Can mustard algae turn your pool green? This is a long one!

[goodwinsgirl29]

For the past week I have been struggling with green water and a fine **dust** settled at the bottom of my pool and on the sides. The dust resembles pollen or dirt and when pushed with a brush it clouds the water then reappears.

Some history......this year the pool has never been completly clear. It has ALMOST been there but not quite. We live behind a tree farm. About a month ago they sprayed insecticides. Three days later our pool turned green. I SUPER chlorinated it and it eventually went away. 2 weeks ago they sprayed again. Thinking quick I pulled the solar blanket on thinking this would solve the problem. NOPE! Three days later our water was green and every day that I had the solar blanket on (heating the pool) it got worse. I eventually took off the solar blanket and have yet to put it back on. I took a sample of water to the pool store and they were just as confused as I was. All of our levels were good and the only solution they had was to do a partial drain. I went home and did just that, refilled and the pool looked about the same. Finally on another forum I read to shock, floc & use algaecide...which in the last 24 hours have done and amazingly the pool looks alot better!

So my pool is better so my problems are over.....right? No.....I am worried that if this was algae is it going to come back? I am also certain that it is mustard algae but the water was SOOOO green...is that possible.

Just a side note....when the insecticide was sprayed our chlore levels were around 10...algae cannot grow with such high levels can they? Thanks for reading my story!

Candice

 

[gonefishin]

Hi Candice, (welcome)

Some things that would help is a full set of numbers. Pictures of the water and substance from above. Some samples of the substance(s) in question put into a glass jar. Then let it settle within the jar and take some pictures.

thanks,
dan

 

[crokett]

Do you know what chemical the tree farm sprayed? Is it possible some overspray got in the water to turn it green?

I just cleaned a major bloom out of my pool. I had chlorine levels much higher than 10 and the algae was still growing somewhat. What are you using to test your water? One thing I learned on this forum last week is the typical liquid-drop type kits test total chlorine, not free. You can have a high total chlorine reading, but if free chlorine is low to 0, there is nothing killing the algae.

 

[Rangeball]

What kind of tree farm?

The Christmas tree (mostly white and scotch pine) one's here actually spray their trees green, to get a nice, even, consumer friendly color.

 

[goodwinsgirl29]

The pool actually looks better today. My readings are

total hardness: 500
total chl: 5
free chl: 10
ph: 7.8
total alk: 120
cya: 50

I use the test strips.

The tree farm also has pumpkins and bushes and I called and the chemical they sprayed is Seven.

I will not be able to get a pic of the GUNK because it is gone for the moment YEAH!!!


Thank you for the responses!
Candice