Green pool

[Cheetos82]

Been a long time since I posted.
I got very sick and my pool ended up turning green. I'm having trouble figuring out how much chlorine to start with and what I need to keep fc up to and for how long? Intex 16×48 5600 gallons I have a Intel sand filter

 

[Cheetos82]

I meant intex filter

 

[Flying Tivo]

Have you tested your water? What test kit do you have? Can you post test results?

Felipe

 

[Cheetos82]

I haven't tested yet. I'm not sure how im going to even be able to slam it. I can't afford the recommended test kit. I just have one from Wal-Mart that does chlorine ph and has cya and alkalinity

 

[Cheetos82]

It has basically been green since end of last summer. I'm not even sure if I will be able to manage it this yr with my health but I'm going to try

 

[Flying Tivo]

If you dont invest in a good quality test kit, you will pay for it in hard work and chemicals. Sad to hear you are not in good health, but your spirits are great at trying to tackle the pool. Try to talk to a neighbor that has a pool and ask if he has a Taylor 2006C that would be willing to help. Whatever you attempt with Test Strips is like flying blind, it will get you nowhere!

Felipe

 

[Cheetos82]

No one has a pool .would this work? Right now the one I has test for total chlorine with oto drops

 

[cooljul]

You can assume you don't have any chlorine in the pool since it has been green for a year. You will want to get a leaf rake and start scooping out as much junk as possible. Then add water so it covers at least your intake so you don't run the pump dry. Start the pump when you can be around to backwash it when pressure rises. At first it will probably have to be back washed twice a day. Using pool math, you should add about a gallon of 6% bleach to get your FC level to 12. This is assuming a CYA of 30. You won't really know how often to add it though without a test kit that can measure chlorine above 5 ppm, since your shock level is 12.

You can go it blind but you risk adding too much chlorine and possibly damaging equipment or adding too little and battling your pool for weeks or months longer than necessary. You'll have to decide what's worth it to you.

I just got done doing this with my pool the same as yours. It was in bad shape since last summer. It's now sparkling and took me a little over two weeks to get it there (wasn't able to dedicate as much time as needed at first).

Good luck!!!

- - - Updated - - -

$24 is too much if it can only test up to 5 PPM. that won't help. Might as well get the $6 kit at walmart does the same thing. Just know it WON'T measure as high as chlorine as you need it to to effectively do the SLAM.

 

[richierich]

For such a small pool would it make sense to simply drain and refill? Not sure the cost of water in your area but here on Long Island, NY that would cost me about $30 to refill 5000 gallons

 

[Cheetos82]

You can assume you don't have any chlorine in the pool since it has been green for a year. You will want to get a leaf rake and start scooping out as much junk as possible. Then add water so it covers at least your intake so you don't run the pump dry. Start the pump when you can be around to backwash it when pressure rises. At first it will probably have to be back washed twice a day. Using pool math, you should add about a gallon of 6% bleach to get your FC level to 12. This is assuming a CYA of 30. You won't really know how often to add it though without a test kit that can measure chlorine above 5 ppm, since your shock level is 12.

You can go it blind but you risk adding too much chlorine and possibly damaging equipment or adding too little and battling your pool for weeks or months longer than necessary. You'll have to decide what's worth it to you.

I just got done doing this with my pool the same as yours. It was in bad shape since last summer. It's now sparkling and took me a little over two weeks to get it there (wasn't able to dedicate as much time as needed at first).

Good luck!!!

- - - Updated - - -

$24 is too much if it can only test up to 5 PPM. that won't help. Might as well get the $6 kit at walmart does the same thing. Just know it WON'T measure as high as chlorine as you need it to to effectively do the SLAM.

Oh I thought it tested higher didn't see that

 

[Cheetos82]

For such a small pool would it make sense to simply drain and refill? Not sure the cost of water in your area but here on Long Island, NY that would cost me about $30 to refill 5000 gallons

Drained most the way but can't get all the water out. Just won't drain completely

 

[richierich]

Drained most the way but can't get all the water out. Just won't drain completely

yeah those intex pools have a dumb design that the drain plug is a few inches from the bottom. You could use a submersive pump to fully drain. However, with 95% of it drained I think you could refill and your water would only be slightly green. Then adding the correct amount of bleach with pool math and the test kit should be good

 

[Cheetos82]

yeah those intex pools have a dumb design that the drain plug is a few inches from the bottom. You could use a submersive pump to fully drain. However, with 95% of it drained I think you could refill and your water would only be slightly green. Then adding the correct amount of bleach with pool math and the test kit should be good

We used a sump pump and still had at least 6 inches. Yes dumbest design ever. I'm hoping we can get it worked out. I just want to be certain we are killing the algae. And how in the world do I brush down in that flap around the bottom

 

[cooljul]

I agree with Richie rich, Maybe fill it up 1/3 of the way and start adding chlorine and move it around good with a brush. That way you're attacking the algae much faster and at higher doses than if the pool was full. Then start adding more water and chlorine until it is full, start up the pump and let it clear out all the dead algae.