8 gallons of bleach...still green!!!

[Andersonian]

We have a 10,000 AG pool. We were going to sell it this year and free up our lives a bit, but our daughter wanted to keep it...so here we are battling algae again. We thought we would try to add a chlorinator to our system but after installation and no chlorine to speak of, but we read online that it isn't suggested for use with a sand filter so we have turned it off.

We have added 8 gallons of bleach for the last 24 hours with no effect. We do not have one of the suggested pool kits but with our strip test kit here are our readings:

TH 250
TC 0
FC 0
Ph 7.2 (was 7.8 yesterday but I added muratic acid last night to lower a bit)
TA 120

From what we have read, these seem like balanced numbers so we are completely frustrated as to why we can get 8 gallons of bleach to register! This may very well be the last year we deal with this pool. Any suggestions?

[PoolDoc]

With algae, you're losing till you start winning. And you won't start winning, till you get enough chlorine in the pool to both start killing the pool AND maintain a residual.

People badly underestimate how much chlorine it takes to clean up a mess. Most of my experience is with large commercial pools -- and we kept records, in the early years when I still occasionally had algae outbreaks. Cleaning a single algae episode can take more chlorine than would otherwise be needed in a month!

On your pool, a gallon (not 3 quarts) of bleach will add about 6 parts per million chlorine. If your pool is still badly green, you probably need to think in terms of single doses of 20 ppm each -- about 4 gallons. Go get 12 or more gallons of bleach -- about the cost of a single bottle of algaecide -- and add a dose this AM, another tonight, and a third in the morning, unless it begins to clear. Once it begins to clear, make SURE the chlorine level NEVER drops before 5 ppm till the algae is completely gone.

Meanwhile, ignore all your other readings EXCEPT stabilizer. You need to get a test kit, or take it to a pool store, and find out what your stabilizer readings are.

You can't 'sneak up' on algae. You need to hit it hard and kill it quick. But, don't double up on the doses I gave you. If you get the chlorine high enough, you could end up bleaching out the liner.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

[Jim_G]

Follow PD's instructions to the letter! it will get better.. i had superswamp and went through 35 gal of 12% chlorine before it got better.. Keep at it
Jim