Green Cloudy Water

Laurie,

Rereading this whole thread, I suspect you have mustard algae in addition to the regular algae that turns your water green.

That's okay, it's still just algae and chlorine is the answer. Boost your chlorine back up to twenty this evening.

My thinking is you should see SOME change in the appearance of your water by tomorrow AM. Post back and let us know. I think you're on the way, it may just take a few days. Brush the junk off the pool floor often, suspending it (somewhat) and letting the filter pick it up. Keep an eye on your filter pressure and backwash or clean as necessary.

Keep us all posted.
 
Tested the pool water at 10:00 a.m. this morning

FC 27
CC 0
CYA 46
PH 8.2

I couldn't get a reading on TA, I put 33 drops in and the water was still a peach colour. Pool looks terrible, it's greener than it's ever been! Should I let the FC level drop to 20 and hold it there?

Thanks,
Laurie
 
I would keep it at 27 for a couple days and see if that helps.

Metals? is your fill water from a well? just thinking out loud... If you have been consistently shocking you should be seeing SOME difference in 5 weeks, I would think!
 
Grace, I only started using bleach about 1 1/2 weeks ago. There have been a couple of times the green went away (water was still milky) for a day or 2 only to return...this has me soooooooo stressed! Now my TA has gone crazy, I never did get a proper reading, I didn't want to waste the regeant, I stopped at 33. Should I been concerned? I added 18 oz. of PH down today.

Thanks,
Laurie
 
I still think you need to get your green cleared up before working on the TA and pH thing. HOWEVER, chlorine is more effective at lower pH, so maybe you will see more effect since you lowered it a smidge.

I still say keep shocking... for now just test your chlorine, until you start seeing some results.
 
Laurie,

Recheck your testing methods. Nothing you have told us would indicate a cause for that pH jump you just posted. Same with the Alk.

As Grace said, focus on getting rid of the algae. Your other numbers generally have little, if any affect on an algae-laden pool.
 
Thanks all,

I just did another chlorine test and it's holding at 27 and cc's are 0. I brought my ph down to 7.2 this morning and I just retested my TA and it's crazy, it didn't even go a peach colour it stayed a bright yellow at 35 drops. My main concern is to hold that FC level at at least 24 for the next couple of days. I've been brushing 4 times a day and vacuuming and backwashing once a day. By the way when testing my TA I follow the instructions included with the kit. Shouldn't I be seeing some improvement by now I've maintained a shock level since Friday evening and the pool has never looked worse?
 

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The fact that your water is not improving after holding your chlorine this high is very unusual. I can't imagine the bio-guard stuff having that much effect but I have no experience or expertise in sequestering metals.

I do know that high chlorine and high pH has a tendency to precipitate metals but you should see some settling on the pool floor or dark blue greenish stains on your liner. (I think) I would suggest holding your high FC where it is 'til tomorrow AM. If you see no improvement by then, I believe you may have copper in your water. Typically, copper does not come from wells or natural sources but from ingredients that have been introduced into the pool.

There are some smart metal folks on here who will be able to assist you but it would not be wise for me to give advice in that area because I lack experience.

I'm not ruling out algae but it's beginning to look less likely based on your reports. To my knowledge, copper is the only other issue that may result in green water.

I'm going to quote an excerpt from a post by Ben on Poolforum. Parts of it are unrelated but it may help give you some insight....again, don't rule out algae, but it may be time for a different approach.

But, green is not a common color from metals. If your filter is slimey and stinky, and has green slimey clumps, almost certainly, your problem is simply good old algae due to a lack of pool chemical maintenance. Replacing your sand won't necessarily help, unless you've blown a lot of it out during backwashing (also common on AG pools with oversized pumps and undersized sand filters -- and almost all of them have this combo, if they have a sand filter!).

Your reported TA is high enough to encourage algae, so it would also be useful if you take advantage of that low pH, and aerate your pool which will both raise the pH and remove some of the carbon dioxide from the water (ie, carbonate alkalinity). The full story on this is in the Alkalinity section, posted as a 'sticky'.

It's also worth noting that with initial chemical conditions including an alkalinity greater than 200 and a pH greater than 8.0 and a chlorine level greater than 5 . . . the chance that there are any dissolved metals left in the water are almost nil. High pH tends to cause metals to drop out (precipitate or stain), as does high alkalinity, as does high chlorine. Put all three together, as you report, and the metals will no longer be IN your water. They may be staining something somewhere, or on your filter, or on the pool bottom, but they are probably not IN the water.
 
Here's a little note that is listed along side Bio-Guard Banish

Note:Banish is a copper based algaecide. The copper from this type of algaecide can become trapped in hair. In people with light colored hair (i.e. blonde and white) can develop a green tint from the copper when it oxidizes.

Have you had your copper levels checked?


do you also have pictures of your green pool???

dan
 
Wednesday a.m. reading

FC 24 (I haven't added bleach since I shocked to 27)
CC .5
PH 7.2 It held since I lowered it yesterday a.m.
TA - Still crazy but at least today the water went a peach colour at 17 drops and didn't change all the way to 35 drops (that's when I quit).

There is no staining on the pool liner and when I brush the bottom there is a cloud of green. I have a clarifier, should I add 50 ml to help clump the algae?
 
The PH test often reads high when the chlorine levels are high. Particuarly at FC above 15 the PH test is way off and should be ignored.

Your description of green cloudy water turning milky after adding chlorine sounds very much like algae. If you were having a metals problem it would be a very clear transparent green. Murky water almost always means algae. I suppose that you could have dead milky algae and green from metals, but that seems unlikely. Also bringing the PH down almost always clears the color from metals for at least a little while, so metals don't fit the evidence very well.

It sounds like your chlorine levels are holding overnight, is that right? If so, I would let the FC level go down gradually to around 10-12 and recheck the PH at that point. Very high PH can prevent the chlorine from working. Though really I am more worried about your PH being too low at this point.

The TA test can have a yellow to blue transition, instead of green to red, at high chlorine levels. Assuming you are using Taylor chemistry, Taylor, TF Test Kit, and Ben's test kit all use Taylor chemistry, you can use a 10 ml sample, 1 of drop R-0007, 3 drops R-0008, and multiply drops of R-0009 by 25. That will allow you to measure higher TA levels more easily.
 
Hi laren,

If you need help resizing the pictures you can send them to my e-mail. I'll resize and post them for you. Perhaps pictures may help bring your water problems to an end.

good luck! (I'll send you a private meassage with my e-mail in case you need help resizing the pictures)

dan
 
Thanks Dan I will send the pictures to you.

Thanks Jason, I used your method for testing high TA and I actually got it to go red. My TA is 175. For now I will use this method to save on reagents.

Should I go ahead and add the clarifier? I won't add any more bleach, I haven't added any since I shocked to 27 and that was two nights ago I believe. I'm just wondering how long it will take for my FC to come down to a level where we can swim
 

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