Need help with out of control pool...

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I vacuumed... I took out about 8 inches of water, and it was almost all pea soup green. Of course they then, and putting more water in ( still running the hose on that ) the Chlorine was down so I did the best mixed job I could... I swept the sides and corners and sent the kids in. Probably not the best plain of action right now, but they were "dying" and I can guarantee you no algae will be left intact when they are done! Even with the green left in it there is about 70% visibility and the water felt pretty clean. So after the water gets back up I'll bring the chlorine level back up and see how we are tomorrow, I'm really feeling like we're getting really close, I hope we can make it by next Sat!

I also cleaned out the pump and hoses because when I vacuumed I ran the water down under the skimmer level. They were pretty nasty looking, and in the hoses I found chunks of algae... Yummy. The pump sounded very happy to get that all out of there!

Thanks you guys for all of your support. My husband said next spring we're going to pick a nice week ( no wind storms ) and drain it and refill it. At this point I really think that's the best way to start up in the spring.
 
I'm really surprised that you're still finding really green stuff. It seems like you have areas of poor circulation. Either that or you've acidentally let the FC drop too low a time or two. Your good test kit should have eliminated that though.

If you follow the winterizing suggestions here you won't have an issue reopening the pool.
 
These last chunks I was flushing out of the hoses and filter, so I don't know if maybe they got stuck in the cracks. Out of the pool the stuff on the bottom wasn't bright green, it was that grey green color. The lowest it's been since we started this was the other day when I stirred up all the green. I think that was at 6... I don't have the notebook in front of me. I'm hiding in the office from the heat ( coldest room in the house!)! I was mowing and it's just terrible out there! Otherwise it's been up. I've not gotten any bright green or chunks out of the pool for some time, just what came out of the filter and hoses today. Is it possible that it has been growing in there?
 
Riven said:
These last chunks I was flushing out of the hoses and filter, so I don't know if maybe they got stuck in the cracks. Out of the pool the stuff on the bottom wasn't bright green, it was that grey green color. The lowest it's been since we started this was the other day when I stirred up all the green. I think that was at 6... I don't have the notebook in front of me. I'm hiding in the office from the heat ( coldest room in the house!)! I was mowing and it's just terrible out there! Otherwise it's been up. I've not gotten any bright green or chunks out of the pool for some time, just what came out of the filter and hoses today. Is it possible that it has been growing in there?
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What are your latest readings?
 
I just went back out and the pool looks nearly blue but cloudy, visibility to the second rung. It was probably that way this morning but the light or my lack of awakeness made me see otherwise, because I don't think it probably de-greened in that short period of time. Added more bleach via the pool calc. and back washed. I'm finding that with the bad spider gasket that if I open the discharge backwash, filter ( with discharge open), backwash, repeat at least once or twice, I get a lot more gunk out. Quite a bit o' greenish gray this morning out of the filter, which is a good thing because that means it's out of the pool.
 
Riven said:
This morning we're at FC of 11 and a CC of .5! So that's still good. Cloudy with light green. Going to bring her back up some, backwash and go to a movie with my girls!
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Hey guys, is that CC 0.5 telling us that there is still a need to continue shocking? Or are we going by the fact that it is still cloudy? Or is it a combination of the two?
 

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Wow. I just picked up this thread. Riven, you are doing a great job. Obviously, you had a pool-full of problem when you started, but you have gotten some great advice and have done an impressive amount of studying and working on your pool.

What you are doing is basically fighting an infection in your pool. An algae infection. Free Chlorine is your antibiotic. You dose the water with a high-enough level to kill the algae, you try to mix it thoroughly, and you try to apply the chlorinated water to all surfaces where algae can be present in order to kill it. Anywhere the algae can hide from the chlorine, it can survive. And naturally, the chlorine gets 'used up' as it kills. This is a true balancing act - use chlorine to kill algae, which uses up chlorine, lowering the FC level, allowing algae to grow... add more chlorine, kill more algae, use more chlorine. The trick, as you've found out, is to maintain the FC high enough so as to never let the algae regroup, and long enough to insure that it's all dead. ("You have to take the full course of antibiotic. Do not stop taking them when you begin to feel better.")

Algae can get thick in places. This means that chlorine will only penetrate so far, and won't kill all of it. As you've discovered, brushing/stirring it up helps expose more of it to the chlorine. You've also learned that it can and will hide in every crack, fold, crease, and corner into which it can avoid the FC concentration.

What you see coming out of your filter is a good sign - it means that your filter is doing its job. Note that dead algae is not green, it's a gray/whitish color. You are seeing both in your system, and you will until all the algae is dead, all dead, really dead.

Let me reiterate - you are doing a great job. Your pool seemed awfully intimidating at the outset of this thread, but I believe that you have a good handle on what your pool needs, and I am certain that you will meet your goal of a clear pool by the 31st.
 
Thanks so much! Today it's seemed to not get any clearer... but not worse! It's a blue cloudy. Filter is still plugging away. I'm going to go out and test the chlorine levels in a bit here, we just got back from town and I didn't take the bottle out when I checked it.
 
Just tested at. I'm trying to keep it at 14 right? I mean, that's what I keep aiming for, lol.
FC 11, CC 1

ETA: When I looked from atop the ladder this evening I can make out the bottom, there are some areas that are kind of "dirty" but the majority of it is blue. And they don't look as dirty as they were before. If I have visibility tomorrow do I vacuum again? Or stir? Or?
 
This morning we're looking very blue, FC 11 CC 1 ( if you want to micro-manage I'd actually say .75, lol ), so we still had some loss. It's cloudy out today, but the bottom looks pretty good from what I can see, still cloudy but getting clearer... I think we have it this time! ( fingers crossed )
 
Have you taken the ladder out and scrubbed it? A lot of algae can hide in the crevices behind the ladder. You can also pour a little bleach in the skimmer to help give the plumbing and filter a boost of chlorine when you are adding it to the pool. I also turn my return eyeball the opposite direction every couple of days to help avoid any circulation issues.
 
I have the eyeball turned away from the skimmer, as they're close to each other to circulate in the opposite direction. FC was back down to 11 this evening and I got in and inspected the bottom, it was a light dusting of dead algae debris, but I found NO green. I'll take the ladder out tomorrow and power wash it as well. And I'm hoping that everything I stirred up this evening that doesn't get filtered out will settle clear enough for me to vacuum tomorrow! WOO HOO!

What is safe swimming chlorine levels? We will be swimming on Sat. cloudy or not, so I didn't know how low I needed to drop it, and about how long it will take as I don't want anyone's skin frying off. ( my husband actually had a dream that I was just filling the pool with chlorine...

This whole thing has been making me crazy, I normally swim daily, my grandma swam daily and was a red cross swimming teacher back in the day... so it's just something I picked up and learned to love as I lived with them part of my childhood. And yes... after "inspecting" I swam some laps... :whoot:
 

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