Green after a month of work

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Flowerstl

Flowerstl

0
Apr 6, 2018
4
North Mississippi
This will be long. My apologies in advance.
We bought the 26'X52" Coleman Metal frame pool kit on a whim on sale last July for $500 delivered. I didn't really expect much based on the reviews, but figured if I could get 3 months out of it I wouldn't complain. Being a pool newbie, I read your pool school along with many other online articles and so forth. So from July till mid October last year armed with a cheap 3 way test kit, pool essentials liquid chlorine, and the brush, net, and cartridge filter that came in the box I got the pool up and swimmable. A few weeks later I added a skimmer and a slightly upgraded vacuum. Towards the end of the season Walmart ran out of the liquid chlorine so I switched to the powdered chlorine and small tablets in my floating ducky. I did have to buy replacement filters by the case as they became clogged very quickly and rinsing them only works so many times. The work to maintain it was pretty constant as in the beginning I had no idea about CYA nor did I realize the need at the time. It did get away from me a few times and turned swampy if I was out of town or just didn't keep an eye on it. But the point is that I was able to get it back right within a day or 2 each time. We got out 3 months out of it. As a newbie I did not realize (or maybe didn't care at the time) the importance of winterizing and covering, so we didn't. We just sorta let it sit there all winter and naturally for the first time in about 10 years in our area we had some 8 degree temps for a few days and lots and lots of rain. Strangely, the pool made it through with no leaks or tears. The only casualty being the pump we left out there attached which busted...but it needed a better pump anyway.
So on about April 3 we decided to make another go. We have a 1.5 HP 24" sand filter now. We scooped leaves and sticks for over a week. We have vaccumed and backwashed as needed about every other day going on month now. We have put at least 12 pounds of shock in it...some HTH 4 in 1, some Clorox 3 in 1, and finally 5 gallons of 10% liquid Chlorine. We did upgrade to a 6 way test that could measure CYA. When I tested the CYA after the above mentioned amounts, it was like 52 so i drained some water, added some water and a remeasure about 5 days ago was 32. Since then I have used 4 more gallons (as one dose) 2 days ago. Yesterday, out of desperation I added 3oz of Clorox pool clarifier. I am waiting for my Taylor kit to be delivered tomorrow so I can test the FC and CYA, as I have run out of the CYA reagent in my other kit. The clarifier was added about 6PM last evening. My numbers from my testing this morning are:
OTO Chlorine 5+
Bromine 10+
PH 7.5
ALK 110
Hardness 210
I will update with new numbers as soon as the good test comes in on Thursday.
I am going to try to include a pic of the color progression through the month. Some of the pics were taken when it was cloudy out if that makes a difference. The first pic was taken April 3rd, the last was taken this morning. The green and cloudiness is not budging. I can only see about 3 inches into the water. The filter has been running 24/7 for 2 weeks. If it maters, we do have well water but that did not seem to have any impact last season. I am personally ready to drain it and start over. Any advice is insight welcomed.
Thanks in advance,
Tam
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Welcome to TFP! That is a lovely shade of green you have there :)

When your Taylor test kit arrives run a full test and post it. Until then I'd add a gallon of 6% bleach or a half gallon of the stronger stuff Wal-Mart sells in the pool section (check the date codes)

I think you'll be able to save the water. Here's some reading while you wait on your test kit: Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
 
Without the fas-dpd chlorine test you really don't know how much chlorine you have in there.
The OTO that goes to 5 is pretty useless for slamming.

Once you have the DPD test follow the slam procedure to the letter.
Don't throw in anything else except bleach.

You've made some progress but until you are able to test proper chlorine
slam levels and maintain that level it's going to be a very rough ride.
 
Welcome to the forum!

You can save that pool, and we will show you how.

Here is a tip on the CYA test. Always do it outdoors on a bright and sunny day. When reading the CYA tube, do so with your back to the sun, holding the tube in your shadow at about waist level. The idea is to flood the view tube with indirect sunlight so try not to block the tube with your hands.

I will fill the tube up to the first mark (100) then quickly glance for the dot. Don't stare at it or your eyes will play tricks. If I still see it at a glance, I fill to the next line (90) and repeat my glance. I keep doing this until I reach a line on the tube where I can no longer see the dot when glancing. Once I get a reading I am confident in, I dump the sample back into the mixing tube, gently shake for 15 seconds and repeat the test. You can do that as many times as you like until you are comfortable with the result.

Nice to have you with us.
 
UPDATE: I added 1 gallon of 10% liquid chlorine last night because the cheap test showed only about 2ppm chlorine.
Values from this morning's new test:
7.7 PH
10.5 PPM free chlorine
1.5 ppm Combined CHlorine
less than 30 CYA (the dot never disappeared)
50 ppm Calcium hardness
110 Alkalinity
Still green but looks lighter now...
And thank you all so much for your quick responses and warm welcome!:D
 
The chlorine is fighting the good fight and is evident by your CC combined chlorine at 1.5 ppm but you need to keep sending the reinforcements of free chlorine FC or you are just spinning your wheels. Algae has the ability to reproduce very quickly.
You cannot manage what you cannot properly measure so if you want to succeed then you have to be able to test your water with enough precision to stay in the game.
 
Read up on the SLAM routine and follow it religiously. You will likely need lots of bleach (and it doesn't necessarily have to be "pool chlorine" -- plain, regular, unscented laundry bleach works great), and Wal-Mart has it for $1.77 for a gallon of regular 6% laundry bleach.

Here is my first ever SLAM from a year ago. Simply put, the SLAM and TFP methods of pool care work, and work very well. Chlorine is your best friend for getting that swamp cleaned up.
 
Also keep in mind, if your CYA really is near zero (not registering) then the chlorine can rapidly burn off if the pool
is exposed to full sun. Like it could all be gone in an hour.

did you test the CYA with room temp water?
Reason I ask is, you will likely have a false low reading if the water temp is around 60 degrees.
70 degrees / room temp seems to work just fine though.
 

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You can totally save that pool. I've had 6 seasons as a pool owner, where 3 have been opened crystal clear, and 3 have been opened completely black, or green due to my own neglect. My pool is currently clear green as of today. What I have learned from here over the years and my own experiences is this. SLAM in the ppm range of 15 to 20 Chlorine. /FC. Get the Concentrated 8% bleach or 10% pool chlorine from Wal-Mart. You want your TA to be between 60 and 120. (Baking Soda/Sodium Carbonate) PH between 7.2 and 7.8 (Borax) Target you're CYA between 50 and 60. Now here is the big trick for removing finely suspended particles like green algae from your pool. Brush everything even blindly, floor, walls etc, depending on what type of filtration system you have. Sand is 40 micron, Cartridge is 20 micron, and DE is 10 micron. Get a Return elbow and a Duda Diesel Polyester Filter Bag for 10 to 5 micron off eBay for $5. Also get a pack of skimmer socks and put them on your skimmer basket. The technique you want to implement is triple filtration by utilizing skimmer sock, filtration system, and duds diesel 5 micron bag. First start filtering the top of the water of large and medium size particles and debris with skimmer basket, sick and pump first for about 24hrs which you probably have already done, clean skimmer socks several times if necessary. Then vaccum floor of all large debris and particles. Clean skimmer socks again. At this point now you have most of the major debris out of the pool, but are left with the finely suspended green particles of algae. Make sure to maintain SLAM levels of 15 ppm to 20 ppm FC. You have two options at this point. You can either flocculant the water and let run for 3 hours to circulate, turn pump off, then let all fine debris settle to bottom floor for 24 hours, then vaccum to waste. Or as an alternative to not losing water, hook up 45 degree elbow to return jet with duda diesel bag attached, and including the skimmer sock. Depending on the power of your pump you may have to throttle back your inlet and return valve to filter a little more slowly. If you are 1hp or under pump, don't worry about throttling. That duda diesel bag at 5 micron will filter out all the green algae and finely suspended particles in about 24 to 72 hrs. You will probably have to turn the diesel bag inside out and power wash it out and clean the bag more frequently in the first 24hrs. At 5 micron you are polishing the water clear. Clairifiers are a waste at this point because you are mechanically polishing the water at 5 micron. Hope this helps. You should be clear within 72 hrs. I've spun my wheels with a green pool before for a month before attempting this. Good luck.
 
STOP USING ANY POWDER FORM of shock which is also known as calcium hypochlorite. Unless you specifically want to raise you're calcium hardness, and chlorine in one swoop. Also STOP USING TRI-CLOR. Chlorine tablets. Over prolonged use, it will raise you're CYA levels. STICK WITH LIQUID CHLORINE Sodium Hypochlorite Only!!! My first two seasons of using the trichlor puck tabs I used to get algae breakouts midseason around July and couldn't figure out why despite having high FC CH levels. Its because the CYA was raised, and the Chlorine couldn't sanitize. Keep the cya levels between 50 and 60, and controlled and balanced.
 
Another update and questions. I am going to list my tests from today thus far.
6:58 AM-PH 7.5, CYA 35, FC 16.5, CC 1
10:24 AM FC 12.5, CC 1
1:16 PM FC 11, CC 0.5
3:58 PM FC 12, CC 0.5
I started the SLAM Friday morning. We have vacuumed and scrubbed daily, although there is nothing obvious that we are seeing and or feeling in the way of algae. There is an occasional few leaves and insects that we get but nothing more than usual and we fish them out and or clear skimmer regularly. Should I be seeing an improvement in the color of the water or the cloudiness by now? I understand it is a process but I am beginning to wonder if my filter is operating properly. It is only a month old. I can not imagine that water still being as green as it is with no visible improvement.
I'm including updated pics starting Friday till today.
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As far as your filter operating properly, is the discharge water green? If it is then I would say it is working. It will take time, I know everyone wants to think it will happen in 2-3-4 rotations of the water but that is just simply not realistic. Keep sweeping, keep filtering, get your chemicals in order and maintain it. Only from that day can you really start the clock.

Safe to assume everyone who is offering your advice has performed a SLAM successfully, so stick with them and you will get that pool cleared up.

Good luck,
 
You are letting your FC fall too low.

The CYA scale is not linear, half way between 30ppm and 40ppm is not 35ppm, so we always advise to round up.

So in your case, treat CYA as 40ppm, and maintain a FC of 16ppm. Try your best to never let the FC go below 16ppm. While it’s perfectly fine to dose a few ppm past the target, don’t go crazy, you’ll just be wasting chlorine.

When I had to SLAM, and work during the day, I would check and dose in the morning, going 25% - 30% past target to make up for loss during the day. I would also leave a measured dose for my wife to put in mid-day. I would test and dose again when I got home from work, and again when the kids went to bed.

Also, when the FC is above 10ppm, the pH will not be accurate, so save your reagents.

Stay with it. I’ve seen the SLAM work every time as long as the CYA to shock level FC ratio (40%) was maintained.

Have patience, some pools take a bit longer to clear, there are just so many variables that it is impossible to predict a time-frame.

It is a scientific fact that chlorine, at the proper levels, will kill algae and disinfect the pool.
 
UPDATE:

Just wanted to add a pic and show you guys the progress. I think I am there but will be doing the overnight loss test tonight to confirm. I literally CANNOT believe it went from the 1st pic to the last. AAHHHMAZED!!
Thank you for all of the good advice and words of encouragement! It is also worth noting that I did not have the good test to properly test FC and CC and begin SLAM until May 5th. So basically 10 days from starting SLAM procedures to blue/clear pool.:kim: I sure wish I'd had that test equipment a month earlier! Ha! :D
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