Need advice for unclean pool

[hunnybeez]

Hi all, My above ground round 18 feet 42", steel pool has been up and filled with water- directly from our well and from daughter's well next door-for almost 2 weeks now. The water was run from both wells thru filters but not thru our water softener.Our well water has a lot of iron. I've been washing the filters from the well and the pool filter at least twice a day and have hose and sock on the return hose.I've shocked it twice and hubby vacuumed bottom with shop vaq. Also, rigged up our old Intex pump with a long pool hose to vaq up opposite side of pool. I've added Borax, bleach, and hubby added some flocculant last week. The water is not clear, it's a greenish color. I can see the bottom but there is still little piles of stuff on the bottom-(sand?). These are the results-using the TF-test kit-100 that came yesterday:
water temp: 90
FC: 14.5
CC: 0
TC: 14.5
pH:7.8
T/A: 100
CH: 50
CYA: 0
I checked the chlorine first and it was 3.6, but it changed to clear while I was doing the other tests.
18 ft. 42" above ground steel pool. I don't know how many GHP's (or even what that is) the pump is. it's a "The Wet Set Krystal Clear Filter Pump model # 520, 120V-,60Hz, 3.7A". The Intex pump I rigged up was on our 24ft pool.
Can somebody please tell me what I need to do! And thanks so much, Ruby

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi all, My above ground round 18 feet 42", steel pool has been up and filled with water- directly from our well and from daughter's well next door-for almost 2 weeks now. The water was run from both wells thru filters but not thru our water softener.Our well water has a lot of iron. I've been washing the filters from the well and the pool filter at least twice a day and have hose and sock on the return hose.I've shocked it twice and hubby vacuumed bottom with shop vaq. Also, rigged up our old Intex pump with a long pool hose to vaq up opposite side of pool. I've added Borax, bleach, and hubby added some flocculant last week. The water is not clear, it's a greenish color. I can see the bottom but there is still little piles of stuff on the bottom-(sand?). These are the results-using the TF-test kit-100 that came yesterday:
water temp: 90
FC: 14.5CC: 0
TC: 14.5
pH:7.8
T/A: 100
CH: 50
CYA: 0
I checked the chlorine first and it was 3.6, but it changed to clear while I was doing the other tests.18 ft. 42" above ground steel pool. I don't know how many GHP's (or even what that is) the pump is. it's a "The Wet Set Krystal Clear Filter Pump model # 520, 120V-,60Hz, 3.7A". The Intex pump I rigged up was on our 24ft pool.
Can somebody please tell me what I need to do! And thanks so much, Ruby

Can you clarify what you mean (the sections I put in bold) about testing the chlorine? It's not clear what you are describing. Is your chlorine 14.5 AFTER adding bleach? WAs it 3.6 on the OTO test?

Did you follow the test kit instructions when testing for chlorine? It's not clear to me what result you have.

Your 520 pump is 2,000 gph. The infamous intex pumps/filter combos are notoriously poor on this forum according to numerous posters having problems clearing cloudy and/or green pools.

Was the water ever clear? When did it turn green? Are you running the filter 24/7? Don't add anymore borax or baking soda products, you are at the high end of the recommended levels.

You need to purchase some CYA/stabilizer from Wal-mart or the pool store and put enough in to reach 30-50 ppm, use the Pool calculator to determine how much to add. Shoot for 40ppm for now. YOu need CYA in your pool to help the chlorine survive during the day to fight the algae, if thats whats causing the greenish water. CYA stabilizes the chlorine and protects it from UV destruction. But you don't want too much, just 30-50.

Welcome to TFP, we're glad to help you clear your pool. Your already on the right track with your TF-100!

 

[duraleigh]

WAs it 3.6 on the OTO test?

Yes, either that or a cc's test mistakenly labeled. I have seen those test results from new kit owners many times.

To emphasize what FPM is telling you, the green is from algae and the cure is chlorine.

Chlorine is consumable and will be gone from your pool each day so it must be replenished daily or you'll never get rid of the algae.

Start with the basic articles in pool schjool to giove you an understanding of chlorine/CYA relationship.

The iron in your well water may in fact cause another problem but you issue right now has been caused by not keeping your chlorine CONSTANTLY high enough to prevent algae. Work on understanding how chlorine is used in your pool and the algae will be gone. If you have no further pool water problems, you can ignore the well water issue.

 

[hunnybeez]

I forgot to add that the FC (14.5) was tested without adding anything to the pool water at about 8:00 a.m. EST. Thanks duraleigh-- I thought I understood about the water stuff, but I really don't think I do! Back to school for me-again