Pool was a dark swampy green now it's a very cloudy blue

Jump to latest Follow Reply
E

ebarker20

0
Sep 14, 2016
7
Landis, North Carolina
Hello,

We just bought a house that had an above ground pool. This pool wasn't took care of and was a swampy green. I have put 15 lbs of shock in the pool during the course of 5 days. We have a sand filter. The pool is now blue, but very cloudy. Can't see no more than 2 inches down. All the chemicals are on the normal end besides the CYA is 0 and the Free Chlorine is on the high end because I read that I need to keep it at shock level until it get's clear, but I'm thinking this might not be correct. I'm at this point that I don't know what else to do because I can't see the bottom to vacuum and not sure what is down there. Help...
 
Welcome! :wave:

You're so close!

The answers you are seeking are probably all in this: SLAM Process

Pay attention to the prerequisites, namely, a proper test kit.
Also note that physically removing debris, even if it means vacuuming blind, speeds things up.
I would lay off the powdered shock and use liquid chlorine. The powders are going to add CYA or Calcium and too much of either can cause problems. See ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
 
  • Like
Reactions: splashpad
Welcome to Trouble Free Pools, Ebarker :) First off, where is Landis?? It helps us to know the state/province so we can have an idea about local water and weather conditions to help folks. Please be more specific for me? Thanks :)

Do you have a proper test kit? There are only two we recommend as they contain *all* the necessary tests we need to tell us:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

The test kits are the TF-100 (my fave) or the K-2006C. They're available from PoolSupplyWorld.com or TFTestkits.net
These two kits help us know we're all speaking the same language of testing.

Have you carefully netted out any solid debris in the pool? Leaves, sticks, garbage, all will make it near impossible to clear up a pool. Do so carefully so you don't rip or tear the liner, 'k?

Then with test kit in hand perform a full set of test results and tell us what you have. In the mean time I would suggest you add a gallon of plain, unscented, non-thickened, NOT Clorox brand household bleach to your pool and mix it in daily.
Is your equipment working yet??

You need to read the basics--> ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry - Trouble Free Pool
and also this--> SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain - Trouble Free Pool

Can you do these things?? Holler back with any questions, 'k??

Maddie :flower:
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Welcome to Trouble Free Pools, Ebarker :) First off, where is Landis?? It helps us to know the state/province so we can have an idea about local water and weather conditions to help folks. Please be more specific for me? Thanks :)

Do you have a proper test kit? There are only two we recommend as they contain *all* the necessary tests we need to tell us:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

The test kits are the TF-100 (my fave) or the K-2006C. They're available from PoolSupplyWorld.com or TFTestkits.net
These two kits help us know we're all speaking the same language of testing.

Have you carefully netted out any solid debris in the pool? Leaves, sticks, garbage, all will make it near impossible to clear up a pool. Do so carefully so you don't rip or tear the liner, 'k?

Then with test kit in hand perform a full set of test results and tell us what you have. In the mean time I would suggest you add a gallon of plain, unscented, non-thickened, NOT Clorox brand household bleach to your pool and mix it in daily.
Is your equipment working yet??

You need to read the basics--> ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry - Trouble Free Pool
and also this--> SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain - Trouble Free Pool

Can you do these things?? Holler back with any questions, 'k??

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...
Hello,

It's in North Carolina, USA. I will need to look at the chemicals when I get home, but I have the HTH Test kit that includes all of those items. The pump and everything seems to be working. I have not removed those items, I was waiting for the water to be clear. Should I try to remove those items? I did purchase the Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid from Wal-Mart. Is this the same as the bleach? What kind of bleach should I buy?
 
ebarker20 said:
Hello,

It's in North Carolina, USA. I will need to look at the chemicals when I get home, but I have the HTH Test kit that includes all of those items. The pump and everything seems to be working. I have not removed those items, I was waiting for the water to be clear. Should I try to remove those items? I did purchase the Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid from Wal-Mart. Is this the same as the bleach? What kind of bleach should I buy?
Click to expand...
That's perfect. It has none of the fancy additives that might be great for laundry but are lousy for pools.

Scoop or vacuum whatever you can out of the water. It'll clear up quicker. The chlorine is trying to oxidize the twigs and leaves and not the algae.
 
The HTH test kit does not include the necessary FAS-DPD chlorine test to test chlorine far above 5ppm, which that little block thingie does. That block test is far too limited for what you'll need to have your FC at to clear up the green.
If you're sure you kit will do everything else just order the missing element-
tftestkits.net

FAS/DPD Chlorine Test Kit

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net

The liquid chlorine you bought at Walmart is *perfect*.... you'll be using a lot of it at first. Keep an eye out for sales and such.

Scoop out the debris blind....but carefully. If you don't all the FC in the world you add is just trying to break that debris down and won't do a lick for the green water.

Maddie :flower:
 
Richard320 said:
That's perfect. It has none of the fancy additives that might be great for laundry but are lousy for pools.

Scoop or vacuum whatever you can out of the water. It'll clear up quicker. The chlorine is trying to oxidize the twigs and leaves and not the algae.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the help. I ended up scooping mos of the items out of the water and it was a bunch of stuff. Now that most of it's gone, I'm hoping it will start to clear up.
 
Welcome to the forums fellow AGP owner!
ebarker20 said:
It's in North Carolina, USA. I will need to look at the chemicals when I get home, but I have the HTH Test kit that includes all of those items. The pump and everything seems to be working. I have not removed those items, I was waiting for the water to be clear. Should I try to remove those items? I did purchase the Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid from Wal-Mart. Is this the same as the bleach? What kind of bleach should I buy?
Click to expand...
Do you have a skimmer net? Really something to look into! They aren't expensive and are really a necessity!
The HTH kit uses taylor reagents, so you can purchase refills to save some money there :) You do need to get a FAS-DPD test kit though :) (it gives you precise FC/CC levels)
PoolMath for any chemical additions/adjustments :D
Make sure you aren't using solid forms of chlorine (pucks, powders)... with a vinyl pool you don't need extra calcium and the stabilized forms will raise your CYA levels out of proportion with your FC levels (makes a green pool).
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
FC/CYA Levels
Test Kits Compared
 
Thank you for the suggestions. I cleaned out as much of the stuff I can, can't see the bottom, and even ran the vacuum. I know there are still stuff in there, but I can't get them and the vacuum can't either. The pool is still very cloudy. I added some clarifier to the pool and it started to turn the fog to white partials, but that didn't help any and it's still cloudy. The water is very very blue though. At this point from my other test kit, everything is good besides my FC is high, keeping it at shock level. Should I just try to keep everything normal, backwash daily, and it will clear on it's own. I do have a sand filter. Also I have started to add non powered formula to my pool. The shock I had didn't have CYA in there, but did Calcium. That is the normal range, but closer to the higher end. Other than that my PH is normal, no CYA, alkalinity is normal, and shock is high.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Wanted to update everyone on this issue, just in case someone else has my issue. I ended up having to drain my pool. Glad I did though, there was metal rods, sticks, magic erasers, and rocks all in the pool. It would have never gotten clear. Now just trying to get my levels balance, but at least I can see the bottom of my pool now!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply