Green tinted water - Intex 15' X 48" Salt water system

[Xevious2001]

Hi,

We have an Intex pool (15' X 48")that we put up and take down every year and we fill it with well water. The pool uses a salt water system. All previous years we have had no problem, and the water has been crystal clear, but this year after running the chlorinator for only an hour, the pool water took on a strong yellow tint. It is still clear, but tinted.

I have since gone to a pool store for help and they had me add Keetrol Plus because they thought it was metals in the water reacting to the chlorine causing the tint. They had me add 12 oz originally, and I have since added another 10 oz. The color is now lighter, but is more of a green tint. The store also had me add about 2 1/2 pounds of Clear View to raise the total alkalinity.

It is now several days later and the green tint is still present. I have also been running the chlorinator to make sure I dont start getting organic problems.

I went out and bought a testing kit today (hth 6-way) and did some tests. I am hoping that if I post the results here along with the history, someone can tell me what is going on and what I should do next.

Total Chlorine / Total Bromine - I could not tell. The water color turned orange and the max value of 5/10 is a dark yellow. I assume my level is way higher than that (which is surprising...no chlorine smell or anything to the water).

Ph - 8.2

Total Alkalinity - 100 ppm

Hardness - 80 ppm

CYA - 30 ppm is the lowest the test can measure...I think I am lower than that, but close (the black dot on bottom of tube was still visable, but barely).

Please let me know if you need any further information or have any suggestions. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Watermom]

You should order a good kit. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (test kit link in my signature below.) For now, get some distilled water and test your chlorine again using half pool water and half distilled water. Then, multiply your result by 2. Post the reading here.

You cannot trust that pH reading. A pH reading taken when chlorine is really high is typically reads higher than it really is. Wait until the chlorine level drops below 5 and then test pH again and report it here.

What kind of tabs are you using. Some tabs have copper in them and you do NOT want copper in your water!

Go to the section of the forum called "Dealing with Stains & Metals." There is a stickied thread called "Bucket Test for Metals" at the top of that section. Read it, do a bucket test on your well water and report your findings here.

Welcome to the Pool Forum, by the way!

[Xevious2001]

I did the test with 1/2 distilled water and 1/2 pool water and while the color was not orange, it was still a dark yellow and beyond the scale. I then repeated the test with 1/3 pool water and 2/3 distilled and it was still a darker yellow (but not by too much) than the top of the scale. Since the highest it can measure is 5 ppm, this would mean I have at least 15 ppm (5 x 3) and probably more like 20 ppm?

I will read up on the bucket test and let you know my findings. I will also order one of the suggested testing kits.

Not sure what you mean by what kind of tabs that I am using? Chlorine tabs? I dont put any Cholorine in the pool (other than what is generated by the chlorinator). I have never needed to do a shock or anything.

[Watermom]

OK. When you say chlorinator, you are referring to an SWCG (Salt Water Chlorine Generator) and not a chlorinator that you put chlorine tabs in. Gotcha.

[Xevious2001]

Yes, I use a SWCG system, sorry about the confusion. I am also not able to access the 'Dealing with stains & metals' section, so I can not read up on the bucket test yet.

[Watermom]

Until new members have their memberships upgraded, it is always necessary to log out first in order to see the rest of the forum. (Sorry I forgot to tell you that part when I wrote the post above.)