pool is green

[joverby]

the brand is hth.

[PoolDoc]

Got it. It's cal hypo + STPP + Magnesium sulfate (why?)
Full info below.

If that's all you've been using, you've got no stabilizer in the pool. If you've got bleach at home, dump it in the pool tonight.

Get some stabilizer tomorrow -- but you can NOT let it touch those tabs. Bad things WILL happen.

Does your pool have a skimmer, or are you using a floater with the tabs?


=======================

HTH 3-in-1 Chlorinating Skimmer Tablets
EPA Registration Number: 1258-1259

CAS OR CHEMICAL NAME CAS # % RANGE
CALCIUM HYPOCHLORITE 7778-54-3 40 - 55
SODIUM CHLORIDE 7647-14-5 5 - 15
CALCIUM CHLORATE 10137-74-3 0 - 4
CALCIUM CHLORIDE 10043-52-4 0 - 4
CALCIUM HYDROXIDE 1305-62-0 0 - 5
CALCIUM CARBONATE 471-34-1 0 - 4
Sodium Tripolyphosphate 13573-18-7 0.9 - 1.1
MAGNESIUM SULFATE HEPTAHYDRATE 10034-99-8 25 - 35
Water 7732-18-5 17 - 22

[joverby]

The brand is HTH.

I have put in 1/2 gallon of bleach last night and this morning with 1 cup of muratic acid last night and this morning. No change in the green-ness. In fact it looks greener to me. How long before I will begin to see it clear up?


It has a skimmer.

[PoolDoc]

You've GOT to test chlorine levels, and report results. Go to Walmart and get some stabilizer (cyanuric acid) and an OTO / phenol red test kit. Do NOT buy any of their other pool chemicals -- they are a MESS. Instead, go to the detergent section and get a box of borax and at least 8 gallons of PLAIN 6% household bleach.

When you get back, add a gallon of bleach -- pump ON! -- and then test after an hour. If the chlorine is not above 3ppm (medium yellow), add another gallon. Meanwhile, put 2# of stabilizer in an old sock, and hang it in front of the return.

Keep dosing with chlorine till you see chlorine levels ABOVE 3 ppm. Depending on how slimy your pool is, it may take a lot.

One of the key rules of pool care is that it takes more, MUCH MORE money, time and chemicals to clean up a pool, than it does to maintain it.

[joverby]

This morning the test says the chlorine/bromine is 3 6 and the ph is 7.8. I have the 2# of stabilizer in a old sock by the skimmer. The pool is no longer green it is now cloudy.

[PoolDoc]

Unfortunately, the "cloudy" is likely to be with you quite awhile. It's very hard and slow to remove algae remnants from a small Intex pool, given their tiny filters.

I'm leaving town today, but if you are interested, and have a vacuum and a hose, and want to fool with it, you can ask someone to tell you how to settle it out, and then vacuum to waste with a siphon.

But, as long as your chlorine is OK -- ALL the time -- you can swim. You just have to be careful you don't lose track of someone UNDER the cloudy water.

Ben

[joverby]

Ben...THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!
Should I put a 3" chlorine tablets back in the skimmer or keep using the bleach/muratic acid?
I have only been using 1 chlorine tablet at a time. Should I use more than one at a time in the skimmer?

Jeremy

[Watermom]

Personally, I would just keep using bleach instead of the tabs.