I bought my house this winter and the 26,000gal inground pool was covered. I uncovered it a few weeks ago and it is completely green. The algae is out of control. Clearly the pool was not winterized properly and now it is my problem. I've heavily shocked it (20lbs of shock). This has has little affect on it. It has made is slightly less green. I have also brushed down the sides and bottom every day and the pump is running 24/7. My test strips are reading total chlorine in the ok range. Free chlorine in the very, very low range. pH is all over the place. One day it will be really high and the next it will be really low. Hardness is in the ok range. Alkline is low. From what I have read I need to add liquid chlorine and/or bleach to get the free chlorine levels up, right? Is one better than the other? Should I mix? Please help. I'm at a loss.
Swamp Thing!
- Thread starter H20logged
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
Your problem is actually pretty trivial, so don't panic. You'll be chilling by the pool in a week or so.
Start out by reading Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis and then return with any questions.
The key take-aways from the article should be the importance of good, trustworthy test results and frequent chlorine additions during the early stages. Your pool can eat through enough chlorine to last an entire summer in less than a day while clearing the mess, so you have to be diligent. It's not nearly the task it seems like it would be.
Liquid chlorine and bleach are the same thing, so don't get hung up on that, and don't worry about any of your chemistry right now but chlorine.
Your problem is actually pretty trivial, so don't panic. You'll be chilling by the pool in a week or so.
Start out by reading Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis and then return with any questions.
The key take-aways from the article should be the importance of good, trustworthy test results and frequent chlorine additions during the early stages. Your pool can eat through enough chlorine to last an entire summer in less than a day while clearing the mess, so you have to be diligent. It's not nearly the task it seems like it would be.
Liquid chlorine and bleach are the same thing, so don't get hung up on that, and don't worry about any of your chemistry right now but chlorine.
Welcome to the forum!!
First step, slow down and take a breath. It took all winter to turn green, so a few more days of green won't hurt it. Spend the time reading as much as you can on this site. Start with the link in my signature and then read Pool School until your head hurts.
Second, to truly take control of your pool, you'll need to invest in a good test kit. Strips are worthless, and you may as well be using The Force to test the water.
Once steps one and two are done, you can move on to step three, which is SLAMing the pool. It's a process where the pool is maintained at a high FC level for long enough to eliminate all of the organics in the pool.
We are happy to help you turn the pool into a sparkly oasis, but you need to do a little bit of work as well. Start reading!!
First step, slow down and take a breath. It took all winter to turn green, so a few more days of green won't hurt it. Spend the time reading as much as you can on this site. Start with the link in my signature and then read Pool School until your head hurts.
Second, to truly take control of your pool, you'll need to invest in a good test kit. Strips are worthless, and you may as well be using The Force to test the water.
Once steps one and two are done, you can move on to step three, which is SLAMing the pool. It's a process where the pool is maintained at a high FC level for long enough to eliminate all of the organics in the pool.
We are happy to help you turn the pool into a sparkly oasis, but you need to do a little bit of work as well. Start reading!!
Does it look worse than this?
Here's some stories of people who've done it.
First Time Shocking with Bleach
Pretty black pool
A little encouragement for those with algae and new to BBB
Frog Filled Green Swamp to Oasis---Work in Progress!!!
Before and After Pool Pics
Before and after!
A final picture set of how well the BBB method works!
Here's some stories of people who've done it.
First Time Shocking with Bleach
Pretty black pool
A little encouragement for those with algae and new to BBB
Frog Filled Green Swamp to Oasis---Work in Progress!!!
Before and After Pool Pics
Before and after!
A final picture set of how well the BBB method works!