I built my pool last summer then closed it up for the winter using a mesh cheapie cover. This is the first pool I have ever owned. The leaves weighted down the cover and it became almost impossible to clean them off so there were submerged leaves decomposing in the water. The center of the cover was maybe 2 feet below the water surface. Last weekend, I was able to scoop out the leaves and get the cover off and found that the water has a greenish tint. Water temp is at about 50 degrees. I added bleach to get the FC level up initially to about 7, then checked the pH which was low so I added soda ash and now it is at 7.5. The CYA is 30. Since then, I added more bleach to get the FC up to 12 but it was still greenish so I added more getting the FC up to 18. My CC is at 0.5, and the FC doesn't seem to be dropping. The water color is not changing. Over the winter, I had to pump out about 12 inches of water and then I just dropped it down another 2 inches so that means that I picked up about 2 feet of water in rain and snowmelt since I closed it so I'm sure I will need to add quite a bit of salt to get the SWG working but I'm a little baffled by the water color. Shouldn't the high FC levels be killing any algae? And shouldn't I see FC drop rather quickly being that there is plenty to consume it? Am I missing something here? I have a cartridge filter that was nice and clean when I started the pump last weekend.
Greenish Tint on Opening, FC Not Dropping
- Thread starter diyindux
- Start date
Water was greenish when I unconverted it. Last night GC dropped from 18 to 17, cc 0 this morning. Any ideas?
Is it cloudy green or just a green tint to the water itself? Is there visible algae / slimy wall / etc?
Just a greenish tint. I have brushed the bottom and it only seems to have decomposed leaf bits. I have vacuumed it some and need to do a more thorough job but the liner feels clean. I'm buying a robotic cleaner today so I hopefully will be able to get the rest of the stuff out of the pool.
We see a few instances of this early in the year. If the water is otherwise clear, the green tint is likely the chlorine reacting with iron in the water. Give it a day or so and see if it clears up.
Since it isn't consuming chlorine I can't do much else besides wait. Maybe my wife and kids will learn to love the color.
Where are you located and what is the air temperature (average day and night atm) and water temperature?
I'm in southeastern Massachusetts. The pool temp is at about 50 degrees and the air temp has been all over the place. High 60's two days ago, 50 today, high 30's overnight. Basically not quite swimming weather yet. I pulled the cover because it was partially submerged and had leaves on it, and it appeared it was turning into a nice mosquito breeding ground. I uncovered it, hooked up the plumbing and brought the chlorine level up to make the water an unpleasant place for insects. The water was greenish when I started and still is. I'll try to load up some pictures, although it is hard to really capture the color. It looks like a very diluted Green Tea.
I thought that I couldn't have algae when it was cold either. I have quite a bit to learn about pool maintenance since I've never had one before. When I built this last year it started off nice and clear and stayed that way so this is the first time I've had some color to clear up. Should I just keep checking the FC to make sure it stays at shock level so that there will be sufficient chlorine to kill the algae once the pool water warms up?
If the water is crystal clear but has a green tint (think Green River soda), it's probably not algae. It's probably a little bit of iron in the pool reacting with the chlorine you put in. Iron precipitates yellow. Yellow plus blue pool water = green tint.
Just a quick update - The pool started consuming chlorine and has cleared up quite a bit. I have kept the levels up in the shock range (12 to 14 ppm) and it has been dropping maybe 1 to 1.5 overnight but it will drop 4 plus during the day. My CYA is at 30 which is a little low so the sun (what little there has been) may be using some up too but it has become more blue. it only has a slight greenish tint in the deep end. Interestingly, the temp of the water has dropped steadily since I pulled the cover off it. I was all the way up to 53 degrees early in the weekend but it is down to 47 degrees now. Unreal.
I also just got an Aquabot Bravo Fury. I got a great price on it. I love this thing. My pool had a bunch of decayed leaves and pine needles in it that I was having trouble getting out. Not a full pool but enough to collect in some areas. Every time I tried to vacuum them up they would just drift away in a cloud. The Fury sucked it all right up. The only problem I have with it is that since I managed to drop some sand and other debris in the pool when pulling the cover off (I haven't finished the patio around it yet) the filter bag gets filled up and it really impacts the machine's performance. The pool is pretty well cleaned up now so that problem should be solved. I have to believe that I won't be needing my pool pump for much other than generating chlorine and pumping water through the heater. This robot really mixes up the water in the pool and cleans it right up!
I also just got an Aquabot Bravo Fury. I got a great price on it. I love this thing. My pool had a bunch of decayed leaves and pine needles in it that I was having trouble getting out. Not a full pool but enough to collect in some areas. Every time I tried to vacuum them up they would just drift away in a cloud. The Fury sucked it all right up. The only problem I have with it is that since I managed to drop some sand and other debris in the pool when pulling the cover off (I haven't finished the patio around it yet) the filter bag gets filled up and it really impacts the machine's performance. The pool is pretty well cleaned up now so that problem should be solved. I have to believe that I won't be needing my pool pump for much other than generating chlorine and pumping water through the heater. This robot really mixes up the water in the pool and cleans it right up!
If you still have a tinge of green in the deep end, I would highly suggest brushing the pool daily while SLAM'ing.
All looks good - Thanks for the feedback. The water is nice and blue now and I have let the chlorine levels drop back down to around 4. I imagine the water getting a little warmer helped the chlorine do its job. The little robot seemed to be helpful on the cleanup as well. The water temp is up above 54 degrees so the SWGC is functioning. I actually needed that to happen so I could get an accurate salt reading for the water because the strips I have are useless. I have that back up where it needs to be and the pool is back to taking care of itself.
My kids and a few of their friends have already jumped in (and out) a few times. I've been asked to get the heater going but I'm not giving in quite yet. Temps are still dropping to the low 40's at night so I can't afford that!
My kids and a few of their friends have already jumped in (and out) a few times. I've been asked to get the heater going but I'm not giving in quite yet. Temps are still dropping to the low 40's at night so I can't afford that!