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

[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.