pool water

hi everybody, I need a little help with my pool. I have a problem with algae in my pool. I have gonr to the pool store and bought everything that they suggested but to no avail my water is still not clear. I have been running my filter 24/7 for the last 4 days and nothing has changed. I have tried putting bleach in the pool b ut still no change. I have a 21' round above ground pool
my readings according to the test strips are as follows:

ph - 7.2

chlorine - 10

total alkalinty - between 120 & 180

stabilizer - 150

any help to get my pool water clean will be appreciated.

thanks
tom

I'm far from an expert here -- we'll wait until the experts chime in -- but my hunch is your stabilizer is *way* too high and you didn't add nearly enough bleach (just from what I'm reading I don't think 10 or more gallons would be too much because you need to shock your pool to chlorine at 25).

Here's a good page:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365

But if I were you to get my stabilizer down to a decent level I'd drain half the pool and refill (actually, with your pool I'd probably just drain the whole thing and start over, but that's easy for me to say -- with my IG pool there is no way I'd do that :>)

But let's listen to what the experts here say (and forget about the pool guys -- they don't do you any good when it comes to this stuff compared to what the folks here know).

Get your chlorine up to 25, keep it there by testing/adding more bleach 2-3 times daily until the water turns cloudy blue, then start letting the Cl drift down, but never below 8 ppm. Meanwhile, run your pump 24/7 and brush the pool daily. It'll clear up, but you have to get the Cl high enough to kill the algae. And I agree with mkelley, you really need to at least do a partial drain/refill to bring your stabilizer down, and DON"T use any trichlor or dichlor to chlorinate with.

Janet

thanks guys for your input, but I do have a question how do I lower my stabilizer? Is there something I can put in the water to lower it or is the only way to lower it is by draining and refilling. I didnt put it in my first post but I dont know if it makes a difference but my pool is in the sun all day. I have no shade on my pool.

The only practical way to lower it is to drain and refill. There is a chemical that pool stores sometimes recommend that you use to lower it, but it is melamine--the same thing that you use in the CYA tests. It will turn your pool milky white, then you have to figure out how to get it out.

If your pool is in sun all day, you might require a higher stabilizer level than some, but 150 is too high for any pool. Mine is in full sun all day in Louisiana, but I only run mine at 80-90, and I think I keep mine higher than most everyone else on the board.

Janet

Thanks to everyone for their help. I finally have a clear pool. I just needed a little patience. Just so you guys know I didnt drain any water just kept running the pool 24/7 adding bleech and checking my levels and brushing and backwashing and now its finally clear. stabilizer has come down to about 100 so I'm hoping it will come down some more but I'm just gonna keep my chlorine high just to be on the safe side. Thanks again guys for your help.

Tom

Glad it cleared up. Make sure you keep your Cl above 8 ppm at all times....

Janet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by t00ms

stabilizer has come down to about 100 so I'm hoping it will come down some more but I'm just gonna keep my chlorine high just to be on the safe side. Thanks again guys for your help.

Tom

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Be aware that stabilizer doesn't "just come down" - there are two ways out of your pool.

1. Drain and refill
2. Really bad algae that can eat it

OR - inaccurate test results.

You will continue to have problems with your pool if you have a high CYA level - it keeps the chlorine from being as effective - which means at 100ppm - you have to have a much higher residual chlorine level to compensate. If you use pucks/sticks/ or other stabilized chlorine - you will only add to your problem every day.