Green Pool Water tried everything Please Help

[VickiP]

HI,
I have the print out from the pool store from yesterday
FC (free chlorine) 7
TC (total Chlorine) 7
PH 7.6
T/A (Tot Alkalinity) 114
CH ??? dont see it on the list what is it
CYA 30
TDS 700
Total Hardness 100

We did add the 4 bags of shock and 5 (96 oz) of bleach today. We scrubbed the walls and should we vacuum to waste today too? Still same color of green. Also I did add last week a bottle of algeacide and yesterday the bottle of banish.
Thanks for the help

[VickiP]

We just opened up our sand filter because is seemed to bog down every once in a while. We replace it years ago and we found lots of pieces of pine needles and chunks of leaves it was gross. So we are going to empty it and clean out the canister and get new sand tomorrow. Do you think this could be a problem too?

[mbar]

I don't know what all the chemicals you have added contain. Don't add anything else but bleach or chlorine shock. It sounds like you may have an algae bloom - a chlorine level of 7 is not enough to kill an algae bloom. With a cya of 30 you have to bring the chlorine up to 15 to really shock the pool. You also have to keep it at 15 until the chlorine level holds overnight. You should also lower your ph down to 7.2. It will help to keep any metals from falling out of solution until you are finished shocking the water. The only other thing you want to add to your water is a metal sequestering agent. Any product that says "Metal Out" will do. Make sure it is a good on it should cost between $16 and $22. Once you have a stable chlorine level, and if the water is still green we can address the metal problem further. You must make sure that any of the chemicals you are using do not have copper - this may be how copper was introduced to your pool. Even some of the chlorine pucks contain copper now. Keep us informed on your progress

[aylad]

CH ??? dont see it on the list what is it ....
Total Hardness 100

CH means calcium hardness, which doesn't apply to a vinyl pool, as long as it's not over 300 or so. Yours is fine, despite what the pool store will tell you....just don't buy anything else from them and stick with what Watermom and Mbar are telling you. They've helped clear up more pool problems in a week or two than you'll see in a lifetime, and Mbar is THE resident expert on metal problems (besides Ben, of course)!!

Janet

[VickiP]

I wish I found you guys last year!!! We replaced the sand today and WOW, the pump works so much better. We can actually see a bit of the bottom of the pool today still green but much better. It didnt hold the chlorine level overnight so we will just keep vacuuming, scrubbing and adding bleach everyday until it does. I will keep adding udates!! Thank you so much for the help!

[ChuckD]

Vicki, I'm also on a well and feel I need to throw this into the mix as something to keep in mind:

If you have added a combination of chlorine and significant amount of well water that has a high iron content, mix in some sunshine and you will get a green pool while you watch. I've reproduced this many times thinking I had an algae bloom. And it sure looked like one too.

I got suspicious when we were not yet fulltime residents in our home. We were in the process of relocating and we'd arrive once a month for a weekend. I had a small leak in the liner and when we'd arrive Friday night I knew I'd have to turn the hose on for a while to top it off, and then add a bunch of bleach, then off to bed.

Next morning I'd get up and pull the opaque cover off, and within 20 minutes the pool would go from crystal clear to deep green. Very, VERY frustrating. Especially when you only have the weekend to enjoy!

After reading something here I decided to instead fill the pool only via the skimmer so the water was first filtered through the DE and this was the solution. So also be aware that this combination, iron-rich well water, chlorine and sunlight will give you a false algae bloom. It ultimately filters out but no amount of chlorine will clear it.

Also, I read you have a sand filter. There are posts here, I think by Carl, about adding a small amount of DE to a sand filter to get all DE's benefits (and there are, once you've seen pool water filtered through it, it's beautiful). See if you can search on that, it's a small amount, like 1/4 - 1/2 cup but you should read those posts to get the right idea.

C.

[Watermom]

Very good advice from ChuckD who has been with us for awhile! (Thank you, Chuck!) This is what makes this forum work. People sharing their experiences with new people who are just learning the ins and outs of pool care.

Here is the thread he was talking about (adding DE to a sand filter).
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=3742

[VickiP]

My pool is pretty clear with a tint of green. I did bleach again today but it is not holding overnight. It is gone in the morning. Why is that?? Do I just keep putting bleach in until it holds overnight and it is no longer green???

[VickiP]

Hi, Just saw Chucks post. What is DE??? I read the thread but not sure what it is. Also we did have the water tested and no iron but small amt of copper and after the metal out the copper was not even reading. Should we still use the DE?

[ChuckD]

Hi Vicki,
DE is Diatomaceous Earth, of course! Everyone knows that. (just kidding).

You can look up a better definition of DE on Wikipedia than I can give, but suffice to say it does the same thing your sand does, but better because it's a finer filter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_Earth

It also requires a bit more work as you have to flush out the old and replace with new on occassion, sometimes frequently when you're fighting algae. But the results are the clearest water you'll ever see.

And because it's a naturally occuring substance it's fairly safe. When I flush, or more appropriately "backwash", I just run it out onto the yard. Been doing that for a couple years now and there's no trace of it or any damage. The first rain washes it into the ground.

But you can get the benefits of it with a sand filter too by adding a small amount. As you probably read, you'll have to add more each time you backwash the filter but the stuff's pretty cheap.

Hi, Just saw Chucks post. What is DE??? I read the thread but not sure what it is. Also we did have the water tested and no iron but small amt of copper and after the metal out the copper was not even reading. Should we still use the DE?