlor or calcium hypochlorite. Suspect the product you were using was dichlor which raises CYA (a.k.a., stabilizer). The amount of chlorine needed for proper sanitation is dependent on the CYA level. See this article for more information on this relationship: Chlorine / CYA Chart

Skip the algaecides. They are not useful if you already have an outbreak (which may be not yet visible at this point). Your pool is around 9.4k gallons (assuming 20 feet round x 4 feet deep). Therefore, until your test kit arrives, I would suggest about 70oz of 8.25% bleach each day. Once the test kit arrives, post a full set of tests and we will go from there.

 

[woodyp]

What I think your biggest problem is physically? A 50 lb. sand filter and a 20 ft. round pool is not a good match. The pool size far outclasses the filtration system. Rule # 1 is.........Why throw anything in your pool unless you know exactly what the expected outcome is? Welcome to TFP, wait for the test kit, and stop 6x everything!

 

[Ericstac]

Lol jblizzle, hard headed I guess. I figured them Internet hippies with their BBB treatments.. Lol. I was a fool.

I used chlor-brite from Leslie pools... 99% dichlor. No good right?

I've already got plans to buy a bunch of Clorox bleach tomorrow and will for now do what BoD said and do about 70oz..

Oh, the pump has been running 24/7. I know on Saturday they had me put about 2lbs of ash, which. Used baking soda in..

 

[Ericstac]

Woodyp, I hear you but I was to the point of, if I put enough stuff of something in there something has to change.. That didn't work though

 

[jblizzle]

woodyp raises a good point. What is the diameter of your filter? Your pool is likely at least 8k gallons which would suggest a minimum of a 16" diameter sand filter if not closer to 18".

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

Hey guys, newbie here..I've lurked for a few years but always decided not to get a pool even though we love them. Well, got one this year and I thought I would keep it simple by just letting the local pool store test my water and guide me.. Lol..

I have a 20ft intex pool with the frame and a 50lb sand filter. We are also on well water.. Got it filled a couple months ago and made e mistake of using the fake sand.. Would not filter correctly and got algae quickly.. Pool co guided me with algicide and a bunch of other stuff and a few days later it was beautiful. Changed to regular sand and we were swimming.. Three weeks into swimming it started to turn green. I had been shocking regularly because we swam everyday but it still turned.. Then it rained for about a week nonstop. So I just waited.

Then I began to tackle, super shocking with 6x the recommended doses and acid daily.. No testing or anything just figured why not.. After a couple hundred dollars and no change I went to the pool co and they did another algicide followed by shock. BOOM! Beautiful blue colored water but was white cloudy.. Dead algae right? Shocking didn't clear that, filter was getting it. They had my do a clarifier followed by shocking every 12 hours and after a week still nothing. I haven't touched it for 3 days now..figured maybe let it sit and it would clear up.. Nothing.

Help

I order the recommended tst kit and I'm waiting on its arrival but can I or should I do anything to get started?

Depending on what they used to "shock" it, they may (in fact probably) raised the CYA level higher, which raises the chlorine shock level even higher, which they treated with more powdered chlorine, which raises the shock level... and so on and so on. At least you're getting off the merry-go-round and taking control of things.

Odds are your FC level wasn't kept high enough, long enough. Once you run the whole battery of tests and post the results, the next step should be easy to figure out. Tip: when you run the CYA test, take a reading, pour it back in the mixing bottle, shake it again, and repeat as many times as necessary until you're confident of the results. The CYA level is critical to determining the shock level.

In the meantime, I'd keep FC at 10ish until the kit arrives. It might be high enough to start clearing, and it should be high enough to keep things from getting worse.

Getting from green to cloudy is usually the easy part, it's the rest of it that takes so long...the first 90% only takes 10% of the time and all that.

As an aside, the filter media had nothing to do with the green. If it wasn't filtering right, the water may look cloudy, but it would never turn green. Slowly turning green means low chlorine, period
amazing-how-little-filtration-has-to-do-with-clearing-algae-t22513.html There was another thread a while back that I can;t find where the pool owner had forgotten to take it off recirculate and ran his pool for months without a filter. Hazy, yes, green, no.

 

[JohnN]

How much of that powdered shock have you added?

 

[Ericstac]

Over the last two weeks about 30lbs of that chlor Brite shock

Here are the pool details and pump


Intex® 20’ x 52’’ Ultra Frame Pool

Cool off this summer with the Intex® Ultra Frame™ Pool. Everyone will enjoy the sparkling clean water with the Krystal Clear Sand Filter Pump.

The Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter is an added safety feature that shuts off the pump if electrical current is exposed to water. Be sure to invite friends over for a fabulous time!

Follow the instructional DVD for easy assembly and let the fun begin.

Includes:

-Krystal Clear™ Sand Filter Pump with 1,600 gallon -(6,056 L) per hour flow rate
-Ladder
-Debris cover
-Ground cloth
-Water Capacity (90%): 6,981 Gal
-Set-up and maintenance DVD included

Features: Above Ground
Includes: Ground Cloth, Pool Cover, Instructional DVD, Ladder, Filter Pump
Not Included: Air Pump
Capacity (volume): 8638.0 Gal.
Water Depth: 46.0 "
Filter Pump Flow Rate Per Hour: 1600.0 Gal.
Set-Up Time: 60-min.
Frame Material: Steel, Metal
Liner Material: Vinyl
Manufacturer's Suggested Age: 6 Years and Up
Dimensions: 20.0 ' L x 20.0 ' W x 52.0 " H
Warranty Description: Limited 90 Day Warranty

 

[JohnN]

Well, those 30 pounds of chlor brite have raised your CYA by 211, assuming your pool is in fact 8600 gallons. Have you done any water replacement since then? If not, assuming your CYA is 200, that is going to require at least a 75% water change. Just for the record, if your CYA is 200, your shock level is 41.

 

[Jeetyet]

Water Capacity (90%): 6,981 Gal

The Pool Calculator returns this when plugging in 7000 gals and adding 30lbs of Dichlor... "raise FC by 285, raise CYA by 259, lower PH by 10.83, and raise Salt by 232." I don't know if you should continue attempting to balance the water or rent it out as a beacon for late night rock concerts. I'm debating whether or not to send the Pool Police over to confiscate your Pool Operator's card and slap you about the head profusely with a large wet noodle.

While you're waiting on your test kit, you may as well go ahead and start familiarizing yourself with the proper procedure for draining.

 

[techguy]

I order the recommended tst kit and I'm waiting on its arrival but can I or should I do anything to get started?

Sorry to hear you were Pool Stored to a pool of CYA

I am going to suggest you get a trash pump from HomeDepot and drain the pool. Unless your water costs more than a couple hundred dollars to re-fill, you will be better off. A collection of garden hoses will siphon to pool empty in a couple days. The pump will do it in a couple hours and then you can refill while you wait for your test kit.

Attempting to manage this without a drain and fill will be hair pulling and very expensive.

If you are in the Phoenix area, a reverse osmosis may be cheaper, anywhere else, it's not likely an option.

 

[Ericstac]

Y'all gotta be kidding right? Draining the pool?

 

[Ericstac]

Just to be clear the 30lbs wasn't all at once.

It was like 3lbs every other day for a while, then went to 1lb every 12hrs for a few days, then a couple 2lb days in there..

 

[Charlie_R]

CYA doesn't leave the water. Once it's been added, it's there to stay. The only way to get rid of it is water replacement. It doesn't evaporate with the water, it doesn't degrade under normal circumstances.

So the cumulative amount as calculated by others here will be what you will find were you to test for it.

Sorry, but you have little choice at this point.

Now you know why we have a general disregard for pool store advice.

Funny thing about this, is quite a few pool stores will recommend a drain and refill when they can't figure out what they did wrong to your pool.......

 

[Patrick_B]

Y'all gotta be kidding right? Draining the pool?

No, Sorry. It's the only way to get the CYA down. Unfortunately, this is an all too common example of how Pool Stores mismanage people's pools. They simply do not understand, or do not care. It is amazing how many of them do not understand the CYA/Chlorine relationship, and it is critically important. Please take some time to read the ABC's of pool chemistry when you have a few minutes. Take a bite at a time and ask questions when you need too.

Welcome to TFP.

 

[Donldson]

Woodyp, I hear you but I was to the point of, if I put enough stuff of something in there something has to change..

Unfortunately something did change, as others have said it caused overstabilization. For every 10 ppm of FC dichlor adds it also adds 9 ppm of CYA. While the chlorine is consumed and goes away the CYA is nearly permanent. Typically a pool is considered past the point of no return once it tops 100, sounds like yours is double that.

I joke that they make dichlor in 99% strength because 99% of the time it's strongly discouraged.

Also since you have been adding acid and not testing you could well have a dangerously low pH. Right now draining most of it and starting over would be less trouble and less money than trying to care for it as is. Consider it a learning experience, one that could have been much worse had you waited longer.

 

[Ericstac]

lol.. sucks. lol

ok so how much should I drain and then once refilled can I dump a container of bleach in it until I get my test kit? If I refill without doing anything it will green up FAST.

 

[techguy]

Yup, adding bleach is encouraged during your fill. Add a couple cups early and as you get closer to full, you can add more bleach based on the values at poolcalculator.com.

Without any CYA, it will essentially 100% dissipate each day due to solar loss. If you would like to add a measured amount to CYA during your fill, it will make your chlorine last longer. This is why understanding the effects of CYA on your chlorine comes into play.

When you get too much CYA, like you have now, all of the chlorine is bound to the CYA and your pool is near impossible to manage. In this case, it gets green/murky/swampy/stinky no matter what you add.