I just need to know it will be OK!!

[no1ford]

Hi- I am new here and I have a 18x 48 intex metal sided pool. Within two days of setting it up it turned a shade of green. I went to the pool store and they told me I had algea, to put two gallons of liquid chlorine in and keep the levels high for 2 days or so and it should filter through. My water is super clear, but green and there is no visible algea or dirt in the pool. Does it usually take longer than two days to clear up? It is sort of a lime green tint now. It just feels like nothing is changing.

[no1ford]

Please,anyone ever had this happen?

[mbar]

Do you have any metal in your water? You will have to post numbers of chorine, combined chlorine, ph, alkalinity, calcium and cya, then we can help you better. If the chlorine didn't kill all the algae your water could be slightly green. Lime green could be that your pool got stained from the high chlorine precipitating metal out of the water onto the pool. Drop your water level slightly and see if the pool is a little yellow, yellow and blue make green. Don't worry - it can be cleared up.

[no1ford]

How do I test for metal?

FC-10 +
Ph-7.8
Alk-120
Cya-30-50

Thank you for the response!!! I really appreciate it!

Jen

[mbar]

You don't have to test for metals, just lower your water about 1" and see if the sides of the pool are a little yellow, or if you have white steps, they will be a little yellow. If you have stain, then there are metals in the water. You say you have chlorine 10+, what kind of test do you have?. With cya 30 - 50 you have to bring your ph up to 15ppms and keep it there to kill algae. You have to keep it consistantly at 15 - letting it go up and down will make the process last longer. You should test 3x a day and bring the chlorine right back up to 15ppms. Your ph is a little high, you can bring it down to 7.4 with a little muriatic acid or ph down. Keep your filter running 24/7. You only need bleach to kill an algae bloom - lots of bleach and perserverance! Brush and vacuum the pool everyday, and backwash the filter. Algae can take a while to clear up if your chlorine isn't staying high enough for long enough. By the way, welcome to the forum!

[jdolby]

""Does it usually take longer than two days to clear up?"

YES, mine took 4 days.

JD

[no1ford]

I am going on 3 1/2 days and it hasn't changed! It actually looked greener, seeing to the bottom isn't as easy anymore! I was down on Chlorine so I dumped 3 gallons in my 18x48 pool! I just want it clear!

[mbar]

You have to maintain shock levels according to your cya, the main thing is consistancy!!! try not to let the chlorine yo yo. You should see improvement in the color of the water overnight if the chlorine is high enough. If it isn't getting better in 3 1/2 days, you probably don't have enough chlorine in your pool, or your filter isn't working properly. You must keep your filter running 24/7, brush and backwash. Here is the "best guess chart":

Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

[no1ford]

what is backwash? I just added 3 more gallons of chlorine-I have one left-should I add it?

[mbar]

Did you test the chlorine level? You just have to keep the chlorine at shock level for your pool - with a cya of 30 - 50, and a 7600 gal, you would need approx. 2 gallons of bleach to get to 15ppm - that is starting from 0 chlorine. It depends on when you added the chlorine, and if it was used up.
You can backwash if your filter has a backwash position on it. I don't know what kind of filter you have. Backwashing a position on the filter that lets you clean out the filter with water from the pool.