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[connier13]

We bought a house with a 30,000 gallon gunite pool that is black onyx. Across the winter we turned pump off and now have a solid green yucky pool. Should we start now or wait closer to spring to clean and where do we start?? Our filter is a Hayward carthridge system and I am only familair with sand filters.

[aylad]

Hello, and welcome to the forum from a fellow Louisianian!!

To clean your pool is easy--to decide when you want to do so is really up to you. The cleanup process will involve using plain, unscented bleach to get the pool up to its shock level (which will be determined by your CYA level, if you still have any) and then continuing to add the bleach to keep the pool at shock level until the green clears up. This is done while brushing the pool daily, and while keeping the pump running 24/7 and cleaning your cartridge as your pressure increases. Keep a good eye on the filter pressure, though--in a really algae filled pool it can tend to build up quickly, especially at first. Once the green is cleared up, then it's easy to get the rest of your chems balanced.

Has the pool been drained for the winter? If not, are you running the pump during this next couple of days until this cold snap is over? Burst pipes are a real worry for right now, with sustained temps below 30 for the week. So--if you're going to run the pump anyway to keep the pipes from freezing, you might want to go ahead and shock it/clean it up now. IF not, then you can just wait until the weather starts to warm up again--if it's green and yucky now, then it won't be any worse if you wait another month or two.

Let us know what you decide to do, and we'll be glad to help you take it from there!! What size pool (in gallons) do you have, and what is your CYA level?
Janet

BTW, I'm going to delete the duplicate post that is attached to the "green disgusting pool" sticky. If you'll make any new posts on this topic as a reply to this one, it will be much easier to keep all of your pertinent info together.

[connier13]

Thanks so much for your help. We almost drained the pool, but stopped as it is gunite and as you know, we are swamp filled down here. Just my luck, it would have popped out of the ground before I got it refilled. We started running the pump when the temps started dropping and it is still running. Last year, it seemed like I was having to add more chemicals to the pool just to keep the ph and chlorine numbers right. I pulled a few pool sample numbers the other day and saw they never ran the CYA. As soon as we decide to start, I will let you know and also send some pictures.

[Watermom]

Just want to add my welcome as well! Glad to have you. Lots of people here who can help you get your pool cleaned up and after that, help you manage your pool with little time, effort and money! Hope you enjoy the forum.

[connier13]

Our weather is finally getting nice and we are ready to begin the Swamp Cleanup!! My readings are:

Chlorine 0.2
PH 8.2
Acid Demand-2 gallons of Muratic Acid
Alkalinity 170 ppm

[Watermom]

Is there a lot of debris in the pool that can be scooped out? If so, get a net and get as much out as you can. You'll want to take your chlorine up to shock level and try and hold it there as consistently as you can. Do you know your cya reading? For now until we know your cya reading, I'm going to recommend that you raise your chlorine level up to 15ppm. In a 30K gallon pool, each gallon (4 quarts) of 6% bleach will raise your cl reading by 2ppm. Test at least three times per day and each time, add enough bleach to get back up to 15ppm. Also run your pump 24/7. You'll also want to work to get your pH down. Add doses of muriatic acid until you get your pH down to around 7.2. Each 24 oz. dose will drop your pH by about 0.2. Don't try and do it in one big dose. Be careful with the acid. It is nasty stuff. Don't get it on you and be down wind of the fumes.

If you don't have a good test kit, you'll want to get one. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006. If you buy it from Amazon through the following link, the Pool Forum makes a little money in the process. http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=10006

Keep us posted how things are going.

[connier13]

There is no debris, just a lot of algae. I took pictures yesterday and will try to figure out how to load one today. We are getting bleach and acid today. The filter is a Hayward 4500C cathridge filter. We also have skimmer filter baskets. I also ordered the Taylor kit though the link you provided. I will get CYA today as well!!

[Watermom]

Don't add any cya yet. We need you to get a reading before adding any. Also, even if your cya is low, we won't want you to add it yet. After the algae is cleaned up is the time to do that. You're probably going to clean those filters frequently while you are cleaning this mess up. Also, run your pump 24/7 while you are fighting the algae. The more consistently you can keep the chlorine level up, the faster this clean up will go. Test as many times a day as you can, and each time bring the cl back up. There is no such thing as testing and adding bleach too often.

[connier13]

CYA number was 100. The pressure on pump was 15 this afternoon, so, I didn't startt adding bleach yet. Filter can be cleaned in the morning. I can go ahead and add the bleach tonight, but thought the filters may need cleaning first. How can I send a picture of "my swamp"

[Watermom]

A CYA of 100 is WAY too high. And, in actuality, it may be much higher than 100 as that is as high as most test kits can register. Please do NOT add more CYA. I bet the previous owner used trichlor pucks for the source of chlorine for this pool. Trichlor is stabilized and adds CYA with each puck added to the pool. The only way to lower the CYA is to drain and refill. Having said that, you don't ever want to totally drain a pool, especially in a swampy place like Louisiana. Doing so can cause the pool to pop up out of the ground.

You have a couple of options. Option 1 You can either slam it with bleach and eradicate the pool of algae now and then once the pool is clear, you can do several partial drains and refills until you get the CYA to a more manageable level. (Unfortunately, it will take a lot of water replaced probably a couple of times. In a big pool like yours, that may be a substantial amount of water.) if you decide to do this, it will take shocking it way higher than 15 as I originally suggested. With a CYA that high, you'll need to keep the chlorine level at 25-30 to kill the algae. (Required chlorine levels depend on the CYA level in a pool.)

Option 2 is to go ahead and do the partial drains and refills now before adding the bleach. Then, you can attack the algae later. (That will save you some money in bleach.)

Option 3, and the least desirable one in my opinion, is to live with a high CYA level. But, you will have to run higher than normal chlorine levels as a result meanng that you will always have to keep your chlorine between 8-15 all the time or you risk another algae bloom.

Let us know what you think and we'll wallk you through any of these options.

The good news is that once you get the CYA level down to a more manageable level, we can teach you how to keep this from happening again.