New Pool owner this yer. AG pool turned green. What to do until TF-100 kit arrives?

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sierradmax

Member
May 25, 2020
22
RI
All summer long, we kept a 24' AG pool crystal clear. We've been using Aqua Test strips (I know they're not accurate) and chlorine pucks ( I know they're frowned upon so I recently pulled them).

I left for a 4 week business trip and left the wife in charge of the pool. She failed to backwash the filter and when I came home, the pool developed a tint of green. Backwashed the filter. I shocked the pool heavily then we went on a wee long vacation only to return to a greener pool! Test strips yield high alkalinity and CYA around 100. FC is 5 and PH is a little on the high side (above 7.8 and below 8.4 on the color chart).

After extensive searching, seems the TF-100 kit is highly recommended over the test strips and pool store sampling. The bottom of the pool is still visible and I've been backwashing the filter daily since our return. Sounds like I may have to a partial drain & refill? Is there anything I can do in the interim while our test kit arrives?
 
While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.
 
Not really. Run the pump normal time. Be sure to add the liquid chlorine at least 1 hour before the pump turns off for the day.

Once you get your kit and start the SLAM Process, you will run the pump 24/7
 
What kind of filter do you have? Backwashing isn’t going to clear the pool, chlorine is what you need.
 
I'm using a sand filter. For the Hel* of it, I went and had my water tested.

PH is 7.9
FC is 8 ppm
CYA is 70 ppm
Alkalinity is 120 ppm
calcium is 260 ppm
Phosphates is what pool store told me was abnormal. 3000 ppb
 
Those numbers might be right, but it is more likely that they aren’t, so I would not pay any attention to them. Follow Marty’s advice, and stop backwashing daily. Watch your filter pressure, and only backwash when pressure rises 25% of its normal running pressure.
 
So my kit arrives on Thursday. Adding chlorine and daily vacuuming has cleared it up quite a bit. There's a decent amount of mustard brown sediment daily yet the pool still has a tint of teal color to it. This evening, I turned on the vacuum and noticed a steady stream of green water stream out of the return fitting. Is this normal after algae vacuum on a daily basis? Should I vacuum to waste instead of through the filter?
 
Sand filter. filer was cleaned and new sand added at the beginning of the season. I appreciate the help. Tough to find "Pool maintenance for dummies" aka.. Newbies. I know it takes time to fully understand.
 

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OK -- great, thank you.

Once you get the SLAM process started and your chlorine consumption drops, then you can consider adding DE to your sand filter to assist in capturing the fines.
www.troublefreepool.com

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
I do not close my pool. But the one thing I know if you want a cleaner pool in the spring is to wait to close until the water temperature is consistently under 60F.
 
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Thank you. Today have been the last 85+ degree day here and I'm seeing 50's forecast for upcoming lows. So, not sure how much pool usage the kids will have. I've been in 70 degree water but not for long! Curious if the temperature fluctuation had an impact on algae growth..
 
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