I don't know what I'm doing...and hubby is away help!

[joyousheart]

I don't know if you can help but here goes.

My husband and son are away for two weeks and of course the pool turned green the day after they left. I've tried calling the pool supply and doing all the shocking. I've put in 5 lbs of shock yesterday and the water is still green. I have an above ground 13x15 oval pool with vin liner and a sand filter. I think the pool holds 12,000 gals but not sure. I don't take care of the pool so I don't know anything but would love to be able to wear out my little kids by letting them swim. Hubby is incommunicado since he's hiking some mountain. I'm here climbing my own mountain but it's the green algea one I think.
Anyway if you can give me any advise based on my mixed up post I would be so grateful.

 

[joyousheart]

Sorry it's a 30 x 15 oval pool and I think it's 48 or 52 inches.

 

[reebok]

read pool school at least twice, then come back and ask if there's something you still don't get.
pool-school/

 

[Butterfly]

Hi joyousheart and welcome to the forum

We want to help you clear your pool, but we really do need more info.

A full set of test results is what we need now.

We could make suggestions on clearing your pool, but without the test results, we'd only be guessing.

Post back all your questions in this thread. Someone will be around to help you. :-D

love your username :-D

 

[joyousheart]

Okay, I'm off to read and tomorrow I'll look for a test kit. I'm a writer not a chemist LOL!

 

[reebok]

you can look but unfortunately you won't find a good/recommended one. walmart has a 6-way kit (make sure you get the 6-way) that can kind of sort of hold you over, but you really need a recommended one for fighting algae. I recommended the one from www.tftestkits.net

 

[AnnaK]

Does your husband normally take care of the pool, adding chemicals and such? If so, he may have a test kit somewhere near where the chemicals are stored. If you can't find it you can always take some water to the pool store for testing. Rinse a 2 cup container with pool water, then scoop some up, cover it and drive to the pool store. Don't buy anything there even though they'll want to sell you a bunch of stuff. Come back and post the results from their printout.

We'll be looking for pH, FC (free chlorine), CC (combined chlorine), TC (total chlorine), TA (total alkalinity), CA (calcium hardness), CYA (stabilizer or cyanuric acid).

Also please tell us what kind of chemicals your husband now has on hand. That'll help us understand what he uses to sanitize the pool and might give us a handle on how to help you clear it up. In the meantime, turn on your pump and brush the bottom of the pool to expose the algae layer to the shock chemicals you've already put in.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Great advice so far so I'll just say Welcome

 

[luckyman_apd]

I would definitely scrub the pool with the brush and vacuum first. I have an automatic chlorinator and went away for a few day thinking it would be fine when I returned. When we got home after 4 days away, the pool bottom looked green. I started to panic. I tested my water and the numbers were perfect, so I was very confused. As it turns out I had cut the grass just before we left, and lots of small clippings blew into the pool and were lining the bottom. So, what I first thought was algae, was just dirt and grass. (mulching mower cuts grass into very fine particles). I'm not suggesting anything about your pool, just sharing my experience. Without levels, it is impossible to give good advice. How often does your husband take care of the pool? Once a day? Once a week?