At My Wits End

[Jeannie]

Okay.. I have a 21' Round ABG. It's 5' deep.

It was gorgeous and blue and crystal clear.

Now it's cloudy and lightly green for weeks. And I just can't figure it out.. I want to cry.

I've raised my chlorine to shock levels and held it there for days.. and still green. I've let the filter run 24/7... but no help. I am just ready to tear my hair out.

This morning (Using the full Taylor Test Kit):

FC: 10
TA: 110
PH: 7.4

I did test for combined chlorine.. but it the sample didn't turn color again.. so I guess there is no CC?

WHAT am I doing wrong? Why is my pool this color??

I should say.. there is no slime on the floors or wall so I'm not sure where the color is coming from. There was some residue on the bottom of the pool but we vacuumed it.

I DO think my pool filter is probably a little big.. but there's nothing I can do about that. The salesperson insisted it was the right size for our pool.. and we didn't know any better. (it's a big sand filter.. we use about 150 lbs of sand to get it filled to the right level.. and a 1.5 HP motor). I have no option to change out either because we just don't have the money.

[aylad]

What is your CYA level?

[Watermom]

Are you sure about your pool being 5 feet deep? I have never seen any 21' AG pool with 60+" walls.

[Jeannie]

Are you sure about your pool being 5 feet deep? I have never seen any 21' AG pool with 60+" walls.

Yes.. the walls are 5' tall. Obviously the water is not filled to 60" but that's how tall the side walls are.

My CYA level is reading about 40.

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

Actually my husband says he thinks it's 54" .. my mistake!

[aylad]

With a CYA of 40, your shock level is 15 ppm--have you consistently kept it above 15 for the time you've specified, or did you let the chlorine levels yo-yo up and down? If the chlorine level isn't consistenly kept above that 15 ppm, then you're spinning your wheels--and wasting your time. If it's been consistently above the 15 ppm, and is still green, then I would either double-check your CYA levels, or check with your water company to make sure there are no metals in the water.

[Watermom]

Actually my husband says he thinks it's 54" .. my mistake!

That sounds more like it!

[Jeannie]

With a CYA of 40, your shock level is 15 ppm--have you consistently kept it above 15 for the time you've specified, or did you let the chlorine levels yo-yo up and down? If the chlorine level isn't consistenly kept above that 15 ppm, then you're spinning your wheels--and wasting your time. If it's been consistently above the 15 ppm, and is still green, then I would either double-check your CYA levels, or check with your water company to make sure there are no metals in the water.

I'm betting that I'm spinning my wheels. I need help with this because it's just not registering for some reason. How long should my Chlorine stay above 15ppm? Until it's clear? I just keep dumping in bleach? Last night my FC measured at 10ppm. I poured in a gallon of bleach at 8pm. As of 5am this morning my Chlorine is up to 19ppm. How can I hold it there? Should I put in more bleach now? Should I test again at noon and if it's below 15 I just dump in some more bleach?

I'm sorry if I sound ignorant.. but I really want to get this right. I am wasting so much money and the pool is essentially useless until we clear it up.

By the way.. the water turned much darker green yesterday.

[Watermom]

Every time you test, add enough bleach to get the chlorine reading back up to 15ppm. The more consistent you can do this, the faster the pool will clear. You need to maintain the chlorine at shock level until you can go from sundown one evening to within 2 hours of sunrise the next morning without losing more than 1ppm of chlorine, you have no higher than 0.5ppm of CC and the water is clear. Then, we usually suggest keeping the chlorine high for one more day for added insurance and then you can let the chlorine level drift down and keep it between 3-6 ALL the time.

Run your pump 24/7 right now and clean your filter whenever the pressure rises 8-10psi over your clean filter pressure.

[Jeannie]

Every time you test, add enough bleach to get the chlorine reading back up to 15ppm. The more consistent you can do this, the faster the pool will clear. You need to maintain the chlorine at shock level until you can go from sundown one evening to within 2 hours of sunrise the next morning without losing more than 1ppm of chlorine, you have no higher than 0.5ppm of CC and the water is clear. Then, we usually suggest keeping the chlorine high for one more day for added insurance and then you can let the chlorine level drift down and keep it between 3-6 ALL the time.

Run your pump 24/7 right now and clean your filter whenever the pressure rises 8-10psi over your clean filter pressure.

I'm on Day 3 of keeping my chlorine up there... I'm at about 16ppm.. although it did get as high as 20. And it's not even looking a little better. I'm feeling sooo discouraged. Hanging in there.

[PoolDoc]

OK, there are 2 stages to this: killing the algae, and cleaning up the algae. Is the algae dead, yet?
(Dead = blue, blue-gray or gray water with NO green PLUS no green when you brush or vacuum)

Also, I haven't seen a full set of test results yet (FC, CC, pH, TA, CH, CYA). Can you post the most current readings?

Finally, what color is/was the sediment you had, and what color is your backwash discharge?