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    Default Baking soda turned my pool green

    My ph was low (a constant problem), reading below the minimum 7.0 on my Taylor test kit, so I added a box of Borax. This created a little cloudiness in the pool which quickly went away. Having read that this can happen if TA is low I tested for that and showed that it was extremely low at 10. I then decided to raise the TA before trying to raise the ph any higher (it was still at the minimum reading the day after adding the Borax). I used the bleach calculator and it showed that I would need to add 21 pounds of baking soda to get my TA in line. This was confirmed by the numbers on the box of Arm and Hammer.

    So, stupidly I now see, I put in all the baking soda at once. My pool has quickly turned a cloudy green color. Anyone know what is going on here?

    Not sure if it matter but my CYA is 50 and my chlorine is right around 5.

    Looking for any thoughts on why this happened and what I should do to remedy the situation. Thanks a lot.

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    Default Re: Baking soda turned my pool green

    I think the water just got saturated with adding it all at once . What is your calcium level? If it is high, it could be carbonates falling out of the water. If it doesn't clear up after a few hours add some acid to take the alk and ph back down. Make sure you do just a little at a time and wait 2 hours in between tests. Then you can start to raise them again slowly testing in between additions. You should always do this when adding baking soda or borax.
    Northeast PA
    16'x32' kidney 16K gal IG fiberglass pool; Bleach; Hayward 200lb sand filter; Hayward pump; 24hrs; Pf200; well; summer: none; winter: mesh; ; PF:7.5

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    Default Re: Baking soda turned my pool green

    Thanks for the resonse, your scenario is pretty much what I was hoping to hear. Testing now indicates my TA is at 100, which is where I wanted it so I am hoping that everything will settle down by morning. My ph remains low at this point, but my understanding is that baking soda will not bring the ph up a lot so I was expecting that and will deal with it after I get the water clear again. I am hoping that I won't have to add any acid to bring things down but will do so in the morning if things have not cleared up.

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    Default Re: Baking soda turned my pool green

    I know, and I want to raise it as soon as possible. However, if this green is not cleared up by tomorrow it seems as if I will have to lower it first. I am aware that I should have added the baking soda more slowly but am an impatient person and just could not imagine my water responding like this.

    Do you think it still makes sense to bring TA and ph down if the water remains cloudy and green (even if the TA is reading 100 as it does now and the ph remains low)?

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    mbar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Baking soda turned my pool green

    If your alkalinity only went up to 100, and your ph is low, then I'm not sure that is what turned the water cloudy and green. Do you know what your calcium is? Has the water cleared up at all? I would get the ph above 7, just add borax one cup at a time, testing after 2 hours. In the future you can use Arm and Hammer's washing soda - it will raise both alkalinity and ph at the same time. But for now just use the borax. Post a full set of numbers tomorrow, and we may be able to see what is going on. Sometimes if you have iron or copper in your water, and the ph and alkalinity go up it can react with the chlorine and turn the water green. In this case you would need to add a sequestering agent.
    Northeast PA
    16'x32' kidney 16K gal IG fiberglass pool; Bleach; Hayward 200lb sand filter; Hayward pump; 24hrs; Pf200; well; summer: none; winter: mesh; ; PF:7.5

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