green water that won't go away

[kinneydd]

ok, I have the PH to 7.2, and I added three gallons of bleach , which is what the bleach caluculator said to use. I should be on the right track now.....I will test three times a day and keep the cl at 15 ppm, I hope it clears up soon.

[ivyleager]

kinneydd,

Is your CYA really 130ppm? If so, you need to get your chlorine up alot higher than 15ppm.

Use the info in this chart to help you figure out what levels of chlorine you need to maintain in your pool based on the amount of CYA (cyanuric acid, also called stabilizer) that you have in your pool. (FC = free chlorine)

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

Good luck.

CaryB
Go 'Canes!!!!!

[kinneydd]

oops, no that was a type-o, trying to type to quick, it is 30.

Thanks

[kinneydd]

The algae is diffidently stirred up, I have green bubbles floating on the top of the water and the skimmer is collecting alot of algae. The algae turns white when it is killed, is that correct? Since it is still green should I add more bleach? I have been testing the water and I still have the cl up to 15ppm, (I have added bleach to keep it there). How long should it take to kill, if I don't let the numbres drop any?

[aylad]

Yes, it should turn white when it's dead. If it's still green, keep adding bleach to stay at your shock number. How long it takes to kill really is variable from pool to pool.....

Janet

[kinneydd]

Still have green water!!!, It has changed some but not enough to get excited about. Cl is being kept at 15ppm, the ph is now high at 8.2 ppm and the alk is 160. Should I lower the ph and alk? I have been running the pump twenty four seven on high, removing the filter twice a day to clean it, vacuming for several hours a day. It seems that the metals are staying in suspension. Can they fall out with all of this chlorine? Should I add more sequesterant just to be on the safe side? I don't want that problem again. It seems that I should be able to see the bottom of my pool by now but I can't, I hope it clears soon, its actually suppose to be hot this weekend.

[CarlD]

Always start with the simple and obvious and see what happens before going to more complicated solutions.

Your pH is 8.2, You MUST get it down. pH at that level has cut your chlorine effectiveness, probably to 1/10!

Get it down to the low 7's and keep it there until the algae is dead--then plan on keeping it from 7.3-7.8.

Be sure to add chlorine neutralizer to the water sample before testing--Ben's kit has it already in the pH test solution.

Don't worry about the T/A. When the pH is where it should be, T/A will be lower. In a vinyl pool, where it is now is fine, but it's high for a concrete pool--but you don't know that it's REALLY high because it moves up when pH goes up. Still, don't worry about it-it won't affect your algae fight.

So get the pH correct and THEN see if the chlorine starts to work on your algae.

[mbar]

I agree with Carl, you must lower the ph. You don't need more sequesterant because the metals would have percipitated out of the water with the high ph and chlorine you have. High ph along with high chlorine is what will make the metals come out of suspension - bring down your ph to 7.2.

[kinneydd]

well, I have the ph down for now, it is back in the normal range, the pool is looking better, it is now a greenish blue. I will continue with the bleach.....

[kinneydd]

I have been keeping the ph down in the normal range and the cl up to 15ppm for several days now. What a vicious cycle that is. It is finally starting to clear up....very slowly........ I never thought it would take this long to get clear. Thanks for all of the advice on clearing it up, I hope its completely cleaned up soon.