Newbie with green pool

[Erythrocebus]

We are new to pools and are having some problems getting started. I’ve been to pool school and am doing my own testing with sparco strips.

We had algae on opening, with a lot of pine cones and pine needles. followed local company advice to add two opening kits (clarifier, algicide, oxidizer) and 3lb shock.

vacuumed extensively. Cleared debris. Pool remains green.

pool chemistry was way out of whack:
Hardness: 0
Tc: 10
Fc: 10
pH: 6.2
Ta: 0
Cya:0

pool company recommended 15lb sparco alkalinity +

Robot vacuum on all night. Overnight chlorine test showed no change.

current chemistry
Hardness 50
Tc:10
Fc:10
PH: 6.8
Ta: 40
Cya:30-50

issues/questions:
Pool remains green.
Chlorine feeder control knob is broken off
How to reduce chlorine?
How to determine if filter Is working properly?


Location: upstate ny
Pool: AG
~20k gallons
Age?
Filter: sand
Chlorine 3” pucks

 

[V___25]

Hello and welcome! You'll get tons of great help here but the first thing to do is ditch those strips and get yourself a good test kit if you're serious about maintaining your own pool chemisty. You can read about them here.
#2, stay out of the pool store, ditch the tabs, clarifier, algaecide and whatever else they sold. #3 find a good source of liquid chlorine and stock up. It's been tough to find in some places but check hardware stores like Ace, Home Depot, Lowers, Walmart, etc.
Read up in Pool School, that's a huge resource.

FC will come down on it's own, there's no chemical or anything to reduce it. Also, you won't need that chlorine tab feeder anyway. We have an inline one that's been on bypass for over a year now.

I'm sure other, more knowledgeable folks will come along too but that's the basics of where to start with the TFP method!

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum! V has got you started on the path to TroubleFree Pool.
You need to follow the SLAM Process. To do that, you need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100 A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.

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.

 

[Bperry]

We are new to pools and are having some problems getting started. I’ve been to pool school and am doing my own testing with sparco strips.

We had algae on opening, with a lot of pine cones and pine needles. followed local company advice to add two opening kits (clarifier, algicide, oxidizer) and 3lb shock.

vacuumed extensively. Cleared debris. Pool remains green.

pool chemistry was way out of whack:
Hardness: 0
Tc: 10
Fc: 10
pH: 6.2
Ta: 0
Cya:0

pool company recommended 15lb sparco alkalinity +

Robot vacuum on all night. Overnight chlorine test showed no change.

current chemistry
Hardness 50
Tc:10
Fc:10
PH: 6.8
Ta: 40
Cya:30-50

issues/questions:
Pool remains green.
Chlorine feeder control knob is broken off
How to reduce chlorine?
How to determine if filter Is working properly?


Location: upstate ny
Pool: AG
~20k gallons
Age?
Filter: sand
Chlorine 3” pucks

The other two got you good advice. The test strips are not very reliable, hence the advice to get a more reliable rest kit. It’ll be worth it. Basically if the pool is green, there’s not enough chlorine in it.

 

[V___25]

Basically if the pool is green, there’s not enough chlorine in it.

I feel like this needs to be the moto and turned into t-shirt. "If the pool is green, it needs more chlorine"

 

[Bperry]

I feel like this needs to be the moto and turned into t-shirt. "If the pool is green, it needs more chlorine"

To be technically accurate, You'll have to figure out a rhyme for “Up to SLAM level”.

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

I'd like to reiterate the need for a good test kit. I came here with a lot of problems with my pool. I continued to chase those problems because I was using test strips. They test strips just were not very accurate. Once I got my real test kit with FAS-DPD chlorine testing (and using pool math) suddenly knowing what I needed to put into my pool and what amounts was a breeze. My pool has been trouble free and absolutely gorgeous with crystal clear water for the last 3 seasons, after a terrible season in 2018 (my first with the pool) where I was constantly chasing problems.