Newbe dealing with Algae

[zteller]

My father-in-law and I are trying to get the pool opened in their recently purchased house. The 32 ft AG vinyl lined pool had not been touched for quite some time (sand filtered). After bumbling about (neither of us know anything about pools) with the local pool store, we have a green algae problem we can't get rid of. He had the pool clear about three weeks ago using Yellow Out and chlorbrite shock, but discovered a whole bunch of algae under the stairs. We pulled them out and cleaned them thoroughly, but can't get rid of the algae in the water now. Every guy in the pool store tells us something different, and the last one suggested using copper algaecide and double shocking (6 lbs) of the chlorbrite. We've done this twice over the past 48 hours and seen absolutely no change. Here are the readings from our test kit:

Chlorine: .4 ppm
pH: 6.8
Alk: 80

If anybody out there can get us on the right track, we'd really appreciate it. We don't understand why the chlorine level would be so low after dumping in so much chlorine.

Thanks in advance.

[duraleigh]

The algae consumes Chlorine. That will continue 'til the algae is gone, then, it'll slow down a lot.

I am assuming you have no CYA in the pool. If you will get a test kit that tests CYA as well, that will really help.

Next, you need to put in a box of 20 mule team borax (4lbs) and get several large jugs of Clorox. I would not purchase anything else from the pool store nor put in any remaing "stuff" you may have.

At dusk this evening, put in 5 gallons of Clorox (not jugs) and wait maybe 30 minutes and add the borax. All directly into the skimmer, pump running. Keep your pump running 24/7 'til the water clears.

If you stay up a little late, test your Cl and pH again. Bring your Cl back up to about 14ppm (use the bleachcalc found in posts by mwsmith2) by adding more bleach and hopefully, your pH will have risen into the 7.2 - 7.6 range.

Repeat this process each evening 'til your water clears up and your Cl level holds pretty level overnight.

After that, you'll need some CYA but let's get your pool cleared up first. You can certainly put in bleach any time during the day but my experience has been that it is VERY quickly consumed by the Sun...not very cost effective. (the CYA later will minimize that)

[zteller]

Thanks alot. We'll get started tonight.

[zteller]

One more question, though. When you say "run the pump 24/7," should it be on filter or merely circulation.

Thanks

[mikemedic]

It should be on filter

[zteller]

Thanks a lot for your help. The pool has cleared up nicely after we followed your directions over a four-day period. You have saved us a pool-load of money.

[aylad]

Just a quick note--in the future, don't add anymore copper-based algaecide. Copper tends to create all kinds of new problems for a pool. If you must use algaecide (which is more effective as an algae preventative than a killer of an existing bloom), use polyquat 60%. The best fix for algae is always going to be bleach!

Janet