Help with cloudy, green water

[jojosandiego]

I have about a 12,000 gallon pool in Southern California and over the past few weeks since its been extremely hot and humid I developed a bit of a green algae problem.

On the advice of the local Leslie's, after scrubbing all the algae off with a brush I added a couple bags of shock and a liquid algae treatment the name of which I can't remember. This seems to have helped with the visible algae not sticking to the sides and the bottom anymore but this was three days ago and each day since I wake up to find my water a little greener and a little cloudier. This morning the water was so cloudy I couldn't see the bottom in the shallow end.

I dont know if I should add additional chlorine since I shocked the heck out of it just a few days ago so can anyone advise me on what I need to do to get the water cleared back up again?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

Start by reading the ABC's of pool chemistry in pool school and ordering a good test kit.

You should definitely add additional chlorine, but how much all depends on what your CYA (stabilizer) level is.

If you'll read and learn the methods taught here, you'll soon understand what happens and what to do about it to keep your pool well maintained.

 

[jojosandiego]

Thank you for the reply. I took some water in to Leslie's for testing yesterday and here is what the summary showed. Leslie's recomendation is for me to drain the pool, but I talked to a pool tech who said he doesn't think that is necessary. HE pointed out that in So Cal where I live, evaporation probably causes me to have to fill the pool often and he's right, I put about 2-3 inches of water in per week so I think I have pletny of fresh water. His recommendation was a thorough filter cleaning and a heavy shock treatment and said only consider draining the pool if all else fails. Would you agree with that assessment?
Free Chlorine - 0
Total Available Chlorine - 0
Calcium Hardness - 650
Cyanuric Acid - 110
Total Dissolved Solids - 4000

 

[Bama Rambler]

Unfortunately draining some water is in your future. You have both CYA and CH at levels that make it hard to maintain. Also the pool stores are notoriously bad at the CYA test and the test only goes to 100, so your CYA is probably much higher than that.

I recommend that you get a good test kit. www.poolsupplyworld.com is close to you and sells the TF-100 which is the best kit you can get.
Once you get the kit and have a good set of test results, you can start getting this thing under control.

 

[Smykowski]

Your CYA and CH are high, and when water evaporates, they are left behind. When you add water, if your fill has CH in it, you will be driving it even higher. The only way to remove CYA and CH from the pool is to partially drain the pool.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Just to add, being in So Cal, you may have access to a 2nd option to remove the CH and CYA which is Reverse Osmosis treatment. But, it is not cheap, like $400+, so usually drain and fill is a better option.