Help, Pool looks like lime koolaid

[woman.n.a.shoe]

We have an above ground small pool (15 ft diameter, 36 inches deep). For the past week we had been dealing with dark brown water and alot of debris from the last tropical storm (tons of rain). I had finally gotten the numbers right and the chlorine above 10, I am not really sure what the exact number is because it is on a test strip. Last night I added metal out and it looked alot better this morning but green, atleast I could see the bottom. I have been running the pump every day from 6:30am - 9pm and changing the filter every 2 hours or so for the past 2 days. I have added an algecide thinking it's green and I had already added the metal out. I tested alittle while ago and the numbers were ok, I now know why test strips aren't that great!

total hardness between 100-250
total chlorine between 3-10
free chlorine between 3-10
bromine between 6-20
ph between 7.2-7.8
total alkalinity between 120-180
stabilizer between 50-100

When I went to the aquachem analizer they just said to add a clarifier. It's not just cloudy though, its green! Any ideas? I was hoping to have the pool pretty by the time my husband got home tonight from a business trip since he had left it a mess! I don't think it is going to happen. If it is alge, how long till I should see a difference?

Thanks,
Alicia

[woman.n.a.shoe]

I should also add to my previous post that the metal out instructions say not to shock for 7 days! Is there a reason behind this? It seems like this would cause more problems. I am beginning to believe that the instructions are to make things worse so you buy more product instead of fixing problems!

Alicia

[mbar]

Your numbers are in too wide a range, you will have to get a good test kit or go to a pool store that doesn't use test strips to get numbers that are more precise. The difference between stabilizer of 50 or 100 is a big difference in where you need to keep your chlorine, and the difference between chlorine at 3, compared to chlorine at 10 is as well.

As for shocking with metal in the water - when you get a high chlorine level with metals in the water, they will fall out of the water and stain the surface of the pool. Lime green is making me think that this has already happened - lower your pool a little and see if the liner is stained yellow - yellow liner against blue water makes the water appear green. Don't worry, it can be taken care of, but you really do have to get a better test kit, a 5 way test kit they sell at walmart is ok, or you can order one from the Pool Solutions web site, which is what most of us on this board use.

Welcome to the forum, you can get lots of help here.

[waterbear]

What kind of algecide did you add, If it is copper based that would explain the green water. copper and iron are the two most commen metal problems in pools.

[woman.n.a.shoe]

We used the algaecide 60 by Rising Sun Inc. I did not see any copper in the ingredients. We did this 2 days ago. Since then we have been shocking the pool every 12 hours, changing the filter every 3 hours and vacuuming 2 times a day, and checking the other levels to keep them in balance. Right now the pool is a milky white with a slight green tint. Is white water a normal die off reaction when getting rid of algae? Do we need to add more algaecide for the greenish tint or should the shock do the job? Thanks for helping me with this.

Here is our last reading. Again with test strips.

hardness 250
total chlorine way above 10
free chlorine way above 10
bromine way above 20
ph between 7.2-7.8
alkalinity 120
stabalizer between around 100

Alicia

[waterbear]

Fisrt thing to do is to stop using test strips to try and adjust your pool chemisty by. While test strips are accurate they are not precise (a difficult concept to explain but look at your pH reading...between 7.2 and 7.8! that is a wide varience! There is a BIG difference in the activity of your chlorine at 7.2 and 7.8!)

Look for the HTH 5 way or Aquachem 6 way test kit that uses reagents at your local Walmart or Kmart. Best value in a test kit under $20. Or go to a pool store that uses either Taylor or LaMotte testing with reagents and post a full set of numbers and we can give you much better help!

Am not familiar with the Algecide you used but it might be ployquat 60 which is the only type that you should use. If the ingredients list poly (long chemical name) at a concentration fo 60% then you have the good stuff!

Also disreguard the bromine reading on your test strips...You have a chlorine pool. The same test is used for both chlorine and bromine but bromine will test twice as high (and needs to be run at higher levels also).

[jhm]

There is a BIG difference in the activity of your chlorine at 7.2 and 7.8!)

Can you explain that difference? I'd really like to know.

Thanks,

Jim

[waterbear]

without getting too technical let's just say that it is a more effective sanitizer at a pH of 7.2 than at a pH of 7.8. The chemistry behind it has to do with the equalibrium of hypochlorous acid (the stuff that chlorine forms when in water that sanitizes) and hypoclorite ions at lower and higher pH. But when you are dealing with algae sometimes a higher pH is better because it favors the production of monochloramine which is very effective against algae.
(I am going to stop now because it can get very technical very fast.....Just be aware that accurate pH measurements ARE necessary because the pH can affect many chemical reactions that take place in your pool!)