green water-chlorine and PH readings super high...Please help!!

[waterbabies]

Hi-my pool is 15'x48" intex pvc above ground pool. My water turned green (probably due to low chlorine in beginning) I have shocked pool and added algacide to bring chlorine to normal range. Pool stayed green. I have triple shocked pool (stayed green) pool store told me to use chlorine granules (said same thing as shock). I put triple amount of that in in the evening 2 days ago, pool stayed green (chlorine was ast the high end). I put a gallon of store bought regular bleach last night and today, pool is still green, but now the chlorine is through the roof on the tester (orange) and the PH is at the highest level (on the 5 drop tester). How can I get the green out and get the readings back to normal?

[PoolDoc]

OTO orange is high enough (>20 ppm) to kill algae in most cases, but you may have very high stabilizer -- but there's no way to tell unless you can get an HTH 6-way kit at a local Walmart. The K2006 kit we recommend will take several days to arrive. If you read the Best Guess page (link in my blue sig) will explain why this matters so much.

I'm not sure what water costs in your area, but the quickest and easiest way is probably to refill, and then restart with the Super Simple recipe. Please note that that's not a long term method, unless you drain and refill yearly. But, it will allow you to finish the season out, and learn what you need to, to avoid future problems.

One other factor with Intex pools is the cartridge filter quality. I'll post info about that below.

+ The OEM cartridges in Intex / Summer Escapes / etc. filters are not high quality. The Intex manuals recommend replacing them completely every 2 weeks. A BETTER option is to replace them permanently with 2 - 3 Unicel or Filbur cartridges, and rotating them through a cleaning solution. Properly maintained, these cartridges should last all season AND filter better. So even if they cost more per cartridge, they cost less per season! Learn to maintain them, by reading this post, Cleaning-your-Cartridge-Filter-wiithout-Damaging-It!

But, purchasing them is tricky. Amazon does not consistently stock them, and some of the 3rd party sellers are charging high prices and/or high shipping. So, check the Amazon link, but watch out for the prices and shipping costs.

It would be nice if you could just buy them elsewhere, but many of the online pool stores are listing Pleatco or other Asian made low quality filters, as "Unicel C-4607 type" or "fits Unicel C-4607". So shop carefully!

Here are the Amazon links:

Unicel cartridges: @ Amazon

Unicel C-4607 Replacement Filter Cartridge (Intex A or C)
Unicel C-5315 Replacement Filter Cartridge (Intex B Filter
Unicel C-3302 Replacement Filter Cartridge (Intex E)

Filbur cartridges: @ Amazon

Filbur FC-3710 Antimicrobial Replacement Filter Cartridge (Intex A or C)
Filbur FC-3752 Antimicrobial Replacement Filter Cartridge (Intex B)
Filbur FC-3751 Antimicrobial Replacement Filter Cartridge (Intex E)

[waterbabies]

Thank you for your timely and detailed response. Water is not an issue since it is not metered here. It is plain ole' lake Michigan water. The pool has turned green in past years, but never took so much effort to "kill" the algae and have it fall to the bottom. I waited till evening last night, checked the chlorine again, no longer orange, but a bright yellow, so I poured another bottle of regular household bleach in in. Now that the sun is on the pool, it has become a light green and you can see the hand skimmer on the bottom (although blury, but you cannot see the white and blue squares yet). I have decided to empty pool part (maybe half) and refill with hot water from the utility sink. The reason I was against this is because I had the water at a perfect 86 degrees and where my home is, I have a large building to the south of me and later in the season, the direction of the sun begins to change and I get less and less sunlight on the pool. I also looked at the SUPER SIMPLE RECIPE (thanks for that btw) and noticed it said diphor (which i have never heard of or used) and (borax which I have also never used) Are these a neccessary component along with the household bleach (who knew)? So much cheaper $1.29 at Aldi (woo-hoo). Also, does this mean that I never have to buy "shock" or chlorine granules again? Have chlorine duck floater, do I keep the tabs in there as always? Sorry about all the questions, but with this new way of maintaining, I want to make sure I do it properly. Thank you so much for your help!!

[PoolDoc]

You don't need to buy shock; the reason is you already are!

All normal 'shocks' are primarily based on one of 5 chlorine compounds, listed in order of frequency:
1. dichlor, also sold under 100's of names
2. calcium hypochlorite, sold under 100's of different names.
3. sodium hypochlorite or bleach, sometimes sold as "Liquid Shock"
4. trichlor, sold as an anti-algae powder for concrete pools, but rarely blended with dichlor as a shock
5. lithium hypochlorite, sold as quick dissolving non-stabilized shock.

Only #1 and #2 are really common. But they are often diluted with other materials, including borax, magnesium sulfate, aluminum sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium monopersulfate, and so on. You are better off with the PLAIN dichlor or bleach.

Oh yeah. Be sure to check the % of the Aldi bleach. Most standard bleach is now 8.25%

[Themadczar]

I buy Aldi bleach, but it's still 6% in NW Indiana. Still the best buy around though. $1.29/96oz/6% = 22 cents per oz of sodium hypochlorite. Closest I've seen anywhere else is upper 20's but it's usually over 30.

[PoolDoc]

makes sense.