Please help beginner here... slightly green pool. Can’t seem to get it to go away!

[Mickey85730]

So we put up our 16 foot 4 feet deep above ground pool beginning of July. Water looks great. What are those great until about two weeks ago when we had a heavy rain. I live in Arizona. Had the pool covered I was told that I didn’t have enough chlorine in then and didn’t have the pump running long enough. Plus the rain store on top of that. Did a shock treatment clean the pool very, still green sis another shock treatmen, cleaned the pool again took our water in around the corner to the local pool store had it tested said it was fine but to use you can still see it slightly green and cloudy. I’m running the filter nonstop. The filter cleaning the filter you can still see green coming out the filter. I purchased super blue hoping that would help it did a tad bit but not much. Let the pool settle for a few days then again I see some green on the bottom. Feeling so frustrated how will I ever get my water to be as clean as it once was.

 

[Wobblerlorri]

Welcome to TFP! Glad you found us before you got any further into the pool store.

First of all, you need to be doing your own testing. Pool store testing is unreliable at the very least. Test strips are a joke. You need to get either of our recommended kits, which you can see here Test Kits Compared

Then you need to embark on a SLAM. This stands for Shock Level and Maintain. It's a method of hyperchlorinating a pool and keeping it at that level until the pool is clear, your combined chlorine CC is 0.5 or less, and your chlorine holds overnight, losing 1 ppm or less during that time. Read up on it at SLAM Process

TFP follows using liquid chlorine to sanitize, muriatic acid to adjust pH, borax and baking soda to adjust pH and total alkalinity TA. We don't use chlorine tablets or shock.

Some more reading

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Pool School

www.troublefreepool.com

Once you have your test kit, please provide us with the following test results, in this format

FC
CC
pH
CYA
TA
CH

and then we can actually help you.

 

[ajw22]

For your size pool you may want to treat is as a seasonal pool.

Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools

Smaller seasonal pools can see just as much enjoyment as their larger counterparts. In this guide we'll show you how to maintain your temporary pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[frogabog]

At 4000 gallons in Arizona... draining and refilling as is suggested in the Seasonal Pools article might be prohibitive. I don't know what the water situation is there, but it sounds like a dry dry dry place. Unless those monsoons I heard about can refill some...

I'd suggest checking out the links @Wobblerlorri posted for you and if you want our help either way (drain or TFP) we're here.

 

[Mickey85730]

Welcome to TFP! Glad you found us before you got any further into the pool store.

First of all, you need to be doing your own testing. Pool store testing is unreliable at the very least. Test strips are a joke. You need to get either of our recommended kits, which you can see here Test Kits Compared

Then you need to embark on a SLAM. This stands for Shock Level and Maintain. It's a method of hyperchlorinating a pool and keeping it at that level until the pool is clear, your combined chlorine CC is 0.5 or less, and your chlorine holds overnight, losing 1 ppm or less during that time. Read up on it at SLAM Process

TFP follows using liquid chlorine to sanitize, muriatic acid to adjust pH, borax and baking soda to adjust pH and total alkalinity TA. We don't use chlorine tablets or shock.

Some more reading

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Pool School

www.troublefreepool.com

Once you have your test kit, please provide us with the following test results, in this format

FC
CC
pH
CYA
TA
CH

and then we can actually help you.

Thank you. I just came across this page on an amazon review so I thought I’d join. So far there seems like a ton of useful info just a lot to intake. I need to sit down an read. This is our first time having an above ground pool as well.

 

[Tena]

Thank you. I just came across this page on an amazon review so I thought I’d join. So far there seems like a ton of useful info just a lot to intake. I need to sit down an read. This is our first time having an above ground pool as well.

Welcome!
Yes, read for days. Lol
Get a test kit, you'll be glad to know you are getting consistent results and not upselling yourself stuff you don't need.
I did, and don't regret it a bit. ?

 

[cubbieblue]

Agree with above. Get test kit recommended here. Read read read. Really easy once you get the hang of it.
3rd year in my pool and have never been to pool store. lol. For advice or chemicals anyway. Still gotta have toys.

Guaranteed this site is all you need. Way easier and more affordable than I ever would have thought!

 

[Wobblerlorri]

As an example of the money you will save, I've maintained my pool this entire summer on liquid chlorine 10%, one dose of baking soda (4 lbs), CYA (8 lbs), borax (3 lbs), and dry acid (1 dose of 1 cup). Roughly $100 in chemicals. Including 2 SLAMs and one mustard algae SLAM.

I bought 20 gallons of chlorine at the beginning of the season, along with the other materials. I've used 8 gal of chlorine so far, expect to have plenty to round out the season. Next year I'll only have to buy chlorine and a TF-100 test kit. $65 for the chlorine and $45 for the refills for the test kit, which I'll put in a tackle box.I

Seriously, you can take care of your pool for around $100 per season. If it weren't for TFP I couldn't afford my pool!