I just need to know it will be OK!!

Hi- I am new here and I have a 18x 48 intex metal sided pool. Within two days of setting it up it turned a shade of green. I went to the pool store and they told me I had algea, to put two gallons of liquid chlorine in and keep the levels high for 2 days or so and it should filter through. My water is super clear, but green and there is no visible algea or dirt in the pool. Does it usually take longer than two days to clear up? It is sort of a lime green tint now. It just feels like nothing is changing.

Please,anyone ever had this happen?

Do you have any metal in your water? You will have to post numbers of chorine, combined chlorine, ph, alkalinity, calcium and cya, then we can help you better. If the chlorine didn't kill all the algae your water could be slightly green. Lime green could be that your pool got stained from the high chlorine precipitating metal out of the water onto the pool. Drop your water level slightly and see if the pool is a little yellow, yellow and blue make green. Don't worry - it can be cleared up.

How do I test for metal?

FC-10 +
Ph-7.8
Alk-120
Cya-30-50

Thank you for the response!!! I really appreciate it!

Jen

You don't have to test for metals, just lower your water about 1" and see if the sides of the pool are a little yellow, or if you have white steps, they will be a little yellow. If you have stain, then there are metals in the water. You say you have chlorine 10+, what kind of test do you have?. With cya 30 - 50 you have to bring your ph up to 15ppms and keep it there to kill algae. You have to keep it consistantly at 15 - letting it go up and down will make the process last longer. You should test 3x a day and bring the chlorine right back up to 15ppms. Your ph is a little high, you can bring it down to 7.4 with a little muriatic acid or ph down. Keep your filter running 24/7. You only need bleach to kill an algae bloom - lots of bleach and perserverance! Brush and vacuum the pool everyday, and backwash the filter. Algae can take a while to clear up if your chlorine isn't staying high enough for long enough. By the way, welcome to the forum!

""Does it usually take longer than two days to clear up?"

YES, mine took 4 days.

JD

I am going on 3 1/2 days and it hasn't changed! It actually looked greener, seeing to the bottom isn't as easy anymore! I was down on Chlorine so I dumped 3 gallons in my 18x48 pool! I just want it clear!

You have to maintain shock levels according to your cya, the main thing is consistancy!!! try not to let the chlorine yo yo. You should see improvement in the color of the water overnight if the chlorine is high enough. If it isn't getting better in 3 1/2 days, you probably don't have enough chlorine in your pool, or your filter isn't working properly. You must keep your filter running 24/7, brush and backwash. Here is the "best guess chart":

Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

what is backwash? I just added 3 more gallons of chlorine-I have one left-should I add it?

Did you test the chlorine level? You just have to keep the chlorine at shock level for your pool - with a cya of 30 - 50, and a 7600 gal, you would need approx. 2 gallons of bleach to get to 15ppm - that is starting from 0 chlorine. It depends on when you added the chlorine, and if it was used up.
You can backwash if your filter has a backwash position on it. I don't know what kind of filter you have. Backwashing a position on the filter that lets you clean out the filter with water from the pool.

Pretty sure I do not have a backwash feature-I just have the basic pump it comes with.
My neighbor is selling her softner salt one-have you heard anything about them? I guess you use no chemicals.
The pool is driving me crazy! Is there any way I could have added to much chlorine and made the problem worse?

I really appreciate the help!

today it is lime green and cloudy!

I don't know anything about the other pump. I do know that you have to always use chlorine no matter what. Is the water a different color than it was? If so, I think you are getting rid of the algae. The water may be lime green because of staining - don't worry, you can get rid of that after the algae. The water will be cloudy until all of the dead algae is filtered out. You can try putting a leg that is cut off pantyhose in the skimmer basket. Put the foot of the leg in the basket, wrap the top of the the leg around the basket, put the handle back on, and put it back in the skimmer. It will filter some of the finer stuff out. Make sure you still have good water flow. You just want to get the water sanitized and clear. If you don't have a backwash position on your filter, don't worry about it. Just vacuum when the stuff falls to the bottom. I am not sure what kind of equipment you have, so bear with me. You would not have made the problem worse by adding chlorine. I think that the color of the water is staining - the chlorine should have killed the algae. You can try to put ph down in a sock, or crush some vitamin C tablets in a sock and rub it on the side of the pool. See if the liner changes color - if it does, then it is stain making the water appear lime green.

Ok- so I went to a pool store today and he told me to try iron out-within 4 hours she cleared up 50%! I was told to keep the chlorine up and let the iron out work for three days and then I should be all good. Sound right?

I'm betting you have a cartidge filter with that Intex pool. This does not have a backwash setting on it, but you should clean the cartidge - turn off the filter, release the pressure and remove the filter to spray it off. If you have metal or algae, it should be removed from the filter so it can work more efficiently. Some of those older Intex pools do not even have a skimmer, does yours? Keep that pump going though or all that suspended matter will stay or settle in the pool, you want the sequestering agent (Metal Out) to collect it and remove it to the filter, where you can rinse it away with the hose.