Just pulled cover off.. green swamp water

[slade8200]

So we had some problems with the winter cover this year and all the crap on the cover went into the pool. Now we have green swamp water in the pool. We had this one other year and had to clean the filter every hour for about three days before we could see the bottom. This is a 4-foot deep, 27' round above-ground. We have a DE filter. Is there a way, or are there certain chemicals I could use to get the water clearer faster? Thanks for the help.

[Watermom]

That very same thing happened to me one year! Not a lot of fun, but actually pretty easy to clean up. Lots of chlorine (bleach) will do the trick. Scoop out as much of the debris as you can and run your pump 24/7, cleaning the filter as often as is needed. If you can post a current set of water testing results taken with a drops-based kit, someone here can better advise you. If you don't have a kit, let a pool store test for you but just don't buy all the stuff they will try and sell you. The kit we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C which is the same kit with larger quantities of some of the most used reagents. Click on the Amazon link in my signature below to find it.

[PoolDoc]

Slade;

*Live* algae plugs DE filters rapidly; *dead* algae does so MUCH more slowly. So, kill the algae.

As Watermom says, it will take lots of bleach. I'm guessing you are about 15,000 gallons (27' x 3.5' water depth), so each gallon of bleach will add about 4 ppm of chlorine. For a swamp, you probably need to think in 16 ppm / 4 gallon doses.

Do this:
+ Go to Walmart and purchase a cheap OTO/phenol red test kit and about 24 gallons of bleach. You can also get a few boxes of borax and some stabilizer if you can find that there.
+ Make SURE (really, really sure!!) that if you have a feeder, tab feeder, Nature 2 or other gizmo the tabs, filler, cartridge, etc is REMOVED.
+ Run the pump / filter 24/7
+ Add your bleach THROUGH the skimmer. This will kill the algae on the DE, first before the bleach reaches the pool and will help relieve the rapid plugging of the DE.
+ Meanwhile, keep scooping and vacuuming.
+ Test the pool 1 hour after each bleach addition; repeat the dose EVERY TIME the chlorine goes below 3 ppm.
+ If the chlorine is still high, but the OTO does not turn ORANGE, and the filter is stopping up, add *one* gallon via the skimmer, to see if that will relieve the high pressure. If not, wait 15 minutes and then clean the filter again.

With a DE filter, you should be able to clean your pool up pretty quickly (a day, maybe?) if you can keep working on it.

Ben

[slade8200]

Hey thanks a lot, I will try that. I was reading some other posts and it seems like all these years I could have been backwashing my filter instead of taking out the grids and hosing them off. Obviously I'll have to hook up some extra plumbing to make this work, wish I thought of it earlier!

[slade8200]

Instead of bagged shock, is it better to use bleach? If so, what's the ratio, one bag of shock = 1/2 gallon of bleach?

[Watermom]

Instead of bagged shock, is it better to use bleach?

Depends on what your water testing readings are. I personally just use bleach for shocking and for daily chlorination, but if your CYA is low enough, you can shock with dichlor.


If so, what's the ratio, one bag of shock = 1/2 gallon of bleach?

Dunno. Plus, there are many types of bags of shock of various sizes.

[madwil]

1 gallon is close to 1 bag of shock...
1 gallon 6% adds 6ppm to 10k gallons
1 lb bag I think adds 7ppm- so slightly more, but not twice as much like the price!
PoolDoc note: This used to be true, 15 years ago. But unfortunately more recent 'flavors' of shock include widely varying 'blends' with varying levels of available chlorine. So, it is no longer a generally true statement -- it is true only in the specific case of unblended calcium hypochlorite shock with 68% available chlorine.

Also, most/all bag shocks add other things- either cya (stabilizer) or calcium; so they're ok on a temporary basis but over time will add up to problems

[slade8200]

I now have all the leaves and visibile dirt out of the pool. The water is now cloudy with a light green color, but I can see the bottom. My chlorine is at 4, pH is 7.4, alkalinity at 80, cyanuric acid level is pretty much non-existent. Could this be contributing to my cloudiness? What's the best way to raise it? I have one of those 2.5" chlorine tabs in the skimmer at all times, and I have been adding 3/4 gallon of bleach when my chlorine drops to 1. My DE filter is still clogging after 2 hours of running, so I guess it's picking up a lot of crap in the water still. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

[PoolDoc]

Maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't sound like you've been using the 4 gallon doses of chlorine bleach recommended. As noted earlier, your DE filter will clog up much less once the algae is dead.

Trying to maintain just 1 ppm of chlorine is kind of 'spitting into the wind' here.

Ben

[slade8200]

The stuff in the filter is now more of a brown instead of the green it used to be. Is this dead algae or something else? I'll keep up the 4 gallon dose to keep the chlorine above 4.

[Watermom]

Probably dead algae. Don't quit the fight just yet. Keep adding the big doses of chlorine as Ben said and keep filtering. Sounds like you are making progress.

[slade8200]

The water's been clear for 6 or 7 days now. My cyanuric acid level is still 0. Should I add stabilizer to correct this or does it not matter since the water is staying clean? I keep 2 HTH dual action chlorinating tablets in the skimmer and the chlorine level seems to stay at the right level.

[PoolDoc]

Watch out for the dual action tabs!

What are they? Tri-chlor plus borax?

Argh-h, no! I found the MSDS. Check and see, but it looks like they are trichlor + copper + alum. What a witch's brew!

#1 - Yes, you need to add stabilizer.
#2 - Do NOT get any more multi-action chemicals. (If you have a lot of those tabs, we need to know, and work out a plan to use them up without causing pool problems!!)
#3 - You need a REAL testkit. You don't have to use it all the time, but while we're getting things fixed you need it, and occasionally after that.

I'm glad that the pool is clear now . . . but that is only a TEMPORARY condition unless you get all the basics of pool chemistry under control. And it is far, far easier to do it right, than it is to fix it once it goes wrong.

So, hurry!

[Watermom]

The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (same kit, larger bottle of some reagents). If you buy it through the Amazon link in my signature (or Ben's above), the Pool Forum makes a little money on the sale which helps us keep this form online. Only buy if the seller is Amato Industries, however. Some other sellers are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want.

[slade8200]

I bought that K-2006 kit from your link, I'll post results tomorrow.

[slade8200]

Been away for awhile. Pool is still doing well. Bought some stabilizer and got the cyanuric acid level to 40. pH is steady at 7.5, alkalinity at 80. I notice that I have to add bleach every 3 to 4 days to keep the chlorine level at 1-4 ppm, is this normal? Also, with that kit, what size of spoonful are you supposed to use for the R-0870? The video they have shows a huge heaping spoonful, but I have just been filling the little scoop to the top and nothing more.

[Watermom]

Being able to go 3 to 4 days is pretty good except that with CYA of 40 your chlorine needs to be kept at 3-6 all the time so yours is getting too low. PH and alk are both fine.

You only need enough powder to turn the water pink. If one scoop does it, don't bother adding the second one. Don't waste it.

[slade8200]

Should I increase my cyanuric acid level, and if so, to what amount?

[aylad]

You CAN bump it up a little, maybe to 50 or so, but keep in mind that if you do, you're going to have to be diligent about keeping your chlorine level above 3 ppm, and closer to the 6 ppm mark.

[slade8200]

If my stabilizer level was at 50, why is it important to not let the chlorine get below 3?

[Watermom]

Chlorine levels are based on CYA levels. If you haven't already done so, please take a look at the Best Guess Table in my signature below. If you drop below the necessary chlorine range, you risk an algae bloom.

[slade8200]

I looked at that before but didn't see why the ranges changed like they do. I guess algae is the answer. Does the cyanuric acid level decrease slowly with time?