Looking for assistance on a green pool

[goyom]

I could really use some help.
I currently have a 10k gallon green pool. (photo attached) Normally its very blue and looks great.

This all started Friday night, had high ph 8.1, and almost no chlorine, So i turned up the Jandy salt cell and added some acid to bring it down. By Sat morning water turned green, but not cloudy. Cannot see any build up of algae on any surfaces except one spot at water line in hot tub, it was about the size of half a crayon in the grout.

Reason perhaps ? No chlorine .. I looked at the Jandy readout, it said 3400 ppm salt.
Had it tested several times Sat morning, pool stores showing it at 2200 ppm salt.
So I assume from having low salt, and the salt cell thinking it had 3400 ppm = no chlorine being made.
So I have the salt cell off for now until I can have it looked at.

I have been using bagged shock for the last 2 days, and have kept the chlorine high, 3.5 lbs used so far.
I have tested the water at home and Sat had a few pool stores check it, it was right at 5 ppm, which is exactly what my test kit showed. The chlorine/ph tests on my kit has been remarkably accurate. I boosted it more Saturday Noon and kept in the orange on my test kit.

Scott PoolguyNJ told me to post these numbers.

pH 7.6
Alk 100 ppm
CH 220 ppm
FC 5+ ppm (photo of test attached, it only reads to 5 ppm, but indicator is dark orange so I am guessing lots of chlorine.)
TC 5+ ppm
CYA 100 ppm
TDS 100 ppm
Salt 2200 ppm
phospates 800 ppm
iron 0 ppm

Additionally I have found out that some fertilizer may have made its way into my pool on Friday, I found a small amount consisting of white, black and green granules in the Polaris bag, which i have removed.

Also my Polaris and white fixtures in the pool like drain covers are taking on a tan colored sheen that will not wash or brush off. ( Photo attached) and there is a similar discoloration around pool where the water meets the tile. that does not scrub off.

I would appreciate any assistance. I am concerned this may not be algae? I have had the pool high in chlorine for 2.5 days and the pump running non stop and it has not made a change at all. I have also been brushing 2x daily.

Any help sincerely appreciated.
Photos below
[attachment=2:3gi1tima]photo(2) (Large).JPG[/attachment:3gi1tima]
Green Pool

[attachment=1:3gi1tima]photo(3).JPG[/attachment:3gi1tima]
Test

[attachment=0:3gi1tima]photo.JPG[/attachment:3gi1tima]
Polaris with brown residue that does not scrub off.

 

[JasonLion]

The first thing I notice is that your CYA level is over 100. Since the common CYA test reads levels higher than 100 as 100, it might be much higher than 100. It is very difficult to fight algae when CYA is that high. You will have a much simpler time of it if you lower your CYA level to below 80, and preferably lower than that. The most practical way to lower the CYA level is to replace water.

Another issue is water testing. You would do much better if you had a FAS-DPD chlorine test. High CYA levels require very high FC levels, which you need to be able to measure precisely. You can't do that if your current tester tops out at 5. Do you have your own test kit, or are you mostly going by pool store numbers? Everything is much simpler if you do all of your own water testing. You will get more reliable results than the pool store after only a day or two of practice.

I wouldn't trust the pool store salt test results. The SWG is more likely to be correct. That can wait till later however.

Can you tell us what kind of bagged shock you are using? Some of them add CYA, while others add CH. Your CH level is alright for now, but you certainly don't want to be adding any more CYA.

 

[goyom]

Jason, thanks much for the reply.

I have used 2 bags from Walmart that were cya based, and 2 from my local pool supply called leslies that were CH based.

I was thinking about draining some water and filling fresh tomorrow. My cya before I added the 2 bags of shock was 33, now its 100+ like you mentioned. Should I start moving some water out? Should I leave my pump on tonight ? I just cant imagine why this amount of chlorine is not affecting the pool.

 

[257WbyMag]

I would go ahead and replace 50% of the water, retest, and go from there. Until you get your CYA down, it's going to be tough to do much else.

 

[goyom]

I am in the process of draining some water and getting that CYA down.

I have noticed I do not see any accumulations on walls, steps or other surfaces.
Is this a sign that this may not be algae in nature? Right now my water still looks like the photo above, slightly cloudy with a green cast to it.
I would think with algae I would see accumulations on a surface, not just evenly suspended in the water?

Could this color be due to running my salt chlorine generator with insufficient salt in the pool ? I know normally the generator wont run below a certain salinity, but since my salinity sensor is malfunctioning (it still thinks the pool has 3400 ppm), it did run for a week or 2 with low salt.

Thanks much.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Could this color be due to running my salt chlorine generator with insufficient salt in the pool ? I know normally the generator wont run below a certain salinity, but since my salinity sensor is malfunctioning (it still thinks the pool has 3400 ppm), it did run for a week or 2 with low salt.

Nope; it won't do that. I think it's algae, just not thick and gooey enough to stick to the walls.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Try a Magic Eraser on the Polaris wheels and let us know if it comes off.

 

[zea3]

The brown staining is very common in my area. If you look in the toilet tank you may see the same discoloration. Has the Polaris been living in the pool since before it went green? When the FC dropped it allowed the algae and other stuff to grow that stained the wheels. I agree with Bama, the magic eraser should clean it off.

 

[257WbyMag]

The brown staining is very common in my area. If you look in the toilet tank you may see the same discoloration. Has the Polaris been living in the pool since before it went green? When the FC dropped it allowed the algae and other stuff to grow that stained the wheels. I agree with Bama, the magic eraser should clean it off.

I have also found that brown staining on some of the PVC surfaces in the pool. It is really noticeable on the inside of return eyeballs that I have had to replace.

 

[goyom]

I will try the eraser for sure thats a great idea.

I have a couple more questions if you will tolerate me

I am in the process of draining, and having some problems.

I have 2 skimmers:
one in the shallow end plumbed all by itself to the pump.
I have one in the deep end that is plumbed to the 2 deep end drains and the pump.

The level of the pool is now below the skimmer levels.
I turned my valve to pull from the deep end skimmer only. I also adjusted the float with the small door closed so it would isolate it to the deep end drains only.

So at this point the pump should only be pulling from the deep end skimmer and pulling from the 2 drains.

Well it starts to do it, then the water flow from the 2 drains lifts up the float, which in turn causes the flow to stop.

I am I missing something?

[attachment=1:ifc37w8e]skimmer.jpg[/attachment:ifc37w8e]
[attachment=0:ifc37w8e]floatside.jpg[/attachment:ifc37w8e]

Additionally I noticed this wonderful ring around the pool that will not wipe off or come off with my nylon pool brush.
This ring just appeared the same time the pool turned green, thoughts?
[attachment=2:ifc37w8e]tile.jpg[/attachment:ifc37w8e]
This pic is upside down btw.

Thanks so much for the help.

 

[goyom]

float door view

 

[Shane1]

The way I get my main drain to work 100% is to put the diverter in the skimmer with the flap wide open, then hold the skimmer door closed so all the water gets sucked out of the skimmer. When that happens the float in the diverter drops and plugs the skimmer. At that point the main drains are the only path for the water. I'm not sure if thats the "proper" way to do it but it gets the job done.

 

[goyom]

Thanks for the reply I tried that, no luck water comes up from the deep end drains and the float, well just floats up.

There has to be another way to configure that skimmer for a more locked down water flow, I wonder if my setup guy just didnt leave the parts necessary ?

 

[zea3]

If it is pushing the float up and out, then there may be air in the pipes that is being pushed up through the skimmer. You have 2 drains tied into 1 pipe and the pump is moving the water faster than the plumbing can handle, forcing any trapped air up and out the skimmer.

 

[Poolschoolgrad]

Brown staining on the polaris, skimmer, and PVC looks like staining from iron.
I battle the same problem here also.
A high PH will make the problem worse.

Crush some vitamin C tablets inside an old sock and rub it on the wheels. If it is metal staining, the stains will wipe away.

For darker brown stains on the return eyeballs, I removed them and soaked them overnight in a stronger vitamin C solution.

It is difficult to tell from the picture, but the ring on the tile appears to be only a water line stain. If it is organic and oils it should fade away as you increase the chlorine to clear the algae. Simply brush it daily with your soft nylon brush.

If the stain persists, test a small area by wiping with a solution of white household vinegar and water.
The vinegar and water solution will remove grease and soap scum from tile. It will also remove mild lime or calcium deposits.
Do not use vinegar on Marble surfaces.

Don't worry, you will have that pool back in shape in no time.

 

[goyom]

Well I must say thanks to all here at TFP that assisted me in my first algae break out.

Last night I refilled the pool, got the cya down to 30 ppm, and hit it with a heavy dose of chlorine based on chemgeeks cya chart created for the Algae section. I stayed up all night and kept checking the FC every 30 mins and pumping it back up as needed.
The chart said 12.2 PPM but to be sure I rode it between 15 and 16 ppm all night. By day break I could see only milky cloudy water, instead of green.

I added some clarifier/coagulant to help my cartridge filters catch it and off I went to work, pump running of course.

Just came home to check on it and found this.

pH 7.5
FC 9 ppm and holding
CYA 30 ppm

So at this point I will just maintain the high chlorine and keep the ph stable for a few days and keep the pump running how much longer?

Thanks much!
And thanks to Jason for his great guide!
[attachment=0:1luwy68c]photo(5).JPG[/attachment:1luwy68c]

 

[duraleigh]

So at this point I will just maintain the high chlorine and keep the ph stable for a few days and keep the pump running how much longer?

Until three things occur....

1. Your water is crystal clear
2. Your cc's are .5ppm or less
3. You pass the Overnight FC Loss Test

That's explained in Pool School but post back if you need some help.

YOu "grasped" what to do very quickly....nice work! :lol: :lol: