Hi ya'll. I'm Paul in Central VA. Last yr was my 1st yr with a pool. Intex AG 18x48 I have come up with the saying "You learn more the 1st yr of WHAT NOT TO DO, owning a pool". I left the pool up over the winter, didn't run the pump or filter. finally the pump casing broke, apparently froze. That didn't bother me 
as I, I looked at it as it FORCED ME to upgrade the pump & I wanted a sand filter over that cartridge thing that came with the pool. Every time I turned around last yr it was going green. Well needless to say the pool went GREEN over the winter. I bought a used sand filter & 3/4 HP pump from craigslist, like late March. I got it connected & started running it 24/7. Obviously, no change really as I hadn't added any chemicals. I finally had my pool store test the water & they sold me some shock 4 lbs & some SWAMP something. I put all that in & the water went from green to a cloudy white, back to green. During this time I finally was able to buy a new pole as the one that came with the pool ONLY fit the net that came with the pool & that net had ripped last yr. I just skimmed the pool while in it after that. I bought the WM wall skimmer on Amazon & the In Line chlorinator, as well as vacuum hose & a vacuum. Last yr fought trying to use a vacuum that uses your hose, (low water pressure didn't help that any). I finally got a nice day, lowered the water level approx. 8 inches so I could install the skimmer & new eyeball it came with. I went ahead & hard plumbed the skimmer & the return at this point. Filled it back up & water was still green. I said OK enough is enough & bought 2 gal of 10% chlorine at wal-mart. I dumped 1 gal in the skimmer & in the morning the water was kind of brown, so I added another 1/2 gal. That afternoon water was back to cloudy white so I added the last 1/2 gallon. No real change from there. I got the pole out & skimmed the top of the water.
IDK why but I decided to run it across the bottom of the pool, I couldn't see it anyway, I guess I figured it would stir the algae up & allow it to be caught by the skimmer & filter. Boy did I get a SHOCK. Net came back up with ALL KINDS of BROWN water swirling around it & Oak leaves like crazy. I was/am confused as the tree closest to the pool is a Maple, from edge of pool to trunk of tree is maybe 30-40 FT. The Oak tree is in the neighbors yard across the street & in the front yard, I'd guess an easy 80-100 FT away. So, I got the vacuum out & attempted to use it. I finally had my daughter hold the adapter plate down (to maintain suction). I did this until the strainer basket in the skimmer was hardly getting any leaf material. I thought YAY it'll start to get better from here. Nope, water stayed green, I ran the net along bottom of pool again a week or so later & BOOM more leaves still. I brought up what I could. I said the heck with it. I went to wal-mart & bought another 6 gallons of 10% Chlorine & dumped it all in the skimmer. Pool has gone to the milky white again but it's staying there longer this time. I have vacuumed again & been running the net across the bottom. Now & again I'll find a leaf, but I still can not see the bottom. I added 56 OZ baking soda hoping that would help. I decided to use my severely lacking test kit, my Chlorine was so high the test was basically orange red instead of yellow & obviously the PH was inaccurate due to the severely high chlorine levels. I am hoping to be able to order the TF-100 later this week. I know no super specific advise can be given until I have proper test #'s to go off of, any general suggestions on anything that might be able to be done in the mean time? Or just leave well enough alone? Wife insists we won't be able to swim in the pool short of draining it, NO WAY am I draining it fully. Our water pressure is so low due to original galvanized water pipes to this 100+ yr old house being severely corroded inside. I've replaced most the pipes IN the house still have to replace the main supply line from the meter to the house. I know I didn't mention it but yes, I have been back flushing my filter when it gets to about double the clean pressure. Also, since I have NOT installed the In Line Chlorinator yet should I see about returning it since I am pretty confident in going the liquid chlorine route ya'll describe in here?
as I, I looked at it as it FORCED ME to upgrade the pump & I wanted a sand filter over that cartridge thing that came with the pool. Every time I turned around last yr it was going green. Well needless to say the pool went GREEN over the winter. I bought a used sand filter & 3/4 HP pump from craigslist, like late March. I got it connected & started running it 24/7. Obviously, no change really as I hadn't added any chemicals. I finally had my pool store test the water & they sold me some shock 4 lbs & some SWAMP something. I put all that in & the water went from green to a cloudy white, back to green. During this time I finally was able to buy a new pole as the one that came with the pool ONLY fit the net that came with the pool & that net had ripped last yr. I just skimmed the pool while in it after that. I bought the WM wall skimmer on Amazon & the In Line chlorinator, as well as vacuum hose & a vacuum. Last yr fought trying to use a vacuum that uses your hose, (low water pressure didn't help that any). I finally got a nice day, lowered the water level approx. 8 inches so I could install the skimmer & new eyeball it came with. I went ahead & hard plumbed the skimmer & the return at this point. Filled it back up & water was still green. I said OK enough is enough & bought 2 gal of 10% chlorine at wal-mart. I dumped 1 gal in the skimmer & in the morning the water was kind of brown, so I added another 1/2 gal. That afternoon water was back to cloudy white so I added the last 1/2 gallon. No real change from there. I got the pole out & skimmed the top of the water. IDK why but I decided to run it across the bottom of the pool, I couldn't see it anyway, I guess I figured it would stir the algae up & allow it to be caught by the skimmer & filter. Boy did I get a SHOCK. Net came back up with ALL KINDS of BROWN water swirling around it & Oak leaves like crazy. I was/am confused as the tree closest to the pool is a Maple, from edge of pool to trunk of tree is maybe 30-40 FT. The Oak tree is in the neighbors yard across the street & in the front yard, I'd guess an easy 80-100 FT away. So, I got the vacuum out & attempted to use it. I finally had my daughter hold the adapter plate down (to maintain suction). I did this until the strainer basket in the skimmer was hardly getting any leaf material. I thought YAY it'll start to get better from here. Nope, water stayed green, I ran the net along bottom of pool again a week or so later & BOOM more leaves still. I brought up what I could. I said the heck with it. I went to wal-mart & bought another 6 gallons of 10% Chlorine & dumped it all in the skimmer. Pool has gone to the milky white again but it's staying there longer this time. I have vacuumed again & been running the net across the bottom. Now & again I'll find a leaf, but I still can not see the bottom. I added 56 OZ baking soda hoping that would help. I decided to use my severely lacking test kit, my Chlorine was so high the test was basically orange red instead of yellow & obviously the PH was inaccurate due to the severely high chlorine levels. I am hoping to be able to order the TF-100 later this week. I know no super specific advise can be given until I have proper test #'s to go off of, any general suggestions on anything that might be able to be done in the mean time? Or just leave well enough alone? Wife insists we won't be able to swim in the pool short of draining it, NO WAY am I draining it fully. Our water pressure is so low due to original galvanized water pipes to this 100+ yr old house being severely corroded inside. I've replaced most the pipes IN the house still have to replace the main supply line from the meter to the house. I know I didn't mention it but yes, I have been back flushing my filter when it gets to about double the clean pressure. Also, since I have NOT installed the In Line Chlorinator yet should I see about returning it since I am pretty confident in going the liquid chlorine route ya'll describe in here?
