100 gal of Bleach - Pool still green!

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Over the years, I've read many threads where the poster is bouncing back and forth between pool store advice and advice from this forum......it's a tough spot, and frequently leads to a lot of indecision and confusion but I can tell you this for sure............Any incorrect advice posted on this forum will immediately be corrected by the many, many people reading your thread.

Who is looking over the shoulder of the Leslie's guy?

PS - Letting your chlorine go to zero is almost never helpful and I can't see where it would be in your case.
 
He thinks the CC could be too high, causing the FC to not be able to do it's job. I don't understand this.

Also, I'm wondering at this point if the algae may actually be dead. The pool is a dark blue now, and not green like it was initially. Maybe my filter is not working well? I'd like to assume the algae is dead and maintain a lower level of chlorine for now and then keep an eye to make sure the water doesn't start turning back to green on me. Is this a reasonable thought?
 
Without test results, we're all guessing....including Leslie's. Take a water sample in to him and post a full set of test results....that'll tell us what we need to know to finish clearing your pool.

If, indeed, your CC'as are high you need MORE Chlorine to clear your pool....not less. That said, it's still just a guess that your CC's are high.
 
A check for overnight loss of FC could clear up the question of any living algae or not. Measure the FC level in the evening and again early in the morning. If the level is the same then everything in the pool is dead and it is simply a matter of filtering it out. If the FC level falls overnight then something is still growing in the pool and you should maintain shock level.

High CC levels can smell and cause skin irritation, but they don't interfere with FC. With your high FC levels I would expect the CC level to be near zero by now. High CC levels can also be very distracting when you only have a tester that can test TC because there is then no way of distinguishing FC from CC.
 
For the OP...I see that you recently joined the forum...welcome...you probably have been doing some other internet research. In addition, you most likely have been getting advice from friends and co-workers with pools.

Speaking as someone who has "been there and done that," the information that you will get here is the ONLY source that you should trust. This is a time tested, "mother approved" method for pool water chemistry. The collective knowledge from the people that have answered your thread is 1000 times that of any other source. Chem_geek, duraleigh and waterbear (and others) are THE source for this information. They have no bias, no hidden agenda. The may disagree on occassion with each other on some esoteric details. But for your problem, trust them.

This is not vodoo or witchcraft. It has been repeated here a gazillion times (and you can read more at www.poolforum.com for a longer history) about clearing algea. Maintain a free chlorine in the super-chlorination range (using the best guess tables), filter, brush, and time and your pool will clear.

Get a good testing kit...this is truly the key...post your numbers requently...and this group will get you a sparkling pool.

And...do not add any "algacide"...unless someone here suggests it...and if you have alreadly...let the forum know, because some of these products are less then helpful (and may make things worse)...

This is science...there is nothing to believe in...just have some trust...

Before you know it...your water will be like this...BBB FTW (for the win)
 
Clearing a pool of algae will go through phases that looks something like that in this thread (copied from The Pool Forum, but I'm using a copy since The Pool Forum can't be seen overseas). Notice how the water goes from darker green to a lighter green or blue-green to a blue-gray or cloudy appearance to dull or aqua and finally to crystal clear blue. In this case it took around 3-4 days to clear because high chlorine levels were consistently maintained along with continuous filtering and brushing (and vacuuming) and a reasonable CYA level.

So hang in there, you are on the right track. Keeping the chlorine level up makes the process go faster.

By the way, keep in mind that cheap regular bleach may be less than even 3% in strength. Clorox Regular unscented is 6% and most off-brand Ultra bleaches are also 6%, but an inexpensive regular bleach may not be very effective. Also, some pool stores sell 10% or 12.5% chlorinating liquid at a reasonable price compared to bleach ($3.50 per gallon of 12.5% is not unreasonable and is equivalent to $1.30 for 96 ounces of 6% bleach).

Richard
 
For the past few days now, I've been maintaining only a normal amount of chlorine (2-5 ppm) and just letting the pump and filter run. It's gradually clearing out, so I guess I must have killed the algae after all. I'll post some pictures when it's clear. Thanks guys!
 
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