Light greenish blue water

[rookatysgram]

We didn't take our pool down over the winter,but we kept it covered. When we removed the cover we had clear water but also had heavy algae on the sides and bottom. Everyone said to shock it pretty good,so we did. We have a cartridge pump (small) for now,we're waiting for our new one,but we also have the saltwater system filter. Which is helping but the problem seems to be the dead algae is really fine and when we try to vacuum it goes right back into the pool. All of our levels are ok except for the CYA ,and I don't know how to get it up.

[AnnaK]

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

It's difficult for us to evaluate how bet to assist you without having more information. I'm guessing this is a soft-sided pool. yes?
How many gallons?
How are you testing the water -- what kind of test kit do you have?
What are the specific values for FC (free chlorine), CC (combine chlorine), TA (total alkalinity) pH, CYA?
What did you use to shock the water?

I am not the expert for soft-sided pool equipment but am sure one of them will be here to advise you on your filtration setup.

[aylad]

One of the equipment guys should be along shortly to help with the filter problem, but regarding the CYA, you have a few options (the first thing you need to do is find out how much you have in the water to begin with):
1) You can add straight CYA, which you can buy at WalMart, Home Depot, pool store, or other places. WalMart sells a 4 lb container of it in their spa section that I use to jump start mine when I need to. It may be labeled conditioner, stabilizer, or balancer, but if you'll look at the ingredients, you should see cyanuric or isocyanuric acid...that's what you want. Add it via old sock or nylon hose suspended in front of a return to help it dissolve....don't broadcast it over the pool like some labels describe.
2) You can use trichlor tabs in a floater to chlorinate until your CYA levels get to where you want them to be. If you do this, watch your pH because the trichlor tends to drive it downward.
3) You can use dichlor powder to chlorinate with. You can dissolve it in water and put into the pool--I would pour it in front of a return jet to help disperse it, and make sure you brush up any powder that gets to the bottom until it dissolves because you don't want it sitting on your liner. Other than adding straight CYA, this is the fastest way to raise the levels. It will lower your pH too, though, so keep an eye on it.