Fighting the green water syndrome

[onad0301]

Hey everyone...new to the site...a friend told me about it...some great reading...just wondering if someone can help me or lead me to the right reading.... this is the fourth year i have had my pool....this year i'm having a h*** of a time clearing up my water( its green )...I think my pool store is going to make me a silent partner after all the money I've spent so far...I have shocked my pool for the fourth time and still light green....here are my readings
pH 7.2
FC 1
Alk120

I find that my fc lowers quite a bit over night.....nothing left in pool (leaves) i use pool store shock then algacide

Just looking for some advice or knowledge

thanx onad


P.S. Can you over shock a pool?

 

[Jimh64]

I am new to the forum also, so you may want to wait for advise from the professionals here, but I have learned that you need to bring your FC up to 15 in order to clear up the Algae. If you are using Bleach, it dissipates quickly in the sun.

The pool store usually tries to sell you something you don't need, so rely on the advise you find here in this forum and your pool will be looking great soon!

Pool School is a Great Tool. Here is a link to shocking your pool. Also, you can click the link in the top right.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

Also, using the Pool Calculator will give you all the correct doseages:

http://www.poolcalculator.com

Hope these help you! :-D

P.S. Sorry, I couldn't get the links to work. You will have to copy and paste them in your browser!

 

[Casey]

Hello and welcome!

If you still have leaves in your pool, you should get them out as best you can. The bleach or shock will be wasted trying to oxidize them instead of killing the algae.

We will need a full set of numbers to help you out and the would include:

FC
CC
TC
pH
TA
CH
CYA (very important we have this so we can see what your shock level needs to be)

Do you have a test kit? If so and it's from the pool store or WalMart, it's not good enough. You should actually have a TF-100 which you can find in my siggy. It's clickable and takes you right to the site! You'll be lost without and and pool store testing can get you by but they aren't really reliable either. :|

What have you been shocking with?

Also, shocking is not a one time thing. You have to keep it at shock level for the chlorine to do it's job by clearing the pool. We reccommend using bleach over anything else. It's a heck of alot cheaper too, you just have to lug jugs.

Get your test results and post them and we'll be better able to help. Also read up on Pool School, also found in my siggy. It's MANDATORY! Once you read it, read it again. It will explain everything you need to know and if you have questions, ask. 8)

 

[onad0301]

thanx for the responses...my test kit is from the pool store....those are the only numbers i can give you at this time....the shock i have been using is from the pool store....everything i have is from the pool store.... except one of my friends dropped off a jug of liquid shock...can i just pour that right into the pool or do i put it thru the filter?

 

[PaulR]

Liquid shock (sodium hypochlorite, probably 10% or 12.5%) is basically double-strength bleach; sometimes it's cheaper to get regular (unscented) bleach from a big-box store like Walmart or Target.

You can pour it slowly in the pool in front of a return to give it a chance to circulate. Or, some people say they put pretty much everything except acid into the skimmer.
--paulr

 

[duraleigh]

onad0301,

Welcome to the forum. Good advice from the two posts above. I would like to emphasize your need for more chlorine (lots more than you probably expect) and want to re-emphasize Casey's point...........
Shocking is not a one-time event.

It is a process during which (perhaps for days) you hold your chlorione at a high level (very high) until your pool is sparkling clear. Just how high that level is depends on how much CYA is in your pool which is why Casey is asking for that test result as well as the others.

Since you do not yet have a test kit, take a sample to a pool store and, while it's not very accurate, it will be good enough to get you started down the correct path.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I am new to the forum also, so you may want to wait for advise from the professionals here, but I have learned that you need to bring your FC up to 15 in order to clear up the Algae. If you are using Bleach, it dissipates quickly in the sun.

The pool store usually tries to sell you something you don't need, so rely on the advise you find here in this forum and your pool will be looking great soon!

Pool School is a Great Tool. Here is a link to shocking your pool. Also, you can click the link in the top right.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

Also, using the Pool Calculator will give you all the correct doseages:

http://www.poolcalculator.com

Hope these help you! :-D

P.S. Sorry, I couldn't get the links to work. You will have to copy and paste them in your browser!

To post a link, you have to click on the URL button, in the menu when posting.

P.S. Links fixed.

 

[Ohm_Boy]

...you need to bring your FC up to 15 in order to clear up the Algae.

The requisite chlorine level for shocking one's pool is dependent upon the CYA (stabilizer) level. The higher the CYA, the more free chlorine is required to reach a shock level. So unless and until you can find out your CYA numbers, any chlorination you do is guesswork. I can say that if your FC drops overnight, then you are not done shocking.

The pool store usually tries to sell you something you don't need...

Oh, too true.

 

[Cherie]

And it's always good to retain somewhat of a friendship with the poolstore employees. I still have Leslie's check my CYA occassionally because I don't trust my eyes (subjective) on the test. I've established a good friendship with one of the employees, even though he knows all about using bleach only. So when I ask him to test my CYA, I know he'll take his time and double-check his own results for me. Too bad someone hasn't come up with a drop-count test for ALL the pool water tests , huh, Pool Geek et al.?