Brand new pool - water turned green after shocking

[PoolBoyNH]

Hello,
I just had a new pool installed a week ago and today got everything turned on. Its a 21’ round Radiant with a SWG. I tested my water and as one would expect with a brand new fill had almost no FC so I thought I would shock the pool to bring it up to range. Its been about an hour now and I just checked on it and the pool has turned green and looks way worse than pre shock.

Here is my test results from right before shocking. Any tips?

 

[adel_ashri]

Hello,
I just had a new pool installed a week ago and today got everything turned on. Its a 21’ round Radiant with a SWG. I tested my water and as one would expect with a brand new fill had almost no FC so I thought I would shock the pool to bring it up to range. Its been about an hour now and I just checked on it and the pool has turned green and looks way worse than pre shock.

Here is my test results from right before shocking. Any tips?

Since it is a brand new pool, check with the company to avoid guessing. May be the filter is old with algae built up or has a problem

 

[PoolBoyNH]

I should add that what I added to the pool was 1/3 gallon of pool bleach (10%)

 

[cledee]

Are you able to see the drains by the deep end?

Green is usually algae, but it could also be Copper. Did you or the pool company add a copper algaecide before hand? Adding these 2, close together could cause the copper to be oxidized and turn your pool green.

 

[IceShadow]

Iron also can look green, and will come out of solution into suspension when FC levels are higher. What water was used to fill?

 

[duraleigh]

You have iron in your pool water. When you add a big dose of bleach, the iron precipitates out as a yellowish solid. the blue pool water with the now visible iron turns your water green. Nothing else makes your pool turn green that quickly.

The iron will go back into solution over the next few days by letting your FC come down but I would suggest getting some polyfill and putting that into the skimmer. It will catch some of that iron as visible brownish "rust"

That said, You will always have that problem when you dose heavily with chlorine unless you can find a different source of fill water. Do you fill from a well?

 

[PoolBoyNH]

I have town water that I filled from. Not a well. Have never had any iron problems in the house and dont use any water treatment systems.

No deep end it is essentially an above ground pool installed fully inground.

 

[IceShadow]

Is it a cloudy green or a crystal clear green? Any photos?

 

[PoolBoyNH]

Is it a cloudy green or a crystal clear green? Any photos?

It is a clear green. Here are pictures. Dont mind my stairs have floated away. I also just tested water again 2.5 hours after adding the bleach. Pretty much all the same except the FC so it did what I wanted I just got green water as a side effect.

 

[cledee]

I have town water that I filled from. Not a well. Have never had any iron problems in the house and dont use any water treatment systems.

No deep end it is essentially an above ground pool installed fully inground.

Do you mind me asking what town in NH?

I'm from NH as well and typically town water in NH does have metal (Iron). It is usually at an acceptable drinking level, but when filling the pool it will cause staining after you add chlorine.

 

[tim5055]

I say iron from the color and it's appearance right after chlorine addition

 

[PoolBoyNH]

Do you mind me asking what town in NH?

I'm from NH as well and typically town water in NH does have metal (Iron). It is usually at an acceptable drinking level, but when filling the pool it will cause staining after you add chlorine.

Litchfield

 

[cledee]

Litchfield

So you might be connected to the Pennichuck public water system, but there's also 2 well systems in Litchfield.

 

[IceShadow]

I would try some polyfill in the skimmer and see if it turns brown from iron.

 

[PoolBoyNH]

So you might be connected to the Pennichuck public water system, but there's also 2 well systems in Litchfield.

Yea we get from pennichuck

 

[PoolBoyNH]

I will give the polyfill a try. Assuming its iron would a product like this act as a floccuant so i can vacuum it out?

 

[IceShadow]

So a couple of things:

- I don't think metals are particles that can be attracted and bound together by clarifiers or flocculants.

- The product you posted is a clarifier, not a flocculant. They're different - clarifiers are meant to make small particles in the water clump together so they can be filtered out. Flocculants make giant gobs of gooey stuff that settle to the bottom of your pool, which need to be vacuumed to waste to avoid gunking up filters. (Regular use of clarifiers can also cause filter issues, for what it's worth.)

- If it is iron, then Polyfill is the best way to get rid of it. You can either have it in the skimmer and rinse it out regularly or build your own filter with a bucket and a pump. There are threads around for that if you're interested - I'm sure someone can find them.

- An alternate option is to add a chemical called a sequestrant. The problem with that is that it's just a temporary fix - it needs to be added regularly as it will break down and release the metal from solution to cause the color change again.

 

[Mdragger88]

Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[PoolBoyNH]

So a couple of things:

- I don't think metals are particles that can be attracted and bound together by clarifiers or flocculants.

- The product you posted is a clarifier, not a flocculant. They're different - clarifiers are meant to make small particles in the water clump together so they can be filtered out. Flocculants make giant gobs of gooey stuff that settle to the bottom of your pool, which need to be vacuumed to waste to avoid gunking up filters. (Regular use of clarifiers can also cause filter issues, for what it's worth.)

- If it is iron, then Polyfill is the best way to get rid of it. You can either have it in the skimmer and rinse it out regularly or build your own filter with a bucket and a pump. There are threads around for that if you're interested - I'm sure someone can find them.

- An alternate option is to add a chemical called a sequestrant. The problem with that is that it's just a temporary fix - it needs to be added regularly as it will break down and release the metal from solution to cause the color change again.

Alright ive got the skimmer basket filled with poly. Really cant fit that much in there

 

[PoolBoyNH]

Alright ive got the skimmer basket filled with poly. Really cant fit that much in there

Filling the basket with poly shouldnt cause any flow/restriction problems right?