Green Water that will not clear!

Have 27' Soltice above ground pool with sand filter. I am guessing it has 24,000 gallons of water. I can not get the green tint out of the pool! Yesterday I put 6 gallons of bleach in and scrubbed the walls and floor down also back washed. Now today we are having a flooding rain in KY so I will have to pump alot of water out. After I pump the water out I was going to put borax in because my PH level is so low it is not reading on the 4 in one test strips. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

Hi, Jennyray, and welcome to the Pool Forum!

First of all, we don't trust test strips. We encourage everyone to get a good kit -- Taylor K-2006 or 2006C --- in test kit link in my signature below. In the meantime, go to Walmart and pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) and test and post your results. Do not test the pH when the chlorine is high, though, or you won't get an accurate result. (Test it when the chlorine is less than 5ppm.)

Please tell us exactly what all you have put in the pool, meaning actual ingredients and not just 'shock.'

How big is your pump? What is your source of fill water? Have you recently had an algae bloom?

I also think you are way off on your volume. I think it is probably more like 17-18K. (The pool would have to be almost 6 feet deep to get 24K.) I also have a 27ft AG and my walls are 52 inches which is pretty standard. This amounts to about a 48-49 inch water depth since pools are not filled to the brim.)

1. Get a cheap local OTO/phenol red testkit (yellow / red drops), use it, and report results.

2. Also, report whether the green is from algae or well water.

3. Meanwhile, if the side walls feel the slightest bit slippery, begin adding 2 gallons of PLAIN 8.25% household bleach EACH evening. Repeat EACH evening till no slipperiness is felt. Skip the day's dose if OTO shows an ORANGE color.

4. And, add borax till your phenol red drops show a pH between 7.2 and 7.8

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