Hope I posted this to the correct forum! I added (cheap) Sam's Club algaecide to my pool about two weeks ago and it slowly started turning green. Through research I found it probably contained copper and that's what's turning the pool green. I brought a water sample to the local pool store, they tested the water (copper was 1 ppm) and they sold me a product that chelates the copper causing it to fall to the pool bottom to be vacuumed up. After two days it was still green and was now foaming profusely. They wanted me to add 25 lbs. of hardener so I also broadcast about 8 lbs. across the pool. The chemical seemed to stay on top and make the foam more "solid"! So I went to Leslie's with another sample and copper was still at 1 ppm. They sold me CuLater pouches so I put one in each skimmer. They've been in a week now and the pool is a little bit less green. I also added a couple of bottles of Metal Free this week too....nothing is clearing it up. Leslies told me the CuLater could take up to a month but, by then, the summer will be half over. I guess I'm wondering if I should just cut my losses, dump it and start over? My pool is in ground, vinyl liner, 35,000 gallons, DE filter. All chemistry is pretty good except the hardness is a little low. Any advice? I've had the pool for 10+ years and it's always been crystal clear!
Added Cheap Algecide, Pool Turned Green
- Thread starter ecarfar
- Start date
Hi, welcome to TFP! At this point, yes you should drain and refill. Do a series of partial drains if the water table in your area is high or there have been recent heavy rains. Be sure to leave at least a foot of water in the shallow end. If you see the walls start to look "puffy" while draining, stop and refill the pool. That means there is water behind the liner and you will have to do smaller drain/refill cycles to change the water.
"All chemistry is pretty good"--------means very little here. Especially if they are pool store test results. We recommend getting one of our recommended test kits so we know we have GOOD hard numbers to help you with. We rarely recommend the use of any algaecides, What is your PH? Welcome to the forum.
Thanks for the replies....no, we haven't had any rain at all recently here on Long Island so I'm not worried about a wall collapse. Woodyp, I did do an analysis of the water prior to bringing it to the two pool stores and they essentially found what my test kit said. I've never had a metal problem which is why I reached out to them for advice, which I guess was bad! PH is at 7.2. I don't have the numbers here at work but the PH I do remember.
I'm not worried about wall collapse as much as I'm worried about shifting or tearing of the liner if you do a full drain and refill. We generally do not recommend draining a vinyl,pool much lower than leaving one foot in the shallow end so that the weight of the water keeps it from shifting.
I think your analysis is correct that it will be best to cut your losses and exchange the water.
We are a bunch of renegades here and not very trusting of pool store advice as we usually find they make things worse rather than better. If you could update your signature to include your pool details and the make/model of your test kit it would help us answer questions. We base our soupy stem on accurate reliable testing, and have found some test kits provide this information better than others.
I think your analysis is correct that it will be best to cut your losses and exchange the water.
We are a bunch of renegades here and not very trusting of pool store advice as we usually find they make things worse rather than better. If you could update your signature to include your pool details and the make/model of your test kit it would help us answer questions. We base our soupy stem on accurate reliable testing, and have found some test kits provide this information better than others.
A picture's worth a thousand words. Showing some newcomer precisely why we discourage algaecide use is much easier than typing out a longwinded explanation.
Ah...OK, I see. I will give it until next week, if no appreciable changes occur, I will take it down to 1 foot in the shallow end. I'm assuming this will greatly reduce the green color! BTW, I'm using a Taylor K-2006 test kit.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,789
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
So... ecarfar, while you are draining your pool, is it safe to assume you are ordering your own recommended test kit (i.e. TF-100 link below)? Hint hint! 
It all starts there. You can tell we start to sound like a broken record after a while right? Does anyone even have records anymore? The proper test kit is everything. Why? Because we've all learned (from personal experience) you cannot reply on pool store tests, test strips, or simple over-the-counter kits. They don't read Free Chlorine (FC) or Cyanuric Acid (CYA) levels accurately or to the high levels we need. Armed with the proper test kit, most pool issues can be resolved, and your house will be cleaner. Okay, I lied about the house, but your pool water will be!
It all starts there. You can tell we start to sound like a broken record after a while right? Does anyone even have records anymore? The proper test kit is everything. Why? Because we've all learned (from personal experience) you cannot reply on pool store tests, test strips, or simple over-the-counter kits. They don't read Free Chlorine (FC) or Cyanuric Acid (CYA) levels accurately or to the high levels we need. Armed with the proper test kit, most pool issues can be resolved, and your house will be cleaner. Okay, I lied about the house, but your pool water will be! 
It's not as green as I was thinking. I would think even with what will be left behind leaving 1 for in the shallow end, that should clear up nicely.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,789
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
ecarfar, we must have been typing/posting at the same time. Now I see your reply about the test kit that loaded right after Richard's comment. Good to know!
- - - Updated - - -
Yeah, from these pics the pool doesn't look all that bad. I was expecting much worse. Stay with it! Nice pool.
- - - Updated - - -
Yeah, from these pics the pool doesn't look all that bad. I was expecting much worse. Stay with it! Nice pool.
It is actually a little better now. A little less dark green in the deep end. So you think if I just drain it down to 1 foot in the shallow end (it's only 3 feet in the shallow end) it will clear up? If I continue to do what I'm doing and not drain it, do you think it will clear up with the CuLater packs? I'm just so used to having a crystal clear pool that this is embarrassing. Thanks you for the kind words Texas Splash.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,789
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Draining as recommended by our fellow TFP'ers above is the unanimous choice of action. Naturally it's up to you as to whether you drain all the way down to 1 foot, or do partial drains. Some of that may depend upon your local conditions, cost, water table, etc. But it's agreed that a healthy exchange of water would be best to help purge your water of the additives that were added previously. Now that you are more familiar with TFP, you should be able to help your water get stronger with the simple products TFP advocates. Remember that with water exchange comes chemical level adjustments - especially chlorine and stabilizer (CYA). And we know CYA takes a few days to fully absorb and effect your new readings, so be mindful of that as you do you water swap. Post more test results after the swap if you want addition feedback.
Another thing I neglected to mention....whenever the pump is on the pool foams up like crazy, when it goes off it clears up. Any cure for that besides waiting?
If you do a partial drain/refill then that may reduce the copper to tolerable levels if you keep the pH from rising too much. In the meantime, if you keep the CuLator bag in the skimmer then it should continue to remove the remaining copper. If you run into any issues with the CuLator not working as expected, call the company since they are very helpful to people using their product. Though a complete drain/refill (or multiple partial ones) will remove more of the copper, it's also wasting a lot more water. Up to you.
At least you have a vinyl liner pool. If you had a plaster pool you could have had copper stains on the plaster in addition to green colored water. This is why we avoid the use of copper in pools. It is simply too risky and difficult, especially over a longer period of time where either the copper level can get too high or the pH gets high which has copper stain/precipitate.
At least you have a vinyl liner pool. If you had a plaster pool you could have had copper stains on the plaster in addition to green colored water. This is why we avoid the use of copper in pools. It is simply too risky and difficult, especially over a longer period of time where either the copper level can get too high or the pH gets high which has copper stain/precipitate.
OK, so I did the partial dump, brought it down to about a foot in the shallow end and refilled, the green was noticeably lighter but today it seems like it's back to where it was! I have no idea what's going on. I read that if I shock the pool the copper will rust and fall to the bottom. Is that worth a shot? Should I just do another dump/refill?
What are your test results after refilling? Is the water clear, just tinted, or is there some cloudiness, too?
If it's algae, it will tend towards olive green and cloudy. If it's copper, it's usually a beautiful Emerald green and clear. Low chlorine and high CYA can let algae take off. I'm assuming there was some algae initially or you wouldn't have dumped the algaecide in.
Yes, the water is clear, very slightly cloudy. It is emerald green and copper was at 1 ppm so it was copper instead of algae. That was my mistake from the beginning, the pool was very slightly green and I mistook it as being algae so I added a cheap Sam's club algaecide which turned it SUPER green. I did a partial dump as recommended here but since I've done that it seems to be getting greener.....I'm thinking I need to do a total dump and start from scratch. I will try shocking it with chlorine tonight and see if it "rusts" the copper but I'm not holding much hope.