Pool green and can't figure out why?

[kcas0772]

Hi,

I have one of the Intex vinyl pools. It's a 18' round(I think it's around 5,000 gallons). Anyway, I fill up the pool every year, I don't cover it up. About two weeks ago I filled it up. The water was green. I had ALOT of leaves and sand/dirt at the bottom when I started however bc I didn't roll the pool up right away. Anyway, when I filled it up I figured it was probably just because it was so dirty. First thing I did was vacuum it a couple times to get everything out. The last and put in chlorine, etc.. My water remained green. At that time my PH/Chlorine was going up and down depending on what I did. It was high once so I added dry acid to bring it down. It got too low so brought it back up with soda ash, etc. The weirdest thing is that most of the last two weeks my chlorine has been a dark orange color, which I have never seen. The last few days I put in 3 bottles of shock, which of course brought the ph and chlorine way up. With all of this, the water hasn't changed at all, not better or worse. I really don't think it's algae, i've dealt with that in the past and this seems very different. Also, its not that dark either. You can actually see the bottom of the pool and it seems fairly clear, just a greenish color. So, today I brought a sample into a pool store for testing. The clerk said other than the chlorine and ph being high from the shock, none of the results seem out of whack and he doesnt' know why the water is green either. I'll list the readings below so maybe someone here can help, I have a feeling the clerk is wrong, some of the readings are a little low. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm lost at this point. LOL

Free Chlorine 5^
Total Available Chlorine 5^
PH 8.0
Alkalinity50
CYA 20
Calcium 40
Copper/Iron C4 = .3

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

When you say green, do you mean a clear transparent green, or a cloudy or murky green?

 

[kcas0772]

You can see the bottom of the pool and looks fairly clear but certainly nt crystal clear. It's clearly green but not dark green like when you get algae

 

[JasonLion]

Most likely this is related to the copper/iron in the water. Metals can sometimes turn the water green, especially when the FC level is high.

As the FC and PH levels come down it will probably go away on it's own. If it doesn't go away try a startup dose of sequestrant.

 

[kcas0772]

Most likely this is related to the copper/iron in the water. Metals can sometimes turn the water green, especially when the FC level is high.

As the FC and PH levels come down it will probably go away on it's own. If it doesn't go away try a startup dose of sequestrant.

Thanks for advice, I'll definitely try. One questions, can I add dry acid to bring the PH down, or in this case is it better to let it come down on its own?

 

[Abigail K]

Add dry acid if you already have it. If you don't have dry acid, get muriatic acid - it's cheaper, and doesn't leave sulphates.
99.9% of members do not see pH come down on its own.

 

[kcas0772]

Hi,

I have one of the Intex vinyl pools. It's a 18' round(I think it's around 5,000 gallons). Anyway, I fill up the pool every year, I don't cover it up. About two weeks ago I filled it up. The water was green. I had ALOT of leaves and sand/dirt at the bottom when I started however bc I didn't roll the pool up right away. Anyway, when I filled it up I figured it was probably just because it was so dirty. First thing I did was vacuum it a couple times to get everything out. The last and put in chlorine, etc.. My water remained green. At that time my PH/Chlorine was going up and down depending on what I did. It was high once so I added dry acid to bring it down. It got too low so brought it back up with soda ash, etc. The weirdest thing is that most of the last two weeks my chlorine has been a dark orange color, which I have never seen. The last few days I put in 3 bottles of shock, which of course brought the ph and chlorine way up. With all of this, the water hasn't changed at all, not better or worse. I really don't think it's algae, i've dealt with that in the past and this seems very different. Also, its not that dark either. You can actually see the bottom of the pool and it seems fairly clear, just a greenish color. So, today I brought a sample into a pool store for testing. The clerk said other than the chlorine and ph being high from the shock, none of the results seem out of whack and he doesnt' know why the water is green either. I'll list the readings below so maybe someone here can help, I have a feeling the clerk is wrong, some of the readings are a little low. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm lost at this point. LOL

Free Chlorine 5^
Total Available Chlorine 5^
PH 8.0
Alkalinity50
CYA 20
Calcium 40
Copper/Iron C4 = .3

Thanks,
Kevin

How about the levels? Is the Calcium or Alkalinity too low and possibly causing this problem? Also, I don't have a clue about copper/iron levels. I copied exactly what was on the guy's sheet. What does the copper level he has listed mean?

Also, tested pool this morning. Ph came down, almost on the low side around 7.2. Didn't add acid. Chlorine level is still orange.

Thanks,
Kevin