My Green Pool Saga - Help!

[Pamsel]

That does help Evan. Though, if that is the case, my TA is higher than I thought it was. I have been stopping when it first turns from green to pink.
I will retest this afternoon so I know what the correct reading is.

Still no change in my water. One thing I've noticed is that there doesn't seem to be much settling out on the bottom and sides of the pool . . . seems to be in suspension. I have in the past used a chemical from the pool store (I don't know what it was, except that the name is phlox) that pulled the stuff out of the water and dropped everything to the bottom of the pool. Then I swept it to waste. That was the only thing that cleared my water last year. I'm wondering if I need to use something like that again. The chlorine alone doesn't seem to be making a dent in it...unless I just need to add much more chlorine than I have been??

[waterbear]

The cloudiness is dead algae. The filter should take care of it but it can take some time. Floc (correct spelling) or flocculant is what you used before. Sometimes it can be helpful. Also, a clarifier can cause the dead algae to clump into larger paritcles that your filter can remover more effeciently. Be aware that using either of these types of products can introduce their own problems (uaually very small). If the pool has no more green and the filter has not taken care of the cloudiness in a few days of constant running then you might want to try either one or the other. Clarifiers are better if the water is only slightly cloudy. If there is a lot of stull suspended in the water then a floccuant is a better choice. If you have not killed all the algae yet then you just need to keep up with the chlorine and THEN worry about getting it clear. It usually clears up on it's own once the algae is gone.
Hope this helps

[Pamsel]

Thank you Evan, that does help. Everything you explain helps me learn more about what I'm doing. The water is still green, as well as cloudy so I guess I will keep working on the algae with the chlorine. So far I have put 33.6 gallons of CL in since Tuesday noon and there is very little noticable difference, but this afternoon both my husband and I think the green is a lighter shade and I can now see the bottom step clearly where before I could only see the first two steps. So, it appears that something good is finally starting to happen!

[rhosk]

Well, I tried to PM back to you, but of course there's a 2 private message limit ( which is really unmanageable I don't get it ).

Anyway, there's a lot going on in this thread and I don't see much talk (on your end) about your filtration (could of missed it). What kind of filter do you have? Are you able to backwash at all (and have you been backwashing constantly?). I have a DE filter and when I opened my pool, THIS was more than half the battle. When the filter was doing its job, I had to backwash about every 3-4 hours or so for the first couple of days. I like taking my filter apart once or twice in the process as well to hose it off. I just haven't seen anything that you posted saying that you're doing this with "the process". Besides all the expert advice that you're receiving to get your chemical balance in line, I would also concentrate on the filter area

[waterbear]

Well, I tried to PM back to you, but of course there's a 2 private message limit ( which is really unmanageable I don't get it ).

If you become a subscriber to the forum your PM message limit will increase!
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=219

[rhosk]

Hi Evan,

I purchased a testkit (qualifies for 1 year subscription?), PM'd PoolDoc twice in last month to change my status - nothing. And, needless to say, I had to delete those 2 PM's to PM again

Frustrating...

ps, sorry Pam for Off Topic posts.

[Pamsel]

I have a sand filter with new sand last summer. I've had it running 24/7 almost since I opened the pool mid-April. The only times I've had it off was when I was told to let the stuff settle out for a couple of days about 2 weeks ago. I have been backwashing 3-4 times a day since I started this process from this forum last Tuesday. Before that, I backwashed once a day.

New twist ~ I have to leave today for a funeral in Indiana. Won't be back until tomorrow night. Not a good time to leave the pool unattended. I will leave the filter running and backwash before I leave. What else to do??

Test results this morning:

CL 16
PH 8.0
TA 340
CYA 25

Looks like my CL is a little high now, although in re-reading all the posts this morning, I see that Evan's last suggestion was to keep it at 15, so maybe this is ok. Today is the first day I've had a CYA reading. Water color unchanged, but more cloudy this morning - perhaps because I brushed the pool again late last night?