Starting up a 'dark green' pool first time after getting into our new house

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S

santoipr

Member
Aug 3, 2022
5
Plainsboro NJ
Pool Size
35000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi everyone,

We got into this new house in October 2021 and immediately got the pool closed by professionals for the winter. The pool is having a brand new vinyl liner. However, while closing, I couldn't close it in a clear condition as I didn't have the pool accessories at that time. There were some leaves in the pool floor. Now I opened the pool myself and trying to get the crystal clear water back.
When I opened the pool the water is blackish green and looked like strong algae contamination. It is a 40x18 feet pool with roughly 35,000 gallons. I added 12 lb of DryTec calhypo and ran the pump and filter for 48 hours at a stretch. The shallow side cleared up to cloudy blue but the deep side never cleared up. Then I adjusted my ph to 7.2, alkalinity to 110 and applied 12 lb pooltime 6 in 1 dichlor. This time it didn't change anything at all. Then again I adjusted the ph and alkalinity and added 20 lb of DryTec calhypo. So that's even greater than 4x shock. The free chlorine level is close to 30 ppm. I am now running the pump/filter for 48 hours. I also vacuumed the entire pool, brushed it several times in the process. It did clear up somewhat but the water is teal green. I don't know what am I doing wrong.
I presume that the pool being big will require more pumping/filtering. I did backwash the filter from time to time.
Any suggestions are highly appreciated
 
Welcome to the forum :wave: :wave:

You should probably not add anything more to the pool until you understand what each thing does. The dichlor raised your CYA by more than 20 points and that may or may not be a good thing, depending on how much was already there.

My suggestion is that you add a gallon jug of Bleach each day, giving you some time to become better educated and, hopefully, get a good test kit in your possession. Please read "Pool Care Basics" up in Pool School with a special emphasis on "ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

Run your pump 24/7. Order a test kit. (either the TF-100, Taylor K-2006c or TFPpro). Keep reading that "Pool Care Basics"
 
Ok, here's the update.

After running the pump and filtering for another 48 hours, it looked like the shallow end is somewhat clear but lot of debris at the pool floor. Improvement, if any, at the deep end was still not appreciable. Then added Clorox broad spectrum algaecide along with clorox clarifier. Ran the system for another 24 hours. Voila! the shallow end started cleaning up and the water turned blue. from yesterday I started vacuuming the pool floor and discrading the waste. Now the shallow is perfect. The deep end is also quite clear. I will vacuum the deep end today. I am pretty sure that now it will be crystal clear.

Lessons learned:
1. do not use dichlor for shocking
2. Shock 3x-4x is dark green algae condition - liquid chlorine or drytrec calhypo are my choices
3. After shocking run the system for 48-72 hours with lots of brushing and regular pool floor vacuuming
4. do not let the vacuumed mass to reenter through return lines. Discard a few inches of water instead, in the vacuuming process

I am now maintaining the FC at 2 ppm (35000 Gal pool, 1 gal chlorine every two days)

Might be of concern:
I can see that my ph is increasing steadily. Still it is within acceptable limit. It's now 7.5. What should I add to control the ph? Any suggestions will be helpful.
 
Hi, @santoipr! Welcome to TFPl, glad you've found us.

I strongly recommend that you read through Pool School, especially the ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and the FC/CYA relationship. At this point in time, you don't actually know what the proper chlorine level for your pool is because you don't know how much CYA is in it.

"Shocking", algecides, and clarifiers are not concepts or products used in the TFP method, and very very very few of them are worth the cost. Given how much CYA you just dumped in the pool, you really need to know how much is there now before you end up with another algae bloom. You also need a reliable test kit, which basically comes down to either a Taylor K-2006C or a TFTestKits.net TF-100/TFPro. We can help you make taking care of the pool a snap!
 
Hey Santo and Welcome !!!

santoipr said:
I will definitely go for a recommended test kit immediately
Click to expand...
If you're budget conscious, the TF100 is the way to go.

The K2006C has a nicer case for about double the money.

The TFPro has the nice case and a $44 stirring device that the other 2 don't, for about $10 more than the 2006C. It is hands down the way to go IMO because most will buy the stirring device after the fact if they buy a TF100.
 
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