greenish and cloudy

[ganny76]

Thanks in advance folks. I have a salt water pool that is about 5 years old. Its 36x18, 8ft deepend and 3 1/2 shallow end. Its green and cloudy. Up to this point i have never tested the water. Guy who put it in said just add stabilizer and salt. Stabilizer twice a year and salt as needed. Well that isnt working this time. Salt is at 3100 and i have added stabilizer. So i got a cheap aqua chem test at wally world to test my chlorine. My color is a dark orange not yellow like the test shows. It says the ph test wont be accurate unless my chlorine is right. I have no idea where to start. Please help. Should i keep my kids out of the pool? Thanks, Tony

[Watermom]

If it is orange rather than yellow, it just means your chlorine is higher than 5ppm that the test can measure. Until you get a better kit (which you need to do), you can dilute your water sample with distilled water to get a better idea of your chlorine level. Testing Without a Good Kit (http://poolsolutions.com/gd/how-to-test-your-pool-without-a-good-testkit.html )

It is important to test your water. You're going to need a good kit. We recommend the Taylor K-2006 which you can get through the link in my signature. When your chlorine drops below 5ppm, test the pH and report it. Did you have a stabilizer reading before you added more? How much did you add?

What is the volume of the pool? What type of pool is it, what kind of filter and what hp is the pump?

If it is green and cloudy, I would keep the kids out of the pool for now.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[PoolDoc]

If your pool is green, orange is good -- usually means greater than 10 ppm.

We need equipment info, that Watermom asked for plus a history of exactly what you've added to the pool in the last few weeks.

[ganny76]

Its a hayword pro series high rate sand filter, howard super pump 1 HP. I added 2 jugs, $14 from wlmrt. Thats all i have put in my pool besides salt. Had the generator at 100%, super chloronate when it started turning green. Thats when i added the stabilizer. I have never checked the level of anything in it until today. Thanks again guys/gals.

[PoolDoc]

Hi Ganny;

Do this:

1. Get a cheap OTO phenol red test kit from Walmart or wherever (explained on the test kit info page in my signature)
2. While you're there, buy 12 gallons or so of PLAIN 6% household bleach - you can check for cheap liquid chlorine (10% bleach) often available in Florida later.
3. Test your pool water in the EVENING
4. Add 4 gallons of bleach after testing (about 12 ppm of chlorine, on your pool)
5. Test in the morning
6. In the evening test again, and then repeat 4 gallons if OTO is not DARK yellow
7. Order a K-2006 (we need more info than the OTO kit can provide -- and so do you, if you want to escape the pool store!)
8. Report everything, and we'll give you next steps.

[ganny76]

I think that is the test i have. It has yellow in one side and red in the other. I will pick up some bleach tomorrow and will order the test you have all recommended. Definitely dont want to become a slave to the pool store.

[PoolDoc]

Sounds good. Let us know what your results are.

[ganny76]

I drained quite a bit of water then added fresh water. Still showing orange. Should i turn the filter on without the chlorinator.

[PoolDoc]

If your pool is green, let it chlorinate.

[ganny76]

Ok, did the dilution test eith my OTO. Took it down to a third and was still a tad darker yellow then my test would read.

[PoolDoc]

Is it still green?

[ganny76]

I would say the pool is more cloudy then green. If you sweep it then green does appear to come off the vinyl and then the pool looks nasty. Buying the test you all recommended today. Sure I wont have it until next week because of shipping. I am going to use my Wal-mart test again this evening when I get home.

[PoolDoc]

Add the bleach this evening, and then sweep AFTER you've done so; not before.

[ganny76]

You got it PoolDoc. Thanks so much for your help. I will report back. Just signed up for the year. Looks like I will be here a long time.

[PoolDoc]

Thanks.

Hopefully, if you're here a lot, it will be to help others. It shouldn't take that long to get a basic handle on what you need for your own pool!

[ganny76]

Hi Ganny;

Do this:

1. Get a cheap OTO phenol red test kit from Walmart or wherever (explained on the test kit info page in my signature)
2. While you're there, buy 12 gallons or so of PLAIN 6% household bleach - you can check for cheap liquid chlorine (10% bleach) often available in Florida later.
3. Test your pool water in the EVENING
4. Add 4 gallons of bleach after testing (about 12 ppm of chlorine, on your pool)
5. Test in the morning
6. In the evening test again, and then repeat 4 gallons if OTO is not DARK yellow
7. Order a K-2006 (we need more info than the OTO kit can provide -- and so do you, if you want to escape the pool store!)
8. Report everything, and we'll give you next steps.

Pool Doc, When doing these steps, should I have my chlorinator and pump running?

[aylad]

You definitely should have the pump running, but keep an eye on your filter pressure and clean the filter when you get to 8-10 psi over your "clean" pressure. The chlorine you put in the water will kill the algae, but it's the filter that removes the dead stuff from the pool.

[ganny76]

Filter pressure. LOL. I have so much to learn. And to think I have been running blind for 5 years.

[Watermom]

Actually, while you are working to clear a pool, you need to run the pump 24/7, keeping an eye on the pressure as Janet noted above.

[ganny76]

OK, got a mouse out of the pool, poured in 4 gallons of bleach, swept real good, now waiting. I will check chlorine in the morning when i get up. Got my chlorinator at 50%, should i change this?

[PoolDoc]

Got my chlorinator at 50%, should i change this?

What kind of chlorinator is it, and what's in it?

[ganny76]

Aquarite with 2800 salt read out.

[PoolDoc]

Ahh! I was thinking of a tablet chlorinator, or some such. It's usually not a good idea to run a SWCG during clean-up. They can't provide enough chlorine to keep up under those circumstances, and it puts extra wear and tear on them.

I'd leave it off, till the green is gone. Instead, focus on adding bleach daily. Once the algae is gone, turn the SWCG back on.

[ganny76]

Ten four. Turning it off now.

[ganny76]

Pool is already looking 10 times better. Wife told me to tell yall thanks. When i test tonight, do i add bleach if color is still orange?

[PoolDoc]

If it's still orange, brush first. If there's no algae stirred up, you can began letting levels drop back to 'dark yellow'. You'll want to hold there, until you get the K-2006, and we can find out what your pool water condition is.

[ganny76]

Just because i was bored i went and checked the chlorine. Its darker yellow then the test will read, but not much. I swept and there is still some algae, but not near as much. Chlorinator is still turned off.

[ganny76]

I went ahead and poured 4 gallons of bleach in tonight. Swept. Fingures crossed for tomorrow. How long before the kids can swim. They are dying. Lol

[ganny76]

Pool is clear with no algae, but test is still orange. Is it safe for kids?

[Watermom]

Orange is probably about 20ppm chlorine which is pretty high. I just skimmed back over your thread but didn't see a CYA reading. Do you have one?

EDIT -- Ganny --- read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.

[ganny76]

Thanks Watermom. I dont have my good test im yet. All i can check is chl and ph. I did the 1/2 dilluted with tap water and it came out yellow. Slightly darker then the test had.

[PoolDoc]

Pool is clear with no algae, but test is still orange. Is it safe for kids?

It's safe for kids . . . but not expensive swim suits. You must have some stabilizer -- otherwise you'd lose all the chlorine in 1/2 day's sunshine, so it may not be a problem even for swimsuits.

My older son swam for a month, 2 - 3 hours per day in a pool with zero stabilizer (indoors) and 20 - 30 ppm chlorine because their ORP controller was mis-calibrated. I finally had to threaten to call the health department to get them to fix it. It killed two of his swim suits, and turned his hair ash colored (from brown) but otherwise didn't hurt him.

[ganny76]

Thanks again everyone!!!!

[ganny76]

New problem, off subject, i had turned my swcg off while i did the bleach. Today when i turned the power back on, the display is now acting up. Doesnt show salt content or water temp. Shows a few things, but others are blank.

[PoolDoc]

First thing to try, with almost all electronics, is a full power cycle, as in kill the power to the power supply.

If that doesn't work let us know exact make / model of your unit.

[ganny76]

Might be where i screwed up. Instead of just turning it off i turned its breaker off. So it had no power supply. I did this several times when the screen was screwing up. Its an aquarite, but i will get exact model tomorrow, storming outside right now.

[Watermom]

So ............. did you swim???

[ganny76]

Oh yeah, it was about 93* outside and the kids and neighboring kids had a blast!!!! Thanks so much for all the help you all continue to give.

[Watermom]

Ok, now I'm a little envious .......... I'm still awaiting my first swim of the season in my pool! Have fun and you're welcome! We are glad to help!

[ganny76]

Maybe you will get to enjoy it soon enough. We have been swimming since the end of February. The water was cold, but we had 85* temps.

[Watermom]

We usually start swimming around Mother's Day. This year, with the new pool installation and the new deck and having to move the electric and hoses/PVC to hook up the solar, etc., we're gonna be a little later than usual. But, hopefully, my solar will be hooked up by the end of the week and the water will start warming up.

[ganny76]

OK, got my k-2006 in. What all test should i run and report?

[PoolDoc]

Free chlorine, combined chlorine;
pH (if FC + CC is less than 10 ppm)
Total alkalinity
Calcium hardness
Stabilizer (cyanuric acid)

[ganny76]

OK, these are my results:
FC: 17.5ppm
CC: 1ppm
ALK: 90ppm
CH: 70ppm
CYA: 53-54 ppm

[PoolDoc]

Test results look good; what does the pool look and smell like?

[ganny76]

Pool looks great!

[aylad]

I would hold that shock level one more day, then let it come down to the right range for your pool.

Happy swimming! :cool:

[ganny76]

Well, believe it or not, got off early today and decided to be by the pool with the bride and the darn algae is back. Yhay quick. Guess i will test everything again tonight. The chlorinator was flashing check cell and salt. Will pick up some acid tomorrow and clean the cell and put in a bag of salt. :(

[aylad]

With a CYA level of 50+, you don't ever want the chlorine to get below 5 ppm or you'll be battling algae all summer.....

Also might want to check the manual for your SWCG, because most of them want CYA levels around 80 ppm or so for the unit to function properly...