Something has gone wrong

[race9899]

Intex 16' x 42" pool.. everything had been great for 6 weeks, used alot of the info here and it had been doing well..

5 days ago we started getting what looks like green dust on the bottom of the pool, the walls of the pool are not slimy just the green dust (pool is under alot of trees and we have had ALOT of dead leaves getting in the pool)

yesterday our chlorine was 0.5-1 but the PH was right on 7.2 so we added some bleach (we use Pool Brands Quick dissolving shock) We have tried to let the green dust settle and vacuum in up but it mixes into the water pretty quickly..

We thought this green might be algae so My wife added HTH super algae guard, 4 OZ of it.

Our pool is now Green and VERY cloudy..

And here are numbers now

Chlorine yellower than 5-10 ppm
PH 8.2
Akalinity 170 ppm
Hardness 280 ppm
CYA was to cloudy to tell but way over 100 (was right at 90 yesterday before the Super Algae Guard)

Do I drain and start over?

[aylad]

You can drain and start over if you want to, but you need to look at the cost of water and see if that's really feasible--I wouldn't drain, I'd just fix the water you have. However, your stabilizer levels are really high , so unless you want to run a high CYA-high chlorine pool (I do--and find it much easier!) you will need to drain and refill some of the water in order to lower your stabilizer (CYA) levels. Do you have metals in the water? If so, that needs to figure into your decision as well.

First off--do not use the super algae guard, unless the ingredient is 60% polyquat. Most algaecides will make your problems worse, not better. If you have algae, the fix is chlorine, and lots of it.

Second--I assume the "Pool Brands Quick dissolving shock" is dichlor? If so, stop using that, because your CYA levels are already high enough that you have to maintain 8-15 ppm of chlorine at all times to keep the algae away. I wouldn't use cal-hypo either, because your calcium is already getting high, so that pretty much leaves bleach (or liquid chlorine if your state sells it) to use for chlorination.

Since your chlorine has been way too low, I suspect that algae is the problem. You can verify this by testing for chlorine at night and again in the morning, to see if you're losing any chlorine overnight. At any rate, the answer is to add chlorine, and lots of it. With a CYA over 100, this means taking your chlorine level up to 25 ppm and holding it there until the pool clears up, and until you're no longer losing chlorine overnight. At that point you can let the chlorine come back down, but with your CYA that high, you can't ever let it come down below 8 ppm.

If you'll fill in this short chart with info about your pool, it will help us advise you better...

Pool Chart Entry Form (http://goo.gl/cNPUO)

Welcome to the forum!

[race9899]

I filled out a pool chart when I registered. Did it not save? if not is there something I need to do to make it save? I will fill it out again.

Checked the Chlorine level again this morning and it is still as high as it was yesterday..

Clor 5-10
PH 7.2
Hardness 230
Alk 130

Water is still to cloudy to check for CYA...

We have been alternating using bleach and the Shock to keep the CYA level in check.

[aylad]

Since your chlorine has been way too low, I suspect that algae is the problem. You can verify this by testing for chlorine at night and again in the morning, to see if you're losing any chlorine overnight. At any rate, the answer is to add chlorine, and lots of it. With a CYA over 100, this means taking your chlorine level up to 25 ppm and holding it there until the pool clears up, and until you're no longer losing chlorine overnight. At that point you can let the chlorine come back down, but with your CYA that high, you can't ever let it come down below 8 ppm.



I don't see your results in the pool chart, so maybe it didn't save. When you get a chance, could you please fill it out again?

[race9899]

I have tried 4 times but here are the answers

Own the pool
Oklahoma
race9899

. . . . .

[PoolDoc]

All 4 of your entries were in the data table -- I deleted 3 of them. It's possible Janet was looking at a slightly out of date back up copy of the Pool Chart data.

In any case, the information is now in your signature.

[race9899]

Thanks...

[race9899]

I let the pool settle, vacuumed bottom with pump not putting water back into pool, add 6 cups of bleach, pool is still green but much lighter and cloudy.

Should I have the water tested at a pool supply?

[PoolDoc]

If you have green, you need to increase your every evening bleach dose to 1/2 gallon of PLAIN 6% bleach -- that's about 15 ppm on your pool

AND . . . you need to retest your pool BEFORE you add the bleach, but be SURE to test and report the CYA level. That's critical. If you want to understand why, read the Best Guess page linked in my blue signature block.

[race9899]

Pool is finally not green but cloudy.

Had water tested...

Total Chlorine 8.2
Free Chlorine 7.6
PH 7.6
Total Alkalinity 90
Calcium Hardness 145
CYA 151

I should add more bleach?.. We added 10% volume of water after these test's..

[Watermom]

Are those results from your HTH kit or from a pool store? If your CYA truly is that high, your shock level will be 25ppm. (See the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in Ben's signature above for info about the correlation between CYA and chlorine levels.)

[race9899]

That was from the the pool store..

We have been adding over a quart of bleach per night

[PoolDoc]

That was from the the pool store..

You have the 6-way, right? You need to test it yourself! Unless you make a mistake, it will be more accurate than the pool dealer.