Phlimm Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 OK I have an in ground 30'x15' PebbleTec pool. Last weekend, we noticed we had neglected to load more 3" tabs into the chlorine float. Pool went green. So I put in two more tabs and hit it with a gallon and a half of bleach. Few days go by and there was algae growth. Brushed it down, added pool shock powder. Still green. Did three backflushes. Added three more Super Pool Shocker powders. Ran the pump all day and all night last night, still green. Can barely see the bottom in the 5 foot area. Pump running now. The bug vacuum had a baby orange wedged in the intake for a day or so until I noticed it not moving, so there was minimal vacuuming, but it is running fine now and was yesterday as well. Here are the numbers: Cl - 15ppm FC, 10 ppm TC Cyanuric Acid - 100 ppm pH - 7.5 Alkalinity - 130 ppm WHY is it still very very green and murky? Temps have been around 104°F and higher most of the days, 8% humidity. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 With a CYA of 100 ppm, you need to get the FC up closer to 40 ppm to assure a good kill of the algae. I would suggest liquid chlorine so you do not add anymore CYA. CYA is the culprit for needing such high shock levels. Keep the CL high until the pool clears up, run 24/7 and backwash often. After this, you may want to drop the CYA a bit with a partial refill. But as a minimum stop using Trichlor tabs as these will continue to add CYA which you do not need and which will continue to cause you problems. Go with liquid chlorine for the rest of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlimm Posted June 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 By liquid chlorine, do you mean just bleach? I have used that in the past, and have always wondered what was better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirsilent Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 I have a green pool too. So I bought GreenToClean from Leslies and used that in combination with a chlorine shock treatment. It said to just circulate the water. after 36 houres now it is still green. Should I run the filter now again? pH = 7.4 TA = 100 CYA = 60 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 I have a green pool too. So I bought GreenToClean from Leslies and used that in combination with a chlorine shock treatment. It said to just circulate the water. after 36 houres now it is still green. Should I run the filter now again? pH = 7.4 TA = 100 CYA = 60 Vac the dead algae to waste. and refill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 By liquid chlorine, do you mean just bleach? I have used that in the past, and have always wondered what was better. Yes just bleach but make sure there is no extra additives. Look at the ingredients to make sure. The pool stores will try to sell you on their bleach but it is usually more money for the same thing. Walmart usually has their Ultra bleach for a decent price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 I have a green pool too. So I bought GreenToClean from Leslies and used that in combination with a chlorine shock treatment. It said to just circulate the water. after 36 houres now it is still green. Should I run the filter now again? pH = 7.4 TA = 100 CYA = 60 Chlorine is all you really need. It is cheaper and works much better than anything the pool store has. Unfortunately, most people simply do not use enough to kill the algae. For a CYA of 60 ppm, you need about 24 ppm for a day or so for a good kill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirsilent Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 24 ppm... wow... so I can just go to walmart, buy tons of Ultra bleach and put it in the pool? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 24 ppm... wow... so I can just go to walmart, buy tons of Ultra bleach and put it in the pool? Yes, just make sure it is the pure bleach version. Also, you can calculate how much to use with the pool calculator in my signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirsilent Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Ok, yesterday I got 6 gallons Clorox regular bleach and put it all in the pool at 8 pm. Today in the morning I checked the chlorine level and it was 0 (ZERO!). Pool is still green, even I think it is a darker blueish green now. What does that mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirsilent Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Ok, yesterday I got 6 gallons Clorox regular bleach and put it all in the pool at 8 pm. Today in the morning I checked the chlorine level and it was 0 (ZERO!). Pool is still green, even I think it is a darker blueish green now. What does that mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrabon Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Is your CYA still 60? If so shock value is 40% of that, which is 24ppm. If your test kits is accurate and you're really at zero and you need to get to 24ppm for shock level go to the pool calculator to calculate how much bleach you should put in. It will also allow you to choose the container size you buy (I usually buy the ultra 174 oz size from walmart.) For example, if your pool is 25,000 gallons, then according to the calculator to get from 0ppm to 24ppm you will need to add 9.5 gallons of bleach OR 7 of the 174 oz size bleach. Before you add anything, I would take another water sample and test again just to be sure it's really zero. (I've been going through this for the past week. My pool has finally cleared of the greeen, but is now cloudy. So I've added some clarifier to it to hopefully completely clear it up.) Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Ok, yesterday I got 6 gallons Clorox regular bleach and put it all in the pool at 8 pm. Today in the morning I checked the chlorine level and it was 0 (ZERO!). Pool is still green, even I think it is a darker blueish green now. What does that mean? It means that the 6 gallons was used up pretty quickly killing the algae so you will need more. That can happen over night since you can't really keep an eye on things. The amount of chlorine you need could be different than what the original poster needs. Another reason not to mix posts together which can add confusion. I don't have the size of your pool so you will need to calculate what your pool needs. Use the pool calculator in my signature to figure it out for 24 ppm and buy enough for 2-3 doses since you could be fighting it for a couple of days. You will lose almost half each day for just the UV exposure and probably the other half for the algae. So figure on at least 2-3 days of 24 ppm dosing. If you let the chlorine drop, the algae will come right back and you have to start all over again. Night time is the best for bumping up the dose a little higher since UV is not at work breaking it down so it should last longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirsilent Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Ok, last night I put 4 more gallons of liquid chlorine (10%) in the pool and 24 houres later there was still chlorine in the pool, the first time. The pool is still cloudy but how do I know if it is dead algea or living algea? And how can I clear it if it is dead? btw my filter pressure is already pretty high and backwashing doesnt usually help at all. I always have to take it apart and wash it manually. What could be the reason for that? I don't know how old the filter elements are, I bought the house a year ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Holding chlorine overnight is one good indicator that you are now ahead of the algae but you need to keep at it for a couple of days to make sure it is completely dead or it will come back. Wait until the cloudyness goes away before dropping the chlorine level. Filtering and vacuuming are the best ways to clear the pool but it may take a day or two. Continue to run the pump 24 hours/day and keep backwashing. The higher pressure is due to the dead algae being filtered out of the pool. You may need to backwash a bit longer than usual to completely clean the filter. Your getting close to beating this so keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumpelnc Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Listen to Mark ,this is solid advice..You will not regret it.. Keep it up,and you will take a dip in no time.. Oh before I forget there is one more thing ,you have to ad....POP...Pool Owner patience Happy Swimming!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirsilent Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 The pool is still cloudy. I used the vacuum until it broke I also washed the filter several times. Chlorine levels droped to normal at the moment, it's just getting too expensive and I think the algea should be dead now after one week super high chlorine levels. Do I necessarily need DE in the filter to filter the algea or does is work even without DE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 The pool is still cloudy. I used the vacuum until it broke I also washed the filter several times. Chlorine levels droped to normal at the moment, it's just getting too expensive and I think the algea should be dead now after one week super high chlorine levels. Do I necessarily need DE in the filter to filter the algea or does is work even without DE? A DE filter will not filter much of anything without DE so yes, you should have DE in the filter to get rid of the cloudyness. Also, if you don't have any combined chlorine in the pool, then you probably did kill most if not all of the algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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