Can't keep chlorine levels up

I have a 18 X 52 round Intex pool. I had a problem with algae and my water was green. I bought HTH Pool shock and used that and 2 days later the pool water was cloudy and had a green tint. I shocked it again and it is still cloudy, to the point I can't see the second step on ladder.

I took my water to be tested on Thursday and the PH was off so I had to add Dry acid, and a clarifier, as well as some stuff that makes the chlorine last longer in the water. I did all the above, and on Friday it was still cloudy. I added some more clarifier and nothing changed.

I went back to pool store today and had water tested and was told the water was perfect except it had no chlorine. I explained the cloudy water and was asked what I was using. I said HTH shock and Chlorine tablets, they informed me that those products are not 100% Chlorine and have fillers. They told me to use them up since I had them, but gave me a non chlorine shock to put in which I did at 10:30 this morning. I also went to check my chlorine floating thing and found that the tablet had turned to sludge. So I went and bought more and a different brand of Chlorine tablets. I have 3 floating Chlorinators in the pool and one in the filter. I just check the pool at 6 PM and it is still cloudy No change. I put more HTH Chlorine Shock in pool and about 1 hr later I check the pool and only change is I now see particles like the sludge from the HTH Chlorine floating in my pool.

I have bought new filters, brushed the bottom of the pool and have had filter running for 5 days straight. It is 108+ here in Vegas and I really want to use my pool anyone have any ideas.

Yea, you can clean it up, but it's going to take some work.

That whole "they've got fillers" and then selling you non-chlorine shock is one of the worst cases of being 'pool-stored' I've heard of. It's quite true that the products you have may have fillers, but non-chlorine shock is worse, and will do NOTHING for algae.

OK, step by step.

1. Assuming an 18' x 4 round, you have about 6,600 gallons if you fill to 3.5 feet, for a PF of 18. So, 1 gallon of PLAIN 6% household bleach will add about 9 ppm of chlorine to your pool. Add 3 gallons this evening, and tomorrow evening.

2. To escape pool stores, you have to test it yourself, MUCH more accurately than they do. Test kit info below. Get one.

3. Check your pH, either tonight before you add the bleach, OR tomorrow PM before you add your 2nd dose. Do NOT do anything if the pH is between 7 and 8. But if's above 8, read the muriatic acid page linked in my signature, and then adjust it below 7.6. If it's below 7, add 1/2 box of PLAIN 20 Mule Team borax to your skimmer with the pump running.

4. Oh, and after you add the bleach tonight, leave the pump on 24/7

5. Once you get the kit, test BOTH your pool water AND your fill water.

6. List all the chemicals you have on hand with EXACT names, so we can see what you can use up, and what has to be disposed of. Do NOT put anything in the garbage; with some pool chemicals bad things will happen if you do!

7. Complete the pool chart.

Pool Chart Entry Form

Ben

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+ Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) / phenol test kit, or if available at YOUR Walmart (check availability), get the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit, which is compatible with the Taylor K2006. Test the pool as soon and you can, and post the results. If you get the 6-way kit, ALSO test the water you FILL the pool with, especially if it's a well, and post THOSE results as well. (The HTH is the best available kit you're likely to find locally, but it's not the K-2006. It can only provide rough measurements chlorine levels above 5 ppm, and it measures "TOTAL" hardness, rather than "CALCIUM" hardness, which is not ideal.)

+ Having a good test kit makes pool care easier for EVERYONE, but is an ESSENTIAL tool for pools with problems. A good test kit means a kit that can test chlorine from 0 - 25 ppm, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer with reasonable accuracy. Test strips (AKA 'guess-strips' ) do NOT meet this standard. Some pool store testing is accurate; most is not. The ONLY way you'll know whether your pool store is accurate or bogus, is by testing accurately your own self. On the other hand, pool store 'computer' dosing recommendations are NEVER trustworthy -- ignore them. They are designed to sell more chemicals than you need, and WILL cause many pool problems.

+ We recommend the Taylor K-2006 test kit, which meets the requirements above, for many reasons. The HTH 6-way drops kit is a great starter kit, and is compatible with the K2006 (it's made by Taylor). There are a few alternatives; for example Lamotte makes an FAS-DPD kit that's OK -- but it costs 3x as much. But, we're not aware of any test that is better, and since we are all familiar with the K-2006 (and can help you with it) we recommend it exclusively ( Test kit info page )

One caution for the 2012 season: Amazon does not stock the kits directly. So when buying at Amazon, Amato is our current preferred seller. However, they often don't list enough stock to last the whole day, so try order mid-morning. You should expect a delivered cost under $60 for the K2006A and under $95 for the K2006C. If you can't find that, wait a day.

+ Here are links to the kits we recommend (you can check local availability on the HTH kit, using the Walmart link):

HTH 6-Way Test Kit @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) @ Amazon

The OEM cartridges in Intex / Summer Escapes / etc. filters are not high quality. The Intex manuals recommend replacing them completely every 2 weeks. A BETTER option is to replace them permanently with 2 - 3 Unicel cartridges, and rotating them through a cleaning solution. Properly maintained, the Unicel cartridges will last all season AND will filter better. So even though they cost more per cartridge, they cost less per season! Learn to maintain them, by reading this post, Cleaning-your-Cartridge-Filter-wiithout-Damaging-It!

But, purchasing them is tricky. Amazon does not consistently stock them, and some of the 3rd party sellers are charging high prices and/or high shipping. So, check the Amazon link, but watch out for the prices and shipping costs.

It would be nice if you could just buy them elsewhere, but many of the online pool stores are listing Pleatco or other Asian made low quality filters, as "Unicel C-4607 type" or "fits Unicel C-4607". So shop carefully!

Here are the Amazon links:

Unicel C-4607 Replacement Filter Cartridge (Easy Set Size A or C) @ Amazon
Unicel C-5315 Replacement Filter Cartridge for 15 Square Foot Intex B Filter @ Amazon