Algae in Pool for over a week

[LauraLee]

Have an Intex above ground pool , round metal frame that holds approximately 4400 gals of water. Also using a Intex Krystal Clear Filter pump model 633T. As for a vacuum, we only have the one that came with the pool and it attaches to a hose and to me it only moves everything around and just gathers up the larger debri, not the algae that I can see. Have been going to the pool store here locally to get the green out. Came close one time but it is back again. Can someone please tell me what can be done to get rid of the green (algae)??? Must mention that I am new to a pool and know nothing about there care. I am either at the hands of the local pool store, (which hasn't been working) or here on this forum. Hope someone can give me some insight.
Thank you.

[aylad]

Hi, Lauralee, and welcome to the forum!

You have lots and lots of reading to do--I would start with the stickies at the top of each forum that you can see, as well as over at our sister site, poolsolutions.com. By reading all the info there, you would be getting a good start on handling your own pool and not being at the mercy of the pool store!!

To oversimplify things, you need chlorine in the water to keep algae away. You need stabilizer in the water (also called CYA) to keep the sun from eating up your chlorine so it can work on the water. You need a pH within the range of 7.0-7.8. You don't need calcium (so don't let the pool store sell you any, no matter what they say!!). So...the key to doing this all yourself is.....a good test kit!!!

WalMart sells a 6-way drop kit for around $20 that you can get by on if you have to, but we really recommend the K-2006 or K-2006c test kit (same kit, just more reagent quantities in the c version). They can be purchased online from Amazon using this link http://poolsolutions.com/testkit-order-links.html. Plus, anything ordered through that link will result in a small donation to the Poolforum, which helps us stay online. Although the kit runs around $55, it will save you that much over and over again in having a headache-free, easy-to-care-for pool. At the very very least, go to WalMart and get the cheap OTO kit (yellow and red drops) so you can get the chlorine and pH where they need to be.

While you're doing some reading, you can be shocking the pool. If you have not added any stabilizer, you need to get the chlorine up to 12 ppm and hold it there by adding more chlorine to maintain that 12 ppm until the pool clears. Most of us use plain, unscented bleach. In a 4400 gallon pool, each 3.5 cups of 6% bleach will raise your chlorine by 3 ppm. Get the chlorine to 12 ppm, and test and add more bleach as often as you can to try to maintain that 12 ppm. Keep the filter running 24/7 and clean the filter as your pressure indicates.

One question I should have asked above is this....did you fill the pool from city water, or from a well? If from a well, do you have copper or iron in your water? If you filled from a well, and you don't know for sure, then you need to have a pool store test for metals (just don't buy al the stuff they're going to try to sell you!). If there are metals in the water, then that's a game-changer, and the advice will be different.

This should get you started--read, read, read at Poolsolutions, and if you have other questions, feel free to come back and post them!

[CarlD]

Hi Lauralee, and welcome to our forum.

I'm fond of Intex pools despite their shortcomings. My first was a 15' donut by them.

If it's too tough to try to measure in 3.5 cups, you can safely just figure a quart...with all your algae much will get eaten. In fact, if you just add 1 gallon, it should raise you to almost 14, which is still ok.

Without stabilizer, you need a chlorine level of at least 12, but over 15 may bleach the pool a bit.

[PoolDoc]

just wanted to let you know you have general forum access now. -ben