Super green, cloudy water

My husband and I have been trying to open our pool and it's been so frustrating. We got the water to a light green color and it wasn't very cloudy and then the weather started to warm and it got to a dark green cloudy color again. We are at the point of renting a pump and pumping it all out and starting over. I know one issue was some leaves at the bottom which were a breeding ground for algae. We have since removed those and are trying to clear the water with no luck. I have not had the water tested recently so I don't have any test results to post.

We have a 27' round above ground pool. This is only our second season with it. We have been using pool solutions from the very beginning to use cheap alternatives to the sky high priced chemicals you can buy in the store, so I'm familiar with that aspect of this site/forum. Any suggestions would be helpful. I dumped 3 of the LARGE bleach containers in the pool on Saturday and it didn't make an ounce of difference in the water color.

Hi amgarmon,

I am calculating your pool volume at roughly 17K gallons, is that correct?

In order to clear the pool, you'll need to add the bleach to get up to shock level for your pool, which is determined by your CYA level. I'm assuming that you have zero CYA, so that would make the shock level 12-15 ppm. So for a 17K gallon pool, you'd need to add 3.5 gallons of 6% bleach. Then you'll need to test for chlorine 2-3 times a day ( or as often as you can) and add more bleach to get back up to the 12-15 ppm mark. It is getting the chlorine level up to shock level and keeping it there that will clear the pool. The more consistently you can maintain that level, the faster the pool will clear.

You need to be running the pump/filter 24/7 while this is going on, cleaning the filter as your pressure indicates. It can take several days, so you'll also need to apply a good dose of POPP--pool owner patience and persistence.

Brushing the pool daily will also help knock loose any algae that may be clinging to the walls.