Water is very green - Leslie's says "we don't have a clue"

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T

threekidsmum

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Jun 11, 2009
8
Problem: VERY GREEN WATER, 2wks plus

FC: .5
TC: 1
pH: 7.8
TA: 210
CH: 370
CYA: 115

My pool: 12,000 gallons
Pool chemicals: started with 3 bags of super shock/ then tried soda ash to bring ph up above 8 (per leslies') & green to clean then added 5 more bags of super shock
My pump & filter: sand filter
Other info: we have done a partial water change for the past 7 days everyday (1 foot a day to waste and refill). Have vacummed several times and backwashed 3 times.

We are new pool owners :), pool is 18yrs old, has been maintained effeciently in the past by professional pool company. We took over the maintainence 6 wks ago, about 2 wks ago, the automatic chlorinator ran out of tablets for about 2 days, at the same time we had a thunderstorm that blew in a lot of pollen and the tree in our neighbors yard started blooming and dropping pollen in the pool. Since then the water has been a lovely shade of green, going from a light shade (margarita green) to now a very dark (kelly green) shade :cry: . We started with leslie's recommendation of partial water change - 1 ft drain to waste/refill (did this 4 times) . We have also daily been diligent in removing all debris, etc. and cleaning out the skimmer. Still green, leslie's recommended that we use soda ash to bring ph above 8, super shock, add "green to clean", shock again and then vacume. Still green, and now seems to be a darker green (kelly green). Leslie's now says to dump to waste at least 4 ft of water to bring down the CYA, and told us that "she didn't have a clue what else to do" which is very scary to a new pool owner (what the h*** do you do when the pool store doesn't know what to do?!?!? )! Hoping you guys can help us out! Hubby is about ready to fill it in with dirt or make a skate park outta the pool for our son! :twisted:
 
Welcome to TFP!! :wave:

My first suggestion, before all the moderators and experienced BBB method users come on with their wonderful advice, is to begin reading Pool School (top right hand corner).

There is hope for your pool... don't despair.
 
Yes, I second that advise. And, during the pool school, order a test kit if you do not have one. TF 100 or a Taylor K 2006 kit. Can not do without it. Also, need about 2-3 weeks time and about $ 150 worth of chemicals, you should be on your way to TFP.
 
Hi and Welcome.

Kinda scary when the PS says: I dunno. :lol:

J/K.

If your numbers are right, you still need to do the drain refill dance. You want your CYA to be about 30-50 no more no less. Anywhere between there will work.

Your pH is high. You should go get your self some Muriatic Acid and get that down right away. Not only is your pH high but the TA is high and is most definately the main reason why the pH is high and rising. You will learn in Pool School how to bring it down by adding Muriatic Acid and aerating the pool. :wink:

The reason why your pool is so green is because you have virtually no chlorine in the pool, besides the toooo high CYA. I'm not blaming you but the over use of pool shock and pucks got you to where you are but now that you're here, you can learn from your mistakes and take better care of your pool.

Order a good test kit. You can find the link in my siggy for the one and only TF-100. There is really no sense in having a pool if you don't have a good test kit!
 
Thank you all for your replies!! :lol: Ok, from what I understand, I need to get the CYA down first, to a level of 30-50, then shock, correct? And the only way to do this is to drain water, correct? By calculating the CYA on the pool calculator, it says I need to drain 57% to get the CYA to a 30-50. Do you have any advise on how to do this (sorry we are terribly new and novice at this). I can only drain 8" from the skimmer area, is there a way to drain from the drain at the bottom of the pool?
 
You're on the right track with the drain/refilling. At that CYA level you'll need a FC level of over 40 ppm to get rid of your algae problem effectively.

Is your pool raised or at a high point in your yard? Siphoning with your vacuum hose is a fast easy way height differential to make it happen.
 
The simplest thing might be to keep doing 8" at a time. If you want to do more at a time, you need to leave at least one foot of water in the shallow end to keep the liner from shifting.

You absolutely need to get CYA down to 80, and 50 is much better.
 

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We've tried vacuming to waste as well, but that will only drain to the skimmer level as well, which we thought was a little strange?! None the less, I think we are going to try the submersible pump and try to remove that way, or try the 50 person cannonball.... :lol: . Any thoughts on how much we should remove? Pool calculator says 57%, what do you all think?
 
Can you put your pool specs in your signature so we know what kind of pool you have, your equipment ext... You can use the User Control Panel at the top left to do so.

You don't want to go down to far past your skimmers so you don't pop the pool out of the ground if it's a concrete/fiberglass pool due to a possible high water table. If it's liner, if you take too much out, it could unseat it and ruin the perfect fit so to say.

It's a process and takes time.
 
trouble with algae is it takes time to clear and when most people don't see overnight results they get discouraged and either give up or dump more money in useless chemicals.

Research this and you'll be your new best friend once you know how to solve it. Great advice so far.
 
We are in drought stages so popping the pool seems unlikely (although I don't know this for sure) if I'm not removing much past the skimmer, how do I accomplish lowering the CYA? I've added some info to my sig, hope that helps! Thank you all for your help and suggestions! :|
 
With each draining, you are lowering the CYA somewhat. CYA is not found normally in water, so when you refill, you lower the levels.
This will take longer (and ultimately more water) than if you could safely drain, say, half of your pool at once, but it will eventually get it within reason.

I am not sure if anyone has said it, but STOP with the tabs and powders!!! They are contributing to your VERY high CYA.

Question to smarter people than me:
I am SO not an inground pool person... is it possible to backwash from the main drain?
 
Can you say how many gallons you replace each time? If you're replacing say 10% of the water each time, then it will take 5 rounds to replace 40% of the original water, which would put your CYA at 115x.6=70. (Just trying to ballpark how much of this drain/refill you have to go through, since you can do only a small amount at a time.)
--paulr
 
The Mermaid Queen said:
I am SO not an inground pool person... is it possible to backwash from the main drain?
Click to expand...

It depends on the way the plumbing is hooked up. If there are separate lines back to the equipment pad, with valves, then yes.

The other way to drain below the skimmer, with only a skimmer, is to use a vacuum hose, and also be constantly running water into the skimmer from the pool with a small pump, perhaps a cover pump. The extra water in the skimmer should prevent any air from getting into the vacuum hose and causing you to lose prime.
 
We started the submersible last night, and we have removed 2 & 3/4 ft of water. How do I determine how many gallons that is? Is there a standard equation for it? Also, when "jasonlion" mentioned draining with the skimmer & vacume, you mentioned "prime", I'm not sure what this is?
 

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