Help!! Pool Green

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OhioSunshine

Active member
May 20, 2020
36
Ohio
My wife cleaned the pool tonight, added a little chlorine because it was low and it almost immediately turned green. We have a twenty year anniversary pool party/ celebration with 40 people coming over saturday night...... we have about 70 hours to get this fixed, if that's even possible. My marriage might be on the line here.... HELP, PLEASE!!

Total Hardness = 750 (High)
Total Chlorine = 10 (Very High)
Free Chlorine = 10 (Very High)
PH = 8.2 (Very High)
Total Alkalinity = 180 (High)
Stabilizer = 75 (OK)

Is my best option to drain half the pool and get water delivered???? This is not about money at this point.
 
Adding chlorine and it turning green is usually a sign of metal in the water. The good news about that is that it can go away almost as fast as it happens. The bad news is that it doesn't so much "go away" as "goes back in to hiding".

Can you post a picture? What kit are you using to test?
 
Ugh, that's what I was afraid of. Test strips are not the least bit reliable, accurate, or precise.

Honestly, with a lack of any reliable testing I can't even tell you whether the water is safe to swim in, much less what is causing the green and how to fix it. Given the time it will take for you to get a trustworthy kit, and your time restrictions, I would go with the water replacement plan. I still recommend getting a good test kit: Test Kits Compared to prevent future problems, but if it needs to be ready to swim in 2 days then water replacement is the 100% surefire option.
 
STOP! Don't add dry acid. It contains sulfate compounds. Only add Muriatic acid. and wouldn't add anything without a reliable test kit so you can know the effects of the addition. If you have Iron metals in the water I doubt that will fix anything.

Perhaps you can tell your guests you decided to go with a Irish theme and the pool is actually filled with Creme De Menthe;)
 
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Maybe? Might also create a much bigger problem. Like I said, I can't begin to guess based on unreliable data and anything could potentially cause more harm than good.

Think about it: your chlorine level read "low" and after a small amount now is off the scale high. That's not possible. So the strips either were wrong before adding the chlorine, after adding the chlorine, or both. And if it is high, there's no way of knowing how high. It's a total crud shoot. So I would absolutely not make any decisions based off of their readings. Test strips on the consumer market are made as cheaply as possible, they just aren't a quality item worth trusting pool care to.
 
Ken.chaffin said:
Makes sense. I will order a new test kit for sure. The app for the test strips says to add 48 pounds of generic dry acid????? Will that clear it up??
Click to expand...

What kind of acid? And no matter what kind of acid it is, 48 pounds is way too much. With your short timeline and lack of a real test kit, I think a water replacement plan and adding liquid chlorine is your best option. Good luck!
 
Ken...If the pool turned "immediately green" after adding chlorine then the chances are likely as Donaldson has stated that you have dissolved metals in your water....especially copper. This can actually come from your water source etc. I am new and trying to get on the TFP way of doing things so I don't know how they would feel about adding the product "Metal Out" to get rid of the copper. Normally this would be a safe condition to swim in however, Your PH levels are out of range of the acceptable maximum limit (8.0) which should be of concern. Hope this helps!
 

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Are you on a well by chance? Does it have iron or another metal in it? Do you have a heater that could be adding copper?
 
One possibility is that your iron has continued to rise over time with additions from your well. This will happen again if your source of iron is from the well and you use it for topping of the pool level. You might have the water from your well checked to see what the iron contribution is. I know you have enough to think about before the party... but that might be a consideration down the road. In a pinch you could refill with your well water and my guess is it would have less iron that what you have now.
 
High levels of Copper will present itself in a bright, clear green hue when suspended in the water.
High Iron levels will present itself like brown tea when suspended, or deposit on surfaces as a rusty red/brown color. High levels of Manganese and Magnesium can actually turn your pool a purple color.
Silver commonly forms black streaks or discolorations when it drops out of solution.

If I had to guess from the information we have, His well water is the culprit with high levels of copper. The copper came out of solution due to the imbalance of the pool, thus the immediate reaction with the chlorine. If he uses his well water again, this can occur repeatedly. Normally I would use Metal out and a Sequestering agent to rid the metals from the pool and flush my DE filter but I don't know what the TFP solution would be.
 
I do not believer copper is the culprit. Copper does not turn water like that......it precipitates out onto pool surfaces in bluish/blackish stains.

The issue in your pool is iron from your well. The addition of the chlorine (she may have added too much) is the culprit that triggered it.

If it were my situation, I would add enough muriatic acid to lower the pH down to around 7.0. Dose carefully and don't go lower than that. The lower pH in your pool will cause the iron to go back in solution and will clear up your pool.

Despite the importance of Saturday, I do not see draining the pool as an option I would pay for but that will probably work, too.
 
I am attaching a pic of the pool this morning. We think it looks more brown than the green we saw last night. Can’t say enough how much I appreciate everyone’s help!!
 

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We are going to attack the iron issue to start..... hopefully that works. Also, I have ordered water delivery loads and have them lined up for Saturday AM. I will keep everyone updated. Appreciate your help so much!
 
Run your pump 24/7 on high. That will help clear out the iron particles and clear up your water. Your test results do not come from one of the kits we suggest. While it won't help you for this crisis, it would help you with others if you had a test kit we trusted.
 

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