Pool Still Green After Opening

[SummerTimeGirl]

LOL Too funny! Yeah, the previous years we usually kept them breaking the water surface and trying to aim them towards the skimmer. I have been wondering lately how well those solar powered skimmers work. Think come next tax season I'm gonna budget for a new automatic cleaner and one of those solar skimmers. LOL

 

[funandsun]

With the pool store money you are going to save, the toy list comes much clearer in focus!

You know.. honestly, I don't see many comments from pool owners that complain about the money spent at the pool store, only that the results did not come through as expected. That is really what drives people here.

So if you keep the budget the same and you will spend less on chemicals, you can build up a better tool // toy chest and not spend any more than you have in the past. It's funny but very true.

 

[kimkats]

Put ping pong balls in the pool and see what they do! Fun and will really show you the movement of the water. You want what a whirl pool that does NOT break the top of the water. Breaking the water causes the pH to go up so........... It will take some playing around to find what works best in your pool.

Kim

 

[funandsun]

Put ping pong balls in the pool and see what they do! Fun and will really show you the movement of the water. You want what a whirl pool that does NOT break the top of the water. Breaking the water causes the pH to go up so........... It will take some playing around to find what works best in your pool.

Kim

I have a box of ping pong balls that has about 25 left... they are going in!! Awesome idea.

 

[SummerTimeGirl]

Oh good idea. I never knew it would raise the ph level. Does it raise it much? I kinda like having it break the surface. HAHA Yeah, we have some ping pong balls too from our pool beer pong game. Gonna have to try it. LOL

Put ping pong balls in the pool and see what they do! Fun and will really show you the movement of the water. You want what a whirl pool that does NOT break the top of the water. Breaking the water causes the pH to go up so........... It will take some playing around to find what works best in your pool.

Kim

 

[funandsun]

Oh good idea. I never knew it would raise the ph level. Does it raise it much? I kinda like having it break the surface. HAHA Yeah, we have some ping pong balls too from our pool beer pong game. Gonna have to try it. LOL

New Game... Beer Skimmer Pong... Get your ping pong ball in the Skimmer, make others drink! It has 2-3 minutes to get in! Go!

 

[kimkats]

The amount of PH rise really depends on your pool. We have found that pools are so different depending on the many different factors in and around them. If you like the returns rolling the water, fine, let it. Just keep an eye on your PH and lower it when it gets to 7.8.

Kim

 

[funandsun]

The amount of PH rise really depends on your pool. We have found that pools are so different depending on the many different factors in and around them. If you like the returns rolling the water, fine, let it. Just keep an eye on your PH and lower it when it gets to 7.8.

Kim

It's your party barge, float it how you want. hehe

There is a ton of room for individuality, you are probably reading (I suspect you are) some of the other ongoing saga's currently while you are waiting for your kit to arrive. There really are only a few things that "must be followed closely" CYA to FC, pH 7.2-7.8, TA 50-90, CH if applicable and that's about it. Those are the keys to a Trouble Free Pool, most other stuff is subjective to how you Captain your crew.

And, once you get past our annoying "Buy a test kit" badgering we are a pretty decent set of folks, if we do say so ourselves.

 

[SummerTimeGirl]

LOL No, everyone has been great here, really. I just wish this darn kit would come faster!!! But of course now there is a threat of rain for several days in the forecast. Hopefully that won't happen but I guess we'll see. And yeah, I do read other threads in my free time. Otherwise I've just been leaving the page up. LOL

............And, once you get past our annoying "Buy a test kit" badgering we are a pretty decent set of folks, if we do say so ourselves.

 

[funandsun]

Yeah, I am ready for you get that test kit too. Chuckling, I had ordered my test kit back in April of 2017, didn't get my pool opened until Memorial Day weekend, it had sat untouched and unaided since before Labor Day 2016. Literally gave up on the pool in like mid August 2016.

So I was sitting there armed with all this information, seeing others online already SLAM'ing getting things done, oh I was so ready to get going!

This was my 2017 Swamp taken on April 27th 2017


This was after I raked and got my CYA up to 30ppm on June 2 2017 and before any pH or Chlorine. Yeah I took things real slow lol.


July 4th post Iron lift


The pool transformed itself without 1 drop of algaecide, floc or anything other than SLAM. So, yeah, I am def a believer.

 

[SummerTimeGirl]

Yikes! That was pretty scary. You kinda sound like me. I was so sick and tired of constantly TRYING to clean and fix the pool last Summer that come August I also gave up and just let it go pretty much until they came to close it in October. By then I had also stopped adding in any chemicals cause I ran out and because nothing I was doing seemed to be working. Such a big difference from the previous two years. Anyway, I guess the swamp we opened to this year is what we get for giving up on it. But it already looks 100% better today from last Friday and I haven't done anything really but brush, vacuum and clean the filters about 100 times since then and add some bleach. LOL

 

[funandsun]

But it already looks 100% better today from last Friday and I haven't done anything really but brush, vacuum and clean the filters about 100 times since then and add some bleach. LOL

Yeah, you basically been sitting around playing beer pong by yourself it sounds like! hahaha

Your pool looks great from that emerald green to that pretty blue now.. wow to me it looks great.

 

[SummerTimeGirl]

LOL Have to keep myself busy somehow.

Yeah, the top pic was opening day and the bottom two were later this afternoon. Not too bad, IMO.

Yeah, you basically been sitting around playing beer pong by yourself it sounds like! hahaha

Your pool looks great from that emerald green to that pretty blue now.. wow to me it looks great.

 

[funandsun]

I swear, when I first saw your green pic, I instantly thought of the Rio Games. That color of green is just so unique as you may be noticing now. Swamp green, algae green is a solid green... yours is that clear emerald.. it's actually a really pretty color other than what it implies.

Tell me again, so I don't have to scroll back through... what did you do to get the green to blue? You added some back to blue product or something right? Did we ever figure out what was in it?

 

[SummerTimeGirl]

Yeah looks pretty but we could NOT see the bottom at all.

So after getting the water tested at the store they recommended 15lbs of Alk Increaser and one of those Pool Life, Back To Blue kits. We were told it had a flocking agent to it and that it would also take out any metals we had. Not sure if any of that is true as we don't know what was/is in it.

We added the alk increaser first, then container 1 of the BTB system.....ran it for an hour then added container 2......ran that for an hour then shut the pool down for 48 hours at which time we were told everything would be dead and sinking to the bottom. And it pretty much was. From there I just brushed, vacuumed, and cleaned the filters multiple times a day every day this week. Also added a sock to the skimmer basket to collect the fine particles and have left the filter running 24/7 for now. Other than that we did nothing chemical-wise but remove the pucks from our auto feeder and just added 1 gallon of bleach yesterday and one today so far.

This is the stuff:

Hydropool.com | POOLIFE Back to Blue Shock Treatment 4.6 lb - Item 92106

 

[HiddenRiver]

What an amazing transformation! I saw a similar transformation last year when my pool was infested with Black Algae from (I think) the brooms of the plaster /tile repair guy. I was mortified and the pool store could not help me. This is what drove me to the internet to find out what to do— and voila— TFP came to the rescue and we have been applying the protocols ever since. I have to remember that caring for a pool is a daily thing, however and I can’t get lax for a minute. So worrying about the black algae coming back motivates me to be diligent in testing the water and keeping the chlorine and other numbers where they should be!

Good luck and enjoy your sparkling pools this summer!!!

 

[funandsun]

What an amazing transformation! I saw a similar transformation last year when my pool was infested with Black Algae from (I think) the brooms of the plaster /tile repair guy. I was mortified and the pool store could not help me. This is what drove me to the internet to find out what to do— and voila— TFP came to the rescue and we have been applying the protocols ever since. I have to remember that caring for a pool is a daily thing, however and I can’t get lax for a minute. So worrying about the black algae coming back motivates me to be diligent in testing the water and keeping the chlorine and other numbers where they should be!

Good luck and enjoy your sparkling pools this summer!!!

Thanks Hidden, and congrats on getting your pool back too! Yep, small price to pay for such a beautiful view on our properties.

 

[funandsun]

Yeah looks pretty but we could NOT see the bottom at all.

So after getting the water tested at the store they recommended 15lbs of Alk Increaser and one of those Pool Life, Back To Blue kits. We were told it had a flocking agent to it and that it would also take out any metals we had. Not sure if any of that is true as we don't know what was/is in it.

We added the alk increaser first, then container 1 of the BTB system.....ran it for an hour then added container 2......ran that for an hour then shut the pool down for 48 hours at which time we were told everything would be dead and sinking to the bottom. And it pretty much was. From there I just brushed, vacuumed, and cleaned the filters multiple times a day every day this week. Also added a sock to the skimmer basket to collect the fine particles and have left the filter running 24/7 for now. Other than that we did nothing chemical-wise but remove the pucks from our auto feeder and just added 1 gallon of bleach yesterday and one today so far.

This is the stuff:

Hydropool.com | POOLIFE Back to Blue Shock Treatment 4.6 lb - Item 92106

Sounds like the first part was a shock and the second part was a floc. The waiting 24hrs and it falling to the bottom gives that part away. Does your filter not have a "to waste", it's a cartridge? I always wondered if folks couldn't plumb in a bypass for waste on systems that don't have waste as an option. Surely you can.. but no one wants me near their plumbing, so best to ask a professional. But I can't see why that couldn't be done. That would have let you just vac it right to the ground and skip all that filter cleaning.

And just doing that turned your water from that emerald green to blue. Must be some chemistry to there that put that copper back into solution because everywhere I have seen, that emerald green means copper. But you can keep it in solution pretty easily, so I doubt you will have any real ongoing problem. Just will be curious to see how it gets resolved.

Once you have your tests, the pros around here will be all over your situation to help out. I am pretty excited, I am going to learn some neat things.. both of us will.

 

[funandsun]

By the way, been meaning to send/share this with you too. If you don't already have some, get some measuring containers, I have a couple sizes for various doses and I got that scale on Amazon for $10.00 prime.

Makes things easy when it is time to make adjustments.

 

[SummerTimeGirl]

Don't think we have a to waste. I even asked the pool store guy about that and he said we didn't since we had cartridge filters. So yeah, had to do the cleaning the hard way by taking them out and cleaning them myself.

Is that so, about the emerald green look? I just assumed it was due to all the foliage that we allowed to accumulate in the pool once I "gave up" on it at the end of last Summer. We also had some pretty crappy weather/rain a lot at the end of the season. I just assumed it was all that that created some crazy algae blooms. Plus I had been dealing with what I assumed was an algae issue all season long but who knows for sure.

Sounds like the first part was a shock and the second part was a floc. The waiting 24hrs and it falling to the bottom gives that part away. Does your filter not have a "to waste", it's a cartridge? I always wondered if folks couldn't plumb in a bypass for waste on systems that don't have waste as an option. Surely you can.. but no one wants me near their plumbing, so best to ask a professional. But I can't see why that couldn't be done. That would have let you just vac it right to the ground and skip all that filter cleaning.

And just doing that turned your water from that emerald green to blue. Must be some chemistry to there that put that copper back into solution because everywhere I have seen, that emerald green means copper. But you can keep it in solution pretty easily, so I doubt you will have any real ongoing problem. Just will be curious to see how it gets resolved.

Once you have your tests, the pros around here will be all over your situation to help out. I am pretty excited, I am going to learn some neat things.. both of us will.

- - - Updated - - -

Yes!!! Thanks for the reminder because I did plan on getting some measuring cups and whatnot for all of this.

By the way, been meaning to send/share this with you too. If you don't already have some, get some measuring containers, I have a couple sizes for various doses and I got that scale on Amazon for $10.00 prime.

Makes things easy when it is time to make adjustments.