Can I shock my brand new pool?

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dykes26

dykes26

0
Aug 17, 2009
186
Let me preface this by saying thank to all those out there who have hlped me with every question I have had under the sun.

I have a pool with water that has been in the pool 14 days. The PB put DE and CYA in the pool Monday and then clorine in the pool yesterday.

This morning I wake up to a green pool.

No FC loss over night. Note we did put compost in our planters around the pool Friday as well, but I tested for Nitrates- none. Ammonia is less that .25

Numbers

FC- 10.5
CC- 2
PH- 7.4
TA- 150
CH- 340
CYA- 50

H20 temp is 69

Is it Algae and can or should I shock.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi dykes26,

I think Jason Lion is trying to help you determine if you need a sequesterant or if you indeed have algae.

My pool, after a replaster, also turned 'green' after it's first helping of Clorox. Turned out that I only needed a sequesterant.

Do not worry. Whichever it is will be relatively simple to correct. :wink:

Did you have your fill water tested for metals, pH, TA, etc?
 
transparent green. I ran the clorine test again and got a FC of 9 and a CC of .5.

I have been running the pump most of the day.

Thanks in advance for your help. I cant wait to get to the point where I can return the favor to others greenies.
 
It sounds like you have either copper or iron in the water. If there was living algae you would be losing FC far more quickly and the water wouldn't be transparent. The correct treatment is to lower the PH a little (to between 7.0 and 7.2) and add sequestrant. Unfortunately, this probably means you are going to need to add more sequestrant every one to three weeks, unless you can figure out where the metals came from and find a source of replacement water that is metal free.

ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic the Pink Stuff (regular), the Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and the Purple Stuff (SWG) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find many other brands with similar products, some of which are noticeably less expensive. Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective.
 
Question- My neighbors pool was built with mine (combo package) Same exact everything, Same fill water but their pool is blue as can be. I do have a static relief valve (they do too). Could it have been installed wrong and be leaking the underground stream water into our pool? Or could the compost that we added to the planter (I am sure there were small amounts that dropped into the pool) have Iron in it?

I am trying to get to the bottom of the metals in the water.

IS there an metals test kit available or should I take the H20 into the pool store.
 
This may be a dumb question (one of my specialties), but it's not clear that the PB has turned to pool over to you for maintenance. I say that since the PB was there the very day before it turned green. I ask, since I would assume it would be the PB's job to turn over a blue and at least initially balanced pool.
 
It is quite possible for you and your neighbor to have the same metal levels, but slightly different water chemistry, and for the resulting symptoms to be different. If you both have high metal levels the long term result will be the same, but right now the symptoms could be different. The green color usually comes from metals in the water followed by a sudden rise in FC level. Staining tends to come from longer term gentle rises in PH. Slight differences in the amount of sequestrant added could also have a large effect right now.

Iron and copper can come from several different places. The most common is iron in the fill water. Small amounts of compost/soil would not do it. Copper can come from a heat exchange coil in a pool heater combined a period of low PH. Copper is also in some algaecides.

Both copper and iron tests are available from Taylor, I suggest K-1730 for copper and K-1716 for iron, but the cost is fairly high (around $50 each).
 
It could also be as simple that the PB added sequestrant to one pool and not the other - for whatever reason. Stuff happens.

Rather than the expense for the test, I suggest you call your pool store and see if they can test for the metals for you.

I suggest taking a sample of fill water and a sample of pool water.
 

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The plot thickens more. Took the water to the pool store and zero iron or copper. There was a decent FC drop from 9 to 5.5 over night. The green color is getting bluer but still has a green tinge. The clorine used is called Hasa Chlor.

The Leslies ( I know eye roll) said that there was way to much chlorine in the pool for a new plaster and hoped that the high level of chlorine didnt change the color of the plaster premanently. I find this HIGHLY unlikely--I hope.

What should I do?
 
That drop is significant. It was earlier when you stated no drop that led everyone to suspect metals.
Can you post a pic of the water?

Since it's such a new pool, I really don't know if shocking is safe at this point, but someone with more expertise on the matter should be along shortly.
 
Did you add some sequesterant or did you decide not to add any?

Did we mention that pool store testing can be notoriously inaccurate? :oops: :shock:

If this was my pool, I'd add sequesterant (as Jason suggested yesterday) before I did anything with increasing the FC. Just my .02 :wink:
 
Your description still fits with there being metals in the water. When the metals are turning the water green they are actually in extremely small crystals that won't test as dissolved metals. As the FC and/or PH levels come down the metals will re-dissolve into the water and the green will go away. At that point, when the water is the normal clear blue color, they will test as metals again and again be able to cause stains.

Very high FC levels in the first few weeks can affect the pool surface. I believe you have a pebble finish, which is much less likely to be affected than plain plaster would be. Also, while your initial FC level started out fairly high, you also had a fairly high CYA level (for the first few weeks, ie 50 is normal later on, but usually you work up to that gradually with fresh plaster), which reduces the effect the high FC level might have.
 
Im going to give it a try. Ill buy some at the pool store Tomarrow.

I agree about the FC and the CYA. From what I can tell there was not testing done at start up (other than by me) and the PB just dumped the stuff in.
 
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