I'm in big trouble - I turned water green

[PoolDoc]

At low pH levels, both chlorine and bromine can appear in a pool as undissolved gasses. With bromine -- which you have because of the bromide -- the pH doesn't have to be nearly as low as it does with chlorine. In blue pool water, orange-ish bromine gas could easily look yellowish green.

To avoid this, keep working to raise the pH AND chlorinate using small repeated doses of bleach in the skimmer, rather than large doses of anything in the pool.

Shocking -- adding a bunch of chlorine of any kind -- is to be avoided till you get the pH at 7.0 or higher. But, don't go higher, because with all that copper, you'll start staining things like crazy.

You can use bleach for any chlorinating purpose in a pool.

By the way, I don't generally like to use metal control agents, but in your case, it might avoid some trouble if you can put a dose of metal control liquid in the pool. It's only a temporary solution, but it might give us time to get control of the pool before we start having to work on removing the copper. If you can get HEDP (probably no way for you to know, though) it will also help protect your heater from further damage.

PoolDoc.

PS. It's just curiosity, but do you know how your pH got so low?

[joecus]

I have no idea how the ph got so low. It happened over the winter. PH still not moving. Should I be considering draining the pool?

[PoolDoc]

No. Just add borax every 2 hours. If your pool is 20,000 gallons or more, you could go to a whole box.

You could get an acid demand test, but it's hard to use them accurately. The problem is, your pH will look like it's not changing at all, and then began to change suddenly.

Ben

PS. When you scraped the black algae, did you SMEAR it on a white card? If it doesn't smear green-ish, it's not algae.

[joecus]

The PH looks like it's slightly higher than 6.2. I will check in an hour or so. I didn't so the fingernail test to determine if I had the black algae. I had black spots on numerous spots on the wall and just asked at the store and they sold me the treatment. I got screwed.

So, assuming I get the PH above 7, what should I do next? Do I add bleach tonight? Will the water turn green again when I add the chlorine? Remember yesterday ,I added the "pool magnet plus" which is supposed to cause the copper to get caught in the earth filter, then I backwashed and copper should have been reduced. I don't have a copper tester so I won't know if the copper level is down. However, If I add bleach and water turns green I would think there is still plenty of copper in there. Would you agree?

[joecus]

Hello all. First I wanted to thank everyone for your help with the PH and copper. I finally got the ph, and all other reading into the normal range. However, now my water has turned cloudy. Through all the PH and copper problems, the water has been crystal clear. Just today, it's turned. I did notice something I think is out of the norm. My pressure gauge is higher than usual. Last year, the pressure after I would backwash and add the earth, would be about 12 lbs. Today, the pressure is up near 20 after backwash and earth. Could it be the low PH did something to the filter? I have a Haward DE3620 filter (it's a large barrel type, with the fingers inside). Could they be clogged and not clearing when I backwash? Thanks again for your help.

[aylad]

There are many, many reasons why the water could turn cloudy, the sheer amount of Borax you've had to add to fix the pH problem being one of them....but another very common reason for cloudiness is impending algae bloom--have you consistently kept your Cl above 3 ppm, which is the absolute minimum for a CYA of 40? It's been awhile since you posted current testing numbers, if you would post a set of new ones, I'm sure we could help you figure it out.

Janet

[joecus]

Good morning all, well I kept the filter running all night. The pool water is clear but a green residue has settled on the bottom, mostly in the corners. It's coming up when I vacuum at a unsustainable slow pace. If I move at a normal pace, the dirt (or algae) floats up and clouds that area. I do have the Phantom, but that will kick everything up. Maybe that's the way to go? Any idea what could have happened? Yesterday, all the levels were in the "ok" range, including CL. It looks like plain green algae that settled in the corners. Would that make sense, algae in just the corners? Maybe the sheer amount of Borax, that's when the cloudiness started? Thanks for your help.

[CarlD]

Algae starts first in corners and angles between the walls and the floor--any place where the water doesn't circulate as well (inside drop-in steps is another incubator for algae).

[joecus]

OK, then it's algae. Best way to solve? All my chemicals are in normal range. Should I over shock it? I'm using bleach, is that ok? I will keep filter running of course.

[Watermom]

You should probably go ahead and post current water testing results.