Green/Brown water..about to give up!!

[aylad]

If your CYA is 40, then 12-14 isn't high enough to reach shock level. You need to get it up to 15 and keep it there until the pool clears. You said that on day 2 or 3 you started to notice the water quality changing, and said that the chlorine was "good"--was it at least 5? With that CYA, once you get the pool clear and your cl drifts back down, don't let it go past 5 or you'll have another algae bloom. Also, when you notice the water quality changing, it won't ever hurt to shock it--but you need to test it to analyze what the problem is. That's how you keep from just dumping a bunch of stuff in it hoping to fix the problem--you usually create more problems for yourself that way than you fix.

Shock the pool, hold it at shock level, brush it daily, keep your filter running 24/7, and it will clear up.

Janet

[shelbi]

thanks both of you...the cya just went up yesterday as i added it. i was keeping chlorine up before that but probably not at 5 (have to check my notes) - dang there is so much to learn! I know the filter is working because it gets dirty pretty fast. i guess there's just so much to clean up. I'll keep at it and let ya know. I appreciate everyone's comments!!

[shelbi]

Update..water still green but much lighter. I've been adding 2-4 jugs of bleach a day. The sock on the return seems to help - it's turning green. Also been changing filter everyday. Really picking up a lot of green ick! Thanks for keeping me on the right track.

[RavenNS]

Shelbi,
you're doing awesome! Just hang in there a bit longer. Yes it is "safe" to bring the chlorine levels up much higher than 15ppm ( although most people wouldn't want to swim in it..lol)
Keep it at 15+ a couple of days & continue with the filter changing & brush/vacuum (to waste). The filter socks are also excellent; stay on top of cleaning those as well.
after the algae is all gone you can let the chlorine levels dissapate back down to normal

Best of luck to you

[aylad]

Yes it is "safe" to bring the chlorine levels up much higher than 15ppm ( although most people wouldn't want to swim in it..lol)

With a vinyl liner and a CYA of 40, it is NOT "safe" to bring the chlorine levels up much higher than 15--you run a really good risk of bleaching out your liner that way. Keep it at 15, and adjust upward according to the best guess chart only if your CYA level changes.

Janet

[RavenNS]

my bad, but I thought I saw in the best-guess chart, about bringing it up past 25ppm...? ( perhaps the cya was higher?)

I had my pool at 30ppm with cya at 30 recently (possibly fighting algae... it was cloudy water), anyway, it did not bleach my dark blue liner. Guess I got lucky

[chem geek]

I had my pool at 30ppm with cya at 30 recently (possibly fighting algae... it was cloudy water), anyway, it did not bleach my dark blue liner. Guess I got lucky

At 30 ppm FC and 30 ppm CYA, the actual disinfecting and oxidizing amount of chlorine (HOCl) is 2.5 ppm which would be equivalent to having 5 ppm of chlorine in a pool without CYA (at a pH of 7.5). So while that it is on the high side, it apparently isn't in the range that causes bleaching to occur. Perhaps one needs 10 ppm or higher FC "no CYA" equivalent before that happens.

Or maybe you were just lucky!

Richard