Light green pool color while maintaining high chlorine and proper pH

[PoolDoc]

Thanks for the title.

I'd seen all that info from Richard ('Chem Geek') before, but I don't recall that article, where he put it all together. And yes, Chem Geek digs in deep on the chemistry, something I can't do. The upside of all that is that he took the empirical observations I'd made ( + some inferences I'd worked out from a paper by an Olin chemist, who'd read the O'Brien article) and did all the work to validate those observations theoretically and analytically. It looks like he's finally succeeded at get the pool industry as a whole to take notice!

OK, a bit more about green.

I've seen 'green' water from 3 things: algae (commonly), iron (occasionally), and something weird, possibly having do to with high alkalinity (very rare).

The differential diagnostic is backwash color: brown is algae, orange is iron, and ?? is alka-what?.

However, you can NOT trust dealer testing. Period. It's not that all are bad, but rather that a majority are, and by the time you know which is which . . . you are already testing it yourself.

In your case, get BOTH a K2006 and a K1106 (phosphate) kits from Amazon.

Forget about the NoPhos. Natural Chemistry is NOT trustworthy on any product not % labeled; concentrations vary under the same label! If you want to do phosphate removal, order 1 quart per 10,000 gallons of PR10000 on Amazon. I've decided to attempt a local chem-service with phosphate removal as a core element, so I'm not going explain everything. But the basic points of phosphate removal are that
1. It works ONLY IF you do it right.
2. You must maintain PO4 levels < 100 ppb (0.1 ppm) at ALL times.
3. You must avoid ALL combo chemicals, some clarifiers, and most stain control agents, because they add phosphates.
4. Phosphate input rates to your pool vary, for multiple reasons I'm going to keep to myself. So, periodic testing and dosing MUST be part of your routine.

You should do the backwash color check ASAP. You need the K2006, regardless. The phosphate stuff is your choice, but don't bother if you aren't committed to the continuing routine.

Good luck!

[thehobe]

After reading your input and the Falk article, I increased my chlorine % and overnight it seems that the slight green tinge is gone leaving more of the normal bluish tinge to the pool. Your initial table was the first time I saw the requirement for higher chlorine levels when high levels of CYA are present for eliminating live algae. Thanks for your help! I will be getting a FAS-DPD type of test kit for future needs.

[PoolDoc]

It wasn't my original reason for recommending the DPD-FAS method of testing -- the idea then (nearly 20 years ago) was just to get people out of pool stores, and away from bogus testing and predatory 'chemical prescriptions'. But the fact is, it is hard to do proper testing of appropriate chlorine levels without it. Once you've gauged your pool exaclty, you can use an OTO drops kit to keep a 'rough-n-ready' eye on it. But there's really not any other way, besides DPD-FAS, to set things up, and keep them on track.

Regarding the "first time I saw", etc -- as far as either I, or Richard, know, I was the first to make practical recommendations based on the CYA/Chlorine relationship. Richard started his quest here, around 2005 I think. And neither O'Brien or Wojitowicz (the Olin chemist) made any practical application or recommendation.

And while I strongly suspect that Jock Hamilton, who founded United Chemicals, understood the relationship, to at least some degree, long before I did, he kept any such understanding in his vest, and used it as a springboard for his sales of bromide based products to create a 'free halogen residual'.