Green Pool Water and nothing is working, Help please

Jump to latest Follow Reply
L

LHarpernj

0
Jul 11, 2016
6
Wrightstown, NJ
I have a 40K gal pool filled with well water and it is green. I brush the pool and a green cloud brushes up. Here is my latest's pool chemistry.

FC over 15.4
TC over 15.4
CC 0ppm
pH 7.8
Hardness 94ppm
Alkalinity 93 ppm
Cyanuric Acid over 195 ppm
Copper 0ppm
Iron 0.1 ppm

I have added 4 lbs of shock (which would put the FC and CC even higher) I added 2 qts of Copper Algaecide, running the pump 24/7 for days with a filter aid. Before this last treatment, we shocked and algaecide again, added Alum and it did nothing.

I don't know what else to do except drain the pool!!
 
Actually at this point draining is your best option. You never want to use copper in your pool if you can avoid it. It will cause staining of pool surfaces and causelight colored hair to turn green. Also the CYA is much too high. The only way to get rid of excess CYA is through partial drain and refill cycles. Since you have a vinyl liner you should leave at least a foot of water in the shallow end to prevent the liner from shifting.

We also recommend our members get an FAS/DPD test kit, such as a tf100xl or Taylor k2006c. You will need your own test kit to complete the SLAM Process process to clear your pool.
 
Are you ready to take over control and testing of your own pool?
TFTestkits.net
Order the TF100 with xl option and a speed stir, costs 125$, you will probably save that in the first month after you get this mess cleaned up.
More then likely you will have to do a couple of partial drain and fills to get your cya levels down so you can start a SLAM. It is not recommended you drain a vinyl lined in-ground pool lower then 1 foot in the shallow end as going further can mess up your liner.
You are on well water to fill with no doubt some iron in it, there are people here with a lot of experience dealing with that as well.
 
I see two problems: pool store testing and CYA over 195. My guess is that you're probably 250 or better. I was, when I took over my pool. Just to keep bacteria and algae at bay with 195 CYA would require about 15 FC. That's where you are. Getting ahead of it will require so much more that there isn't a test kit made that can even measure that high.

Hopefully your well is up to the task, because you really have no option but to replace 80+% of your water with fresh. And then you'll need to stop adding CYA, which means no more pucks and no more dichlor shock.

Once the CYA level is down somewhere between 30 and 50, you can SLAM Process to eliminate what's left of the green stuff. But to do that -- and to test the CYA so you'll know you've drained enough -- you'll need your own test kit. My recommendation is a TF100 with the XL option. You'll be burning through test reagents at an amazing rate early on, and those particular refills are nearly impossible to find in stock at a pool store, so get them in advance.

You're going to need to read a whole lot of pool school. Start with ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and the SLAM Process When those pages and the included links get too much :crazy: take a look at some of these. The newer ones are last. Just do what they did.
 
harleysilo said:
I see that this happened this time last year and you are looking at a $2000 expense to drain and refill.
How did you recover the situation last year?
Click to expand...

It was a 90% drain. I rented a 2" pump from Home Depot and it drained the pool in a couple of hours. My submersible would have taken a day. I got the CA down to about 50 ppm and it was Okay for the rest of the season. In NJ there is a very long season to begin with. Why would the CA come back so fast and again so high?


Thanks for the response.

Larry

- - - Updated - - -

Meant to say there isn't a very long season. I am thinking about just calling it quits for this season with about a month left. We are thinking about replacing the liner in the spring sine it has faded over the years. It's about 10 years old. We would have to drain a refill then. Is there any bad reason not to clear it up this year and just close it till next spring?

I am thinking of switching to a SWG with the next liner to help prevent liner fading from the chlorine. Good or bad idea?

Larry
 
LHarpernj said:
It was a 90% drain. I rented a 2" pump from Home Depot and it drained the pool in a couple of hours. My submersible would have taken a day. I got the CA down to about 50 ppm and it was Okay for the rest of the season. In NJ there is a very long season to begin with. Why would the CA come back so fast and again so high?


Thanks for the response.

Larry

- - - Updated - - -

Meant to say there isn't a very long season. I am thinking about just calling it quits for this season with about a month left. We are thinking about replacing the liner in the spring sine it has faded over the years. It's about 10 years old. We would have to drain a refill then. Is there any bad reason not to clear it up this year and just close it till next spring?

I am thinking of switching to a SWG with the next liner to help prevent liner fading from the chlorine. Good or bad idea?

Larry
Click to expand...

Welcome Larry!

How have you been chlorinating your pool? The dry form of chlorine you are using contains CYA. So CYA has risen because you've added it too the pool.

In short the way you have been doing it works up until it doesnt, up until your CYA gets so high that you don't have enough chlorine in your pool to stop algae from growing.

What concerns do you have with switching to using liquid chlorine to sanitize your pool? You are aware that it can be automated rather cheeply?

Alternatively you could look a getting SWCG (salt water chlorine generator) and you won't have to carry all that chlorine but that costs more.
 
I've been using tri-clor shock and tabs from Leslie's for 25 years. I'm on my second liner now. It's about ten yrs old and has faded in the shallow end. We have a great pool supply company that we use, but at times I think they are just guessing on what to try next. The copper Algaecide and calcium shock is what they wanted me to use this time. I mentioned the CYA being high and they said based on the color of the algae it wasn't due to the CYA being so high.?!?

Larry
 
If I were you i'd....
Get liner quotes, decide if I'm really going to replace or not.
Can you get water brought in at time of liner replacement? Cost of that? You could avoid future metal issues in you pool from the well water, but if you top the pool off with it overtime...

If you stick with current liner than its time to fix your pool water.

If you go with new liner, why wait to replace, I'd replace and then cover for winter once you water temp drops.

Either way I think after you make those decisions you need to decide to either read up and understand what's happening to your pool or continue doing what you've been doing.

A SWCG won't prevent fading of the liner. Significant fading would be due to improper chemical levels over time. You can keep your next one looking good with your current method if you understand the chemistry, but the other two methods work indefinately vs. about a year with a yearly water change.
 
LHarpernj said:
I've been using tri-clor shock and tabs from Leslie's for 25 years. I'm on my second liner now. It's about ten yrs old and has faded in the shallow end. We have a great pool supply company that we use, but at times I think they are just guessing on what to try next. The copper Algaecide and calcium shock is what they wanted me to use this time. I mentioned the CYA being high and they said based on the color of the algae it wasn't due to the CYA being so high.?!?

Larry
Click to expand...

Man are you telling me they are diagnosing the pools chemistry problem by looking at the color of the algae? At least they acknowledge that there is algae. Do you pay someone to open and close your pool?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
harleysilo said:
Man are you telling me they are diagnosing the pools chemistry problem by looking at the color of the algae? At least they acknowledge that there is algae. Do you pay someone to open and close your pool?
Click to expand...

Last year when we had the high CYA issue, I called a local pool water fill company and (a brother of a close friend) they quoted me $2,200 to fill the pool. I got a $25 discount per load due to friend. I decided to fill with the well water. No real significant Iron in water, less than 0.1 ppm when we fill-r-up. Different algae's have different color tints. That's want I was told. There is light green all the way to dark green. I don't know.

What other two methods are you referring to?

You have been a lot of help, thanks for your input.

Larry
 
Sorry I wasn't clear, I was referring to either using a SWCG to create chlorine in your pool or manually (or automatically) adding liquid chlorine daily to your pool as the means for sanitization. These two methods do not add CYA continuously to the pool.
 
LHarpernj said:
I've been using tri-clor shock and tabs from Leslie's for 25 years. I'm on my second liner now. It's about ten yrs old and has faded in the shallow end. We have a great pool supply company that we use, but at times I think they are just guessing on what to try next. The copper Algaecide and calcium shock is what they wanted me to use this time. I mentioned the CYA being high and they said based on the color of the algae it wasn't due to the CYA being so high.?!?

Larry
Click to expand...
As mentioned in this thread, and the one from last year, the Trichlor Tablets & Shock is what is raising your CYA. For every 10ppm of FC you get from Trichlor, you also get 6ppm of CYA. Granulated Dichlor is even worse, for every 10ppm of FC you get 9ppm of CYA.

You proper FC level is based on your CYA level. The recommended daily FC target is 12-15% of your CYA, with the absolute minimum FC at 7.5% of CYA. Shock level FC is 40% of CYA. With a CYA of 200ppm, that puts the shock FC level at 80ppm to kill the algae, and once the algae is dead, your daily FC target would be 24-30ppm.

Right now those kind of FC levels are realistically un-manageable and you need to once again drain the pool to lower your CYA. The proper test kit will get you off of this CYA rollercoaster.

The advise you are getting from your pool supply company is ridiculous at best. CYA levels have nothing to do with the color of algae, and is absolutely absurd to advise that it is! Algaecide is a preventive item (and more trouble than it is worth if it contains copper), using it when you already have a full algae bloom is like getting a flu shot after you catch the flu.

If you are willing to break the ties with the pool $tore and take control of your pool you will need a proper FAS DPD test kit.

Let us know what you want to do.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply