Re-Opening covered above gorund pool after winter...water went from black to BROWN

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R

ramx101

0
May 12, 2015
3
Jackson/Mississippi
Hey guys,

Great site!!! I KNOW this has been asked a billion times before and I apologize... just very new to this...

So, we have a 27ft above ground INTEX pool that I'm trying to get ready after being covered all winter. Initially, the water was almost black which was expected since nothing was running over the winter. Having read a few posts on clearing the water up... I started the pump back up (am NOT running the SWR as recommended) then added 6 gallons of generic bleach to the water to kill the algae .... and the water promptly turned dark brown and now is a dark rusty color. But now it's staying brown. I have changed the filter about 6 times in 3 days trying to flush it... but it hasn't helped much. Or so I believe.

The pool is ~21000 gallons
The test kit from Walmart shows CL level at about 4 ... and that's all I know... lol

Is it going to be a huge hassle and expense to clear this thing up ? Should I just drain and re-fill it (which would cost with the new salt about $120.00)? $$ is obviously a great concern!

Please advise!

Thank yo so much!
 
Welcome to TFP!!:handwave:

Your filter will not clean this up, it is a chemistry problem - stuff growing in the water. Our general recommendation has a 5,000 gallon limit - below 5,000 gallons drain and refill, above treat the water. To treat the water following our guidelines you will need to pick up one of the recommended test kits. To effectively practice the TFPC methods, the FAS/DPD chlorine test is essential. All the kits on the list contain that test while very few other kits do. The kits sold at the pool store generally won't won't cut it, but be careful pool store employees are known to say “it's the same thing”. Generally it's not!
 
Thanks for the info! I'll definitely need a better test kit. This one sucks. Besides bleach is there ANYTHING I should add like shock or??? I have been ripped off heavily before by a pool store selling me all kind of chemicals that apparently now really needs.
I know the test results will determine what to use. But in general what else to people use besides bleach and salt??

Thanks again for the help!!
 
We (including you) need a full set of test results which include:

FC
PH
TA
CYA

With those results from a TF100, all of us can get started to offering you solid advice on helping YOU clear your pool. Without the test kit, you will never know you're SLAMing your pool.
 
Everyone has jumped in with helpful information. While you are waiting on your test kit (please don't run down to the pool store, to effectively practice the TFPC methods, the FAS/DPD chlorine test is essential. All the kits on the list contain that test while very few other kits do. The kits sold at the pool store generally won't won't cut it, but be careful pool store employees are known to say “it's the same thing”. Generally it's not!). start reading the Pool School links above.

As your first lesson, understand that pool stores like to confuse you with fancy names they can charge extra for. The chemical chlorine that we sanitize our pools with is the same and comes to you in multiple forms. When you say bleach, it's chlorine. When you say shock, guess what - it's chlorine. But, solid forms of chlorine needs to be bound to something to remain stable. Solid forms of chlorine come with extra ingredients like calcium (CH) or CYA/Stabilizer. Most times we don't want those extra ingredients as they continue to build up in the water causing problems.

Now, liquid shock is generally just a higher concentration of chlorine, but is essentially the same as bleach. Bleach comes in 6% & 8.25%, while liquid shock come in 10% and 12.5%. It's still the same chemical, you just get more of it as the % goes up.
 
I'd also chime in by saying that if a drain and refill will cost you $120, you're better off investing the $120 in one of the recommended test kits and a stockpile of bleach. This will arm you with the tools you need to so that you will never have to drain and refill your pool again.
 

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Task said:
I'd also chime in by saying that if a drain and refill will cost you $120, you're better off investing the $120 in one of the recommended test kits and a stockpile of bleach. This will arm you with the tools you need to so that you will never have to drain and refill your pool again.
Click to expand...

Ditto


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