Lime Green Pool Water

We have struggled with getting our pool clean all summer so about 10 days ago we completly drained the pool and filled it with fresh water. It was clear and we could see the bottom until we added the shock and chlorine tabs then the water turned lime green and the shock turned brown on the bottom of the pool. The first pool store said to add a balance pack, algecide (even though no algea) and some PH adjuster but this didn't help. The second pool store had us go through a three day process of shocking, adding phosphere free ( to get rid of phosphates) and then 20lbs of calcium saying it would then clear up but nope it's still lime green. We can clearly see the bottom atleast but anytime we add shock it turns brown and we can see it on the bottom of the pool and the water stays green. Last year we had to put something in the pool to get rid of metals since we have well water and we had no problems all last summer. This year both pool stores had stated there are no metals in the water. I finally went to Walmart today and poured in two bottles of the scale, metal and stain control just to see what happens. I feel like we have tried everything and still our water is lime green. I hope this last treatment will produce a miracle. Any suggestions.......

My recommendation is to throw a stone in and you'll probably be able to have stone soup for dinner! (Do you know that book?)

Wow! You have been what we call around here "pool-stored." I suggest you stay away from those pool stores as they don't know what they are doing. I can't believe they both told you that you have no metals in the water. Unbelievable.

How big is this pool (volume)? How big a deal is it to drain and refill? Any chance of having non-well water trucked in? If not, it will not be easy to clear up but we'll try and help.

You do need a good test kit either way. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (same kit, larger bottle of some reagents). If you buy it through the Amazon link in my signature, the Pool Forum makes a little money on the sale which helps us keep this form online. Only buy if the seller is Amato Industries, however. Some other sellers are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want. If Amato isn't listed, wait a day or two and try again. They seem to restock pretty quickly when they sell out.

What kind of pool is this, what type of filter and size of pump do you have?

Welcome to the Pool Forum by the way.

I think we can help you, but as Watermom said, it would be easiest if you could start over. If you can, let us know BEFORE you do, so we can make sure you have everything you need BEFORE you start.

We'll need to know the gallons in your pool, what kind it is, what sort of pump and filter you have, and you'll need to get some specific chemicals BEFORE you start. You may be able to get them from your pool stores, but as Watermom said, do NOT let them tell you what to buy again.

You can look at this thread to see the approximate list I'd give you:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?13107
but quantities will be based on the gallons in your pool, and some changes may be needed depending on what sort of filter you have.

Just another thought - before I learned what I now know about stains, I also had lime green water. It turned out that my white fiberglass pool was stained yellow all over. Blue plus yellow equals green! When I got rid of the stains the water turned blue. You can see if the pool is stained by lowering the level of the water and see if there is yellow on the part you can see.

Good point, Marie!

Pool surface colors can affect apparent water color a LOT.

PS: Marie, if you see this, check your email!

Almost as soon as I put in the scale,metal and stain control from Walmart the water started turning blue and remained a really pretty clear blue for about 24 hours. When the kids and I got out of the pool this afternoon I saw the water was starting to get a small hint of green again (chlorine tabs had almost completley dissolved in the tray) so I thought maybe I had better go ahead and add more chlorine tabs to the skimmer. As soon as I did the pool turned back lime green again. What does this mean?

Sounds like you've got iron in the water -- and the Walmart stain / scale is one of the weaker ones. But, without knowing your chlorine & pH levels, I'm sort of guessing.

Lime green and clear, with NO slimy feel to the vinyl walls is NOT algae. It's probably metal.

You need a testkit; at least a cheap OTO / phenol red one, and you need to tell us what you've got in the pool. You also need to run your filter 24/7. Doing so with a tab in the skimmer will help remove metals.

I checked the pool this morning and it was still green and clear but some cloudiness. We have a 27 foot round, 52 inches deep (16,500 gallons) pool on a sand filter. We use to have an ionizer and catridges but switched to sand filter and chlorine this year but seem to have more troubles getting everything balanced. Hopefully it will get easier. Five days ago we added 5lbs turbo shock and then added Phosfree and waited 48 hours per pool store directions and then vaccumed the pool. They then advised us to add 20 lbs of calcium over the pool three days ago and the water should have been blue but it wasn't. On friday (2 days ago) is when I added the metal, scale, stain control because I had my own theory because it was the only thing I had not done. Whithin an hour the pool was a pretty blue color and clear finally but it only lasted for 24 hours then turned green ago yesterday evening and has stayed this way. I did add 6 ounces of algecide last night but that is everything in the pool at this point.

Current readings:

OTO/Phenol Red Kit: CL/BR 1.5/3.4 PH 7.6 Both show Ideal


6 Way Test Strip:

Hardness 1000
Total Chlorine 0
Free Chlorine 0
PH 7.2
Alkalinity 120
Stabilizer 0

As you said it must be metals (iron) since that was the only thing that allowed the pool to turn blue for a day. I just need to figure out directions on how to get them cleared permanently.

Your calcium is very high - it should be 250 - 350. By putting in the algaecide and the metal out you have used up your chlorine - both use up chlorine. If it is possible I would do a partial drain to get the calcium down - I know that it was a waste of money, but put it up to a lesson learned. You may or may not have algae - because the chlorine demand may just have been from not having any cya (stabilizer) in your water, plus the chems you added to the water. The rule of thumb for stains to fall out of solution is high chlorine with high ph. This is what I would do if it were my pool.
Drain and refill till you get the calcium under 400
Add enough stabilizer to get to 30ppms
Add enough bleach to get your chlorine to 10 and keep it there until it holds overnight.
Don't worry about the color of the water until you are sure that the chlorine is holding and that it is not algae.
If the water is still colored, add enough sequestering agent like Jacks Magic or Proteams Metal Magic according to the directions on the bottle.
Keep the ph around 7.2, no higher.

You want to balance the water before you worry about any staining, because you are just throwing money away on chemicals that will fight each other and use each other up. Once the water is balanced, then you can swim in it while you get rid of stains. Adding the sequestering agent with ph on the low side (7 - 7.2) will usually clear up the water and light staining on the liner. You have to watch though, because sequestering agent can use up chlorine, so you will have to keep an eye on it and keep it at levels that match the cya in your water so that the pool stays sanitized and you will not have to shock. Once you get the water balanced, the stains cleared, the BBB method is the easiest and most economical. Once you have metals in the water, you have to use the sequestering agent to keep them in suspension. I only use the sequestering agent if the stains start to come back, I don't use them as a maintenance chemical.

I know it sounds like a lot, but once you learn how to take care of your pool by yourself you see that it is really simple. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

Marie

Marie,

Are test strips accurate at that level? I was thinking that they were not.

Also, she hasn't really added enough total chemicals to raise her calcium that high -- if her fill water was 100 ppm CH, it would have taken 140 lbs of cal chloride to get her to 1000 ppm . . . and to do it with cal hypo would have taken even more than that.

My first guess would be the test result is bogus. The second would be that -- if there is 1000ppm in her pool now, most of it came from the fill water.

BUT . . . that seems unlikely, since high iron and high calcium don't ever (that I've heard of) go together. So my money is on the bogus results.

I can think of another, pretty far out, possibility. If she had water trucked in, from a very high calcium source, but using a steel tank truck with nodular (bacterial) iron corrosion, she could have both, since the bacteria generate a *strongly* chelated iron that WILL turn the pool green at higher pH and IS very hard to oxidize out. When I've dealt with that stuff, you could flip-flop pool colors with pH: above 7.2: green; below 7.0: blue!

Yes, I see that she only added 20 lbs of calcium - that would not have raised her calcium level that much - my mistake! amyches8179 can you check your calcium level again? Your Cya levels may be off too. Maybe if you can get your water tested at a pool store that does not use test strips. If you want to take control of your own pool you will want to get yourself a good test kit - this way you are not dependent on anyone else, and your results will be consistent. It is hard for anyone here to give you explicit advice when we are not sure of the chemical levels in the water.

Current readings on my pool:

CYA (Stabilizer) 43
Chlorine 4.1
PH 7.2
Alkalinity 151
Hardness 264


Yesterday I added one quart of bioguard scale inhibitor to the pool because the pool store owner thought is was scale instead of metals but of course nothing changed. I went back today and insisted on purchasing 1 quart of bioguard pool magnet plus and the pool is again starting to turn blue...yeah. Last time at the 24 hour mark the water started to turn green....was that because the chlorine levels dropped? Should I just try to keep the levels stable now for a few days and continue to run the pump??? I am so worried it will turn back green again. What is your advice on when to clean it, shock it and anything else that might be helpful. Thanks

Amy,
I'm going to let Ben continue to advise you. I am only going to add that it is usually best to either follow the advice given to you here on the forum or that given by a pool store. When you do some of 'ours' and some of 'theirs' it doesn't usually work too well.

Amy,

You're going to need to get a K2006 or K2006C for me to continue helping you . . . AND you're going to have to stay out of that pool store. They are not only selling you products you don't need, they are giving you bogus test results: there are NO dealer test systems that would allow them to distinguish Alk=151 from Alk=160, much less from Alk=155. Those systems usually are based on electronic readers of 'goofy strips' -- but the strips themselves can't reliably measure Alk well, much less CYA.

Meanwhile, run your pump / filter 24/7 and add small doses of bleach to maintain your chlorine levels.