27,000 gallon green swamp HELP

[ms dean]

I just took the cover off my pool vaccumed it and the added 5 bags of shock,algaeside, clarifer& iron mite
I did that @ 9pm last nite pool is still green WHAT CAN I DO!!!!!!!

[PoolDoc]

1. Add 7 gallons of PLAIN 6% bleach this evening. (about 15 ppm of chlorine -- use only 2 gallons if the algaecide had copper in it!)
2. Read the test kit page in my signature; get a cheap OTO kit *or* a HTH 6-way (http://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-6-Way-Test-Kit/17043668), if the Walmart in your area has one.
3. Test your pool, and tell us what you find, what the water looks like, what your pump / filter make/model are.
4. Do NOT add any more pool store chemicals, tell you have test results.
5. DO tell us EXACT brand & product name of what you've added.
6. Tells EXACT names of any chemicals you have left.

[ms dean]

The pool pump is a Dynamo the sand filter is a intex and the shock granules were called shock xtra by utekem

[PoolDoc]

Last first: "were called" -- are the granules gone, or do you still have some?

You have an Dynamo pump and an Intex sand filter on a 27,000 gallon pool? That doesn't sound right. What are the dimensions of your pool?

Have you added bleach? Do you have an OTO kit? Did the pool hold chlorine overnight?

[ms dean]

The pool is 27' round the pump is a 1-1half pump ,150lbs capacity filter system.
The pool water is still green. We have been vaccuming it out . Had a lot of leaves
On the bottom. Dont have any more chemicals . So do I add more bleach now
That I have it vaccumed out .

[Watermom]

Post some current numbers, please.

[ms dean]

What type of numbers. I just put the pool size and filter. What does CYA mean .getting very frustrated all ready .

[PoolDoc]

Ms Dean;

Proper pool management has a learning curve -- and you are currently at the steep end of that curve. We can help, but we can't change the reality. In the US pool market you have 3 choices:

1. You can be a victim of pool store tactics, as you have been in the past.
2. You can learn to manage your pool chemistry yourself -- and we can help with that, but YOU still have to learn.
3. If you are very, very lucky, you can find a really good local pool store to help you. We estimate about 2% of pool stores fall into this category.

The choice is yours. But we can only help with option 2.

However, if you select option 2, I can tell you that you are going to need to obtain an essential pool tool, that has been in short supply, as long as I've been doing the PoolForum: P.O.P.* Without it, your efforts will fail, and you will waste your time and ours.

Best wishes with your decision.

* P.O.P. = Pool Owner Patience

[ms dean]

I am willing to learn to manage my pool. I think the problem was i didnt winterize the pool. Just tellme if I need to add more bleach

[Watermom]

Sorry to be a broken record here, but we really need some current water testing results taken with a drops-based kit to be able to help. Without having numbers to look at, we can't really help. We would just be guessing about what is going on with your pool.

There are quite a few questions that have been posed to you in previous posts in this thread and also some steps to follow. That's about all we can do without testing results.

If you can get some good numbers, post them. (Get a good kit. That is a critical component. (Taylor K-2006 -- see testkit link below.)

I would also suggest to you to do a lot of reading here on the forum, especially the stickies at the top of the subsections. Also, read on our sister website www.poolsolutions.com. Lots of good information there as well.

[robbym70]

Option 4 (not listed) is to spend 2 or three hours reading the hundreds of similar stories found in these forums from this year and past years. This definitely goes hand in hand with Pool Owner Patience (POP) It does take time to absorb, comprehend and utilize the very helpful information found here but time spent doing that will answer most of your "What is..." questions and many of your "how do I...." questions.

I don't mean to sound like a nit but a little knowledge and prep goes a long way towards confidence in approach and the information found on these pages is GOLD that can and will help you.

Avoid asking pool store employees for advice on what to do and stay the course with the methods and approaches listed and talked about here. The short money you spend on a test kit now will save money many times over going forward. It all seems complicated at first but after understanding a few concepts it's really not as hard as it looks or sounds. (same as fly fishing really)

Follow Ben's advice listed above and be patient. Your Pool took all winter to get this way so it's going to take a while to get sparkling and clean. This means continuing with the chlorine (bleach) as advised, vacuuming when necessary and continuous pump/filter operation for as many as 2-4 weeks.

Two years ago I was in the same position you are now. We bought a new house in the fall that came with a pool and I opened to a green mess in the spring. Thankfully I had found TPF during the winter and was somewhat prepared to deal with it. In three weeks, using only a quart of Poly quat algaecide, 20 or so gallons of 6% bleach and 3-5 hours of leaf raking and vacuuming I was good to go.

As for winterization...I think the pool industry has a deep interest in convincing the public that winterization requires much more effort and chemicals than you really need. . When I closed last year I shocked my pool with a few gallons of chlorine and then added a half a quart of of poly quat algeacide for preventitive measures and then put a cover on. This year I opened a month earlier, in Mid April, than last year and my water was crystal clear and good to go. After hooking up my filter and pump the pool was ready for swimmers in just a day or two. I'm convinced the early open date (and subsequent cool water temp) was largely responsible for the clear water and ease of opening. The only challenge really was to keep up with the spring detritus from the trees in my yard as they blossomed. 10 minutes of skimming a day and 30 minutes of vacuuming a week has taken care of that though.

Kind regards and good luck.