Green Tint to Water

Marillion Fan

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May 26, 2007
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About a 1/2 hour from P.S.U.
Ok a question for the Chemistry Gods When I add Bleach my water is getting a green color to it that clears as the chlorine burns off.
I know I know #'s well I'm still deciding on a test kit but with good knowledge I can say that my fc is 2 an my cya is 0 still trying to get out to buy some.

Any Ideas?
 
I have always been under the assumption (from something Ben posted back a long time ago) that copper, if you have it, will not tint the water but rather precipitate out as a solid onto a surface....like your pool walls or your hair.

Additionally, from that same info was something about copper simply not getting into your pool unless you put it there....either thru copper based sanitizers or erosion of a heater

I have never dealt with copper in my pool so I can't speak from experience. I would appreciate getting that clarified to keep me straight.

Marillion, you're gonna' keep struggling with your pool water quality until you get a test kit and some CYA in the water. During daylight hours your chlorine is vanishing VERY quickly leaving you with an unsanitized pool.
 
Duraleigh, I think you are right that copper itself won't be evident visually, but it's the chemical reaction when you add chlorine that turns the water green. It's been a long time since I've seen it - I don't have a copper issue, myself, but as I recall, it's a different kind of green than the green water of algae.

You make another valid point, that if the pool is out of chlorine and on the verge of an algae bloom the water will also appear as a clear green.
 
Dave is right, you need to put some CYA into your pool and the easiest way to do that is by adding Dichlor which dissolves quickly and will also give you chlorine (which you also need since you may be fighting some algae as well). For every 1 ppm FC introduced from Dichlor you will also get 0.9 ppm CYA. So don't add too much, but it's a lot easier and faster than adding CYA directly which dissolves VERY slowly.

I have seen reports of using BioGuard Smart Shock which is 63% Dichlor plus 39% copper citrate (not sure how they got over 100%!) that made the water turn green when added to high pH water. It caused a green cloud so apparently when it precipitates copper hydroxide (or copper oxide), it doesn't have to just be on a surface.

Now this particular green doesn't have to be copper. I would first get CYA into the pool and see if chlorine levels hold overnight. If not, then this is a fight against algae and the pool should be shocked.

Richard
 

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Well, I got off my lazy rear end and found what I remembered........this was in a post from Ben concerning a slightly different issue but I think is relevant to green water and copper......all other issues aside, he KNOWS pool water:
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With very few exceptions, there will be no copper in your water, unless you added it, or unless you corroded it off of a pool heater. So, to check for copper, check your chemical product labels. (NOTE: you are actually going to have to READ the fine print on the chemical ingredients, to check this.) If you haven't added anything that has copper in it, and don't have a heater, you probably don't have copper.

But, green is not a common color from metals. If your filter is slimey and stinky, and has green slimey clumps, almost certainly, your problem is simply good old algae due to a lack of pool chemical maintenance. Replacing your sand won't necessarily help, unless you've blown a lot of it out during backwashing (also common on AG pools with oversized pumps and undersized sand filters -- and almost all of them have this combo, if they have a sand filter!).

Your reported TA is high enough to encourage algae, so it would also be useful if you take advantage of that low pH, and aerate your pool which will both raise the pH and remove some of the carbon dioxide from the water (ie, carbonate alkalinity). The full story on this is in the Alkalinity section, posted as a 'sticky'.

It's also worth noting that with initial chemical conditions including an alkalinity greater than 200 and a pH greater than 8.0 and a chlorine level greater than 5 . . . the chance that there are any dissolved metals left in the water are almost nil. High pH tends to cause metals to drop out (precipitate or stain), as does high alkalinity, as does high chlorine. Put all three together, as you report, and the metals will no longer be IN your water. They may be staining something somewhere, or on your filter, or on the pool bottom, but they are probably not IN the water.
 
Not sure if it is relevent here or not, but upon filling this year, I had a pool full of green water, after some investigation, I learned that this was due to chloramines being used now in our local water treatment facility. Which is a mix of ammonia and chlorine.
The advise given to pool owners from water treatment facilities around the country using the chloramine system is to shock the water, and once the chlorine burns off, the green will go away. Since your green is going away with the chlorine, this could be the situation. You might make some calls and see.
 
LadywithIron said:
Not sure if it is relevent here or not, but upon filling this year, I had a pool full of green water, after some investigation, I learned that this was due to chloramines being used now in our local water treatment facility. Which is a mix of ammonia and chlorine.
The advise given to pool owners from water treatment facilities around the country using the chloramine system is to shock the water, and once the chlorine burns off, the green will go away. Since your green is going away with the chlorine, this could be the situation. You might make some calls and see.
I get my water from a fresh water stream in my front yard. :-D
 
Marillion Fan said:
just an update to let everyone know that I don't get the green tint to the water anymore.
I added cya to 30 ppm and have only been losing about 2.5 ppm chlorine overnight and no tint when I add bleach so

Yay me!!!!!! :-D
and thanks everyone for the advice.

Don't celebrate just yet. Good to hear the green is gone, but using 2.5 ppm chlorine overnight indicates that something is consuming your chlorine. That's too much consumption overnight. Possibly alage trying to bloom. You need to shock, but without knowing the cya level, hard to say what the proper shock level would be.
 
My guess is Marillion is saying he is losing 2.5ppm in a 24 hour period (perfectly normal) and, if that's the case, the celebration can continue.

In fact, assuming that's the case, I think I'll celebrate with an adult beverage!! :lol: :lol:
 
duraleigh said:
My guess is Marillion is saying he is losing 2.5ppm in a 24 hour period (perfectly normal) and, if that's the case, the celebration can continue.

In fact, assuming that's the case, I think I'll celebrate with an adult beverage!! :lol: :lol:

Yes it is a 24 hour period and as long as the beverage is Mt. Dew I'll keep celebrating :-D
Thats as strong a drink as I'll go.
 

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