New Pool Owner - Green Pool!

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Kenny22

Kenny22

Active member
Jun 14, 2021
40
Syracuse, New York
Pool Size
13500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hello all, I bought a house this past winter that came with a 24' above ground pool! Opening the pool for the season has been an incredibly frustrating process so far. I found that parts of the pump system were broken and needed to be replaced, and in doing so the pool had to sit, unfiltered, for weeks! We vaccumed and scrubbed the pool, and tried shocking multiple times now, but it just will not clear up. This last time (2 days ago) I put three gallons of liquid shock in just before dark at once, and it seems slightly better, but definitely still very green so far. Perhaps it will get continue getting better, but I found a thread on this site and decided to join, because the pool stores do not seem to be giving the best advice. According to the post linked below, I am going to look into getting the TF100 or Taylor KF2006C. I cannot seem to find the TF100 on amazon though, so probably the Taylor. In the mean time, if anyone else has any other advice besides getting a test kit, please let me know!

The post I mentioned: After 12 lbs shock and 3 gallons liquid chlorine the green swamp is getting worse!
 

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Welcome to the forum!
The TF100 is available from TFTestkits.net. It is the best value for a quality testing kit for residential pools.
You need to follow the SLAM Process.
While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
 
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mknauss said:
Welcome to the forum!
The TF100 is available from TFTestkits.net. It is the best value for a quality testing kit for residential pools.
You need to follow the SLAM Process.
While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll read up on the ABC's. I am hoping to get at least a basic understanding before the testing kit arrives so when it does I know what I'm doing, and we can get this thing clear!
 
Kenny,
As Marty said it get the kit. Personally I have the TF-100. Don't Amazon it as you don't know how long it's been sitting around and at what temps. Order from tftestkits.net as they're rather efficient. In the meantime follow what Marty advised, 5 ppm of liquid chlorine daily till the kits arrives.
 
Merged threads - TFP Mod.
Hello all! I joined TFP the other day because I've been battling a green pool as a new pool owner for over a month now, and the pool stores I've been visiting have not been very helpful. I just received my K2006C testing kit in the mail today, and am looking forward to finally taking the proper steps to getting my pool clear! My pool is green, so I am planning to SLAM that thing, as suggested on my first post as well. Before I go to buy chlorine, and whatever else I need, I wanted to, of course, test the water! I tested the pH, alkalinity and CYA levels so far.

The pH is hard to tell for sure, but it seems to be around 8, maybe slightly above, so I'll need to bring that down. As for the alkalinity, that was 110 ppm, and the PoolMath app from TFP tells me that I need to lower the pH first anyway, so hopefully that helps with that. As for the CYA, the black dot in the test tube never disappeared! I'm guessing my CYA is just far too low. I am a bit confused by this, as I had added some stabilizer a few weeks ago, but I followed the instructions (7 mL pool water, 7 mL R0013, mix for 30 seconds, pour until can't see black dot), and I had to stop pouring because the water was going to overflow. The alkalinity test was much more successful, and seeing it suddenly change color after meticulously adding a drop, closing and mixing repeatedly was very satisfying.

Thanks for having me as a member here, I am so excited to be taking matters into my own hands, rather than relying on pool store direction with zero understanding of my own!

p.s. I have read the ABC's of pool chemistry, and am slowly chipping away at reading more in the Pool School every day. Good stuff!
 
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Great job testing. :goodjob: Don't worry about TA right now. First you should lower the pH to about 7.2. Then before you add anymore stabilizer, do the following:

Add enough liquid chlorine/regular bleach to increase the FC to 10 ppm. Test in 10 min. If it fell below 5 ppm, increase the FC back to 10 and repeat this until it holds between 6-10 ppm. Once the FC shows signs of holding, THEN add stabilizer for a CYA goal of 30. At that same time, increase the FC to 12 - your new SLAM level. Use the PoolMath APP to help you with dosage amounts. Stay close to the pool during that 10-min drill and perhaps a few hours afterwards to ensure the FC is holding. The early part of the SLAM Process requires some babysitting.
 
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Thank you for merging my threads! I realized I should've just added to the first thread after I made it, sorry!

Anyway, I started a FC test (FAS-DPD) and after adding the two bits of powder the water did not turn pink, so I'm going to assume there's just no chlorine in the pool anymore. I'm going to go to the pool store after work to get the chlorine and follow your instructions as exactly as I can! Thank you!
 
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Okay, so I want to make sure I do this right. I'm looking at the "Effects of Adding" page in the Pool Math app on my phone, and I selected Bleach with a percentage of 12%, since the shock I buy at the pool store is 12% chlorine (I wish I had a bottle to read exactly what it says, but the trash pickup took my empties this morning, I think it's Hypochlorite or something like that). So anyway, my pool is 13,500 gallons, so one gallon of this 12% chlorine shock _should_ raise the FC level to 9.3 (it doesn't say, but I'm assuming that's units of ppm). Does that sound right?

If that sound right, I think I'm going to get 2 cases of those shock bottles (8 one-gallon jugs). One gallon for the initial dose (plus a splash more to try and get 10ppm FC), and then follow the adjustment pattern by retesting and adding the appropriate amount every 10 minutes until it stabilizes between 5-10 ppm. I know to spread the chlorine as evenly around the pool as I can when adding it, but is there anywhere I should try to take the sample for testing from during this rapid testing phase? Near the filter return, or far?

I very greatly appreciate the responses, I just really want to do this right, and you guys are really awesome for helping me, and all the other pool owners who don't have your expertise.
 

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Kenny22 said:
I know to spread the chlorine as evenly around the pool as I can when adding it, but is there anywhere I should try to take the sample for testing from during this rapid testing phase? Near the filter return, or far?
Click to expand...
you have the process down.
No need to spread the chlorine around. Just add at a return in a pencil size stream with the pump running. Brush a few times around the area.
Take the water sample at the same place. In an area of the pool with good circulation.
 
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YippeeSkippy said:
Actually I like to take my water sample from an area I figure has the *worst* circulation, figuring that it would be the lowest FC level in the pool.
Click to expand...
True - but for the ammonia protocol, best to be from an area there is good circulation, or brush the entire pool after every chlorine addition.
 
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Alright, so I added a gallon of the shock, and brushed the pool while waiting between tests. My FC levels were as follows:

10 minutes: 8ppm
20 minutes: >8ppm (I must’ve messed up the test)
40 minutes: 8 ppm

One thing I’m curious about, is when I add the DPD powder, it says to add two dippers worth. It turns very pink after the first, and almost red free the second. Should I really be adding the second even if it turns quite pink after one?

Dinner time now, then I’m going to test again. If I still get 8 ppm, I guess Ill move to the Stabilizer and bumping up to 12 ppm chlorine, as Texas Splash suggested. Before I joined this forum pool store employee told me to add stabilizer a little at a time, 1/2 a cup or so, directly to the filter every half hour or so until I’ve added the appropriate amount. Unless someone here tells me otherwise, I’ll do that and add the chlorine at the start to bring it up to 12 ppm.

Edit: Read some old posts about adding Stabilizer. I went with a sock full of it in the filter.
 
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mknauss said:
Great - no ammonia. Move forward with the SLAM Process

FC test - 10 ml of water sample, one heaping scoop of powder, each drop of reagent to clear is 0.5 ppm FC.
Click to expand...
Sounds like I did it right then! Looking forward to checking the chlorine level in the morning! Thankfully I work from home, so I can monitor it almost as much as I want, so I’ll probably check it a few times throughout the day!
 
At the start of a SLAM, every couple hours is best. Then as your FC loss slows, 3-4 times per day is sufficient.
 
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That is a good point, I’ll check it every hour for until bed tonight too then. Also, here’s some pics of the pool I just took. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to look at these and newer photos and see a huge difference!
image.jpgimage.jpg
 
ALLL righty then! Every hour may be a plan for tonight and tomorrow. This will take some chlorine ----------------
 
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