Very Green Cloudy Pool

[waterbear]

You may want to try simplybluepools.com

This guy got kicked off the forum once by Ben and now he's back. He has spammed another board I am on so badly that about 4-5 pages of their chemical section are nothing but spam and threats to the moderators of that board!

[Robin N]

I have had it tested for metals, and it was negative. Water still hasn't changed any though.

I'll slow down on the acid now. Is it just a waiting game now, and keeping the Chlorine level at around 12?

[bgray]

The most recent test results do not include CYA, which kinda dictates how high CL ppm needs to be to reach breakpoint. The last I saw, your CYA was 130, which would require Cl to be higher than 12...

The only thing I'm not sure about is maintaining a level that won't bleach your liner (since mine is a gunite pool).

The key is reaching and maintaining high enough CL levels to get on top of the growing algae. By the sound of things, you may not have yet gotten there???

[Robin N]

Latest Test Results as of 4 PM today were:

CYA 130
Cl 24
pH 8.0
Acid calls for the addition of 3 3/4 pints of Muriatic Acid (which I'm not relying on)
T/A 180

It doesn't make sense to me that these numbers have fluctuated. I'm feeling overwhelmed by all this.

[mbar]

I don't think your numbers have fluctuated much. You will have to keep your chlorine up at 25, which you are. Your ph and alkalinity went up, but not by much. You will have to add acid again, but I wouldn't add too much at once. You won't bleach your liner, because you have a cya of 130. The high ph and alkalinity weaken the chlorine a little too. Just keep your chlorine up at 25 consistantly, and you should start to see your water change color. You are wasting the chlorine you are putting in if it doesn't get up past the breakpoint - the shock level. Your chlorine will just continue to be used up by the algae, and without the 25 ppms, you can't kill all the algae, which keeps you in a loop. Consistant shock levels which will be at leat 25 with your cya levels and ph and alk, will kill the algae. Make sure you brush the pool and vacuum the stuff that falls on the bottom to waste. Keep your filter running 24/7.

[Robin N]

I bumped the Cl level up to 30 two nights ago. I haven't seen a change yet - I continue to backwash (3X a day), brush the pool, and vacuum to waste. I'm not seeing much of anything. My water is very cloudy still, I can see one step down, it has just a small amount of the dead looking algae on the step.

I'm keeping the Cl level at around 40 since my CYA is 130. I know it may be "overkill", BUT I am waiting on Ben's Test Kit and I'm using the diluted method on a Walmart test and it's hard to determine the exact amount of Cl, so I'm leaning on the heavy side. I've been testing every couple of hours, but it doesn't seem like the pool is losing any Chlorine. It this normal? Does it mean I haven't added enough Cl to do the job or does it sound like it's working?

I've read Pamsel's posts - she added Polyquat in addition to what I'm doing. Is this something I should get? If so, how much should I add?

The previous owner of the house saw the pool this morning. He nearly fainted. This whole situation is humiliating. This pool is getting the best of me.

[Simmons99]

You have kept your chlorine levels that high for the last two days straight? Are you sure you don't have filter problems? If so, maybe it's time to try a clarifier as a last resort?

(WAIT for some responses from mods on this before you run to the pool store)

[Robin N]

I think I do have filter problems. I went out yesterday and there was water around my filter, and some green slime. I'm totally new at this. I looked at the filter and the pump and I did find a place that looked like it could open. I unscrewed the two knobs and found the basket that was removable. I dumped it - there were a few leaves and a lot of bugs in it. I got it back on there and thought I had solved my problem. This morning I went back out to backwash and there was water around the pump again. I checked the basket but it was all clear. Then I couldn't get the thing put back together right - I wrestled with it for a while and finally realized I needed help - the previous owner is still moving some things out of his shop, and luckily he showed up within the hour. He oiled the knobs and used a wrench or something. I'm afraid if I mess with too much equipment out there I'll end up stopping the pump.

As for the filter being a sand filter - the pool shop told me that. I know it's a Hayward Super Pump, Self Priming 1 1/2 Horsepower 115/230 V

There is a plastic "wheel" thing that goes to the pump equipment. I haven't found where it goes yet. (Replacement part I think) After looking at the filter again - the Vari-Flo part, I the plastic wheel goes under my controls for the filter. If I unscrew maybe 10 screws, I could take the top off and find where I need to be checking? Or is this something I need to leave up to a pool maintenance person?

I won't do it until I hear more - I don't want to really mess things up. If it is my filter, once it's working will it help filter out what I've been working on or has all my work been wasted effort? (Besides learning valuable lessons the hard way?)

[Infidel]

I've been dealing with a cloudy / algae pool recently as well, just got a real test kit 2 days ago and I'm seeing improvement already. Some thoughts from another clueless person that inherited a pool. All of this relates to my system, yours may differ.

On top of your sand filter you should have a gauge that effectively indicates how the system is functioning. When mine is working right it's around 10 psi, if brush and vacuum then it can get up to 30-40psi pretty quick, indicating that the filter is full of crud and needs backwashing. I don't backwash if there's no increase in pressure as I feel this indicates there's still good flow/filtering happening.

There is a prefilter on the pump, with a clear top on it and a filter basket inside. The impeller on the pump can get bound up with junk that gets through the basket, which keeps water from getting sent to the filter correctly. This is indicated by the sound of bubbles in the pump and low psi on the sand filter. For a long time I couldn't figure out why my filter wasn't maintaining pressure, then I realized I had to take the pump apart and clean the impeller, this is done by undoing the band/strap clamp between the pump and prefilter. I put a heavy rock in the prefilter basket adn that has really cut down on my need to take apart the pump to clear the impeller. Are you getting pressure in your sand filter? That might be why you're not getting filtration.

Next, try leaving your pump off for 12+ hours and see what settles to the bottom, vacuum it to waste and see how that does. I have had great success using floculant in the past, you could try it as a last resort.

For some reason my sand filter is very innefective at removing algae, best to let it settle and then vacuum to waste.

[Robin N]

Quick update on my pool - the green started getting lighter yesterday, I'm running my filter 24/7, continuing to brush and vacuum to waste daily, running the Polaris each day, backwashing 3X a day, testing every 2 hours and pouring the chlorine, keeping the levels high. I also installed a new pressure meter and it runs at about 1/2 power (15) when the pump is running and on backwash too. My water looks kind of greenish/grey right now. I am so happy to see progress. I can see the Polaris running on the shallow end now. Thanks for the continued support, especially from Carl S!