Green Pool

[akilpatrick]

I have been trying to clear up my 18K gallon above ground vinyl pool since the end of March and I am having no luck at all. We have been getting a lot rain which probably isn’t helping, but I’ve tried “slamming” the pool, try my best to brush, scoop out debris, draining some water and refilling...I’m just running out of ideas on what to do to turn it blue.
I put Clorox Green Algae Eliminator in it last night an hour after shocking it, brushed it down really good, but alas, it is still green.
I have used granular trichlor shock to sanitize it, and have been shocking weekly.
Help!

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Everything you mentioned you have done is not following the SLAM Process.
What test kit are you using?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Akilpatrick, here's the problem. WHen your CYA stabilizer is high, your FC has to kept higher also or algae can take over.

Each time you used that trichlor shock you added *more* stabilizer along with the chlorine, so your goal posts were always pushed further and further away. You added more CYA which builds up and remains in the water, but the FC gets depleted trying to slay the algae.

You must have a good test kit to do the SLAM process. Do you have one of the ones we recommend??

And you must use *only* liquid chlorine to clear the pool. Using anything else just adds more trouble and side effects. Personally I'd avoid all the Clorox brand products cause so many contain copper, which they don't clearly advertise.

Walmart sells 10% liquid chlorine in the pool section. Go buy about 15 jugs or so.

We need to know-
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA level

Have you read the directions to SLAM? SLAM Process

Maddie

 

[akilpatrick]

Welcome to the forum!
Everything you mentioned you have done is not following the SLAM Process.
What test kit are you using?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.

Thank you!
At the beginning of pool season, I had a dark green algae ridden swamp. I scooped out as much debris as possible, shocked it with 10 pounds of HTH shock, and had 4 of the 1 inch little tablets in my floating chlorine dispensers.
I was able to get my pool to clear up when I put in a clarifier, but when I went to vacuum...poof...algae that had settled on the leaves and didn’t completely die off yet had come back and now I’ve been stuck with the green pool ever since. That was about 3 weeks ago.
I’m using a Poolmaster 22260 5-way test kit currently, but it doesn’t allow me to test the CYA levels, so for that I use the test strips (I know those aren’t always accurate ? but it’s all I have at the moment).
I had a friend of mine who takes care of pools tell me I should just drain like half the water and start over, but I was trying to avoid having to do that.

 

[Texas Splash]

I had a friend of mine who takes care of pools tell me I should just drain like half the water and start over, but I was trying to avoid having to do that.

If you don't have the tools or time to do a TFP SLAM Process properly, then that may be your best choice. The SLAM Process works, but you must have a proper test kit. I recommend the TF-100 (link below), but a Taylor K-2006C is good as well. See Test Kits Compared. Stay away from those generic pool store chemicals on the shelf. Most don't work as advertised. Typically all you need is regular bleach to increase your Free Chlorine level, Muriatic acid to lower the pH as needed, and Cyanuric Acid (stabilizer) to keep your CYA in the proper range (30-50). See more in those Vital Links below in my signature. Welcome!

 

[zea3]

Odds are your CYA is through the roof and you will have to drain to lower that chemical anyway. You really need a kit that measures CYA and chlorine levels above 5ppm. An FAS/DPD kit will be able to run all the tests you need to clear your pool. We recommend the TF100 or the Taylor K2006. Of the two test kits the TF100 is the better value as it has larger bottles of the test reagents you will use most often. Once you have a good test kit you can post the results here and we can help you clear this pool.