How to clean an above ground pool after 2 seasons of non use

[12ofus]

Okay- I think we've gotten the algae killed. It took about 10 gallons of bleach to get it to this milky, slightly green color. The first 6 gallons only helped for a short time and the pool turned deep, deep green again. I got aggressive and added more. My test strips and bottles are showing high chlorine and bromine. The ph is good, though. The were a lot of little specks of critters floating in the floating in the sample jar, but those are gone, too. I appreciate the help. I'm not stupid, but I'm used to taking a sample to the pool store and having them analyze it and sell me chemicals for three times the walmart price. I'd like to learn how to do this myself.

[Watermom]

Continue to keep the chlorine high and run your pump 24/7 while you are trying to clear it. It takes awhile for the filter to do its job.

You can definitely learn to do this on your own. Most importantly, get the kit I suggested in my previous post. Do a lot of reading here on the forum, especially the stickied threads at the top of the subsections. Also, read on our sister website www.poolsolutions.com. It's not as complicated as you might think. We'll be here to help with any questions!

By the way, you can ignore the bromine side of your tester. You have a chlorine pool.

[PoolDoc]

Okay- I think we've gotten the algae killed. It took about 10 gallons of bleach to get it to this milky, slightly green color.

"milky, slightly green color" = dying, not dead algae. Maintain a DARK yellow test result with OTO drops until pool is cloudy gray or blue, with no green.

[12ofus]

Do I need to backwash often? What do I do when the water is cloudy blue or gray?

[PoolDoc]

Like always: backwash on a pressure increase. For most filters 3 - 6 psi increase works out well.

[Watermom]

Yes, backwash whenever the filter pressure increases by 8-10psi over clean filter pressure. And, when you get to the point where you have cloudy blue or gray (dead algae), you continue to keep high chlorine levels and run the pump 24/7.

[12ofus]

My water is now just cloudy and slightly bluish gray. You can see your foot on the bottom through the cloudiness. Our ph level is starting to drop slightly. What can we do to clear the water? The pressure gauge is broken on our pump, so it always reads "0". We have been backwashing whenever the water coming back into the pool isn't as forceful.

[Watermom]

You need to buy a new pressure gauge. They are cheap. Keep the chlorine levels up and keep filtering. It takes P.O.P.--- Pool Owner Patience.

[PoolDoc]

We have been backwashing whenever the water coming back into the pool isn't as forceful.

That's reasonable.

But there's no 'quick' way to clean up dead algae in a typical AG pool, because their filters are too small. They manage OK so long nothing is wrong, but not so well for clean up. Where you have 2 seasons worth of swamp, I'd allow 2 weeks for clean up.

[12ofus]

I'm new to forums and how to navigate around them, so I just found and read PoolDoc's reply. We knew it wouldn't be a quick fix, I just want to be sure I'm doing the right thing. We have spent over $200 on bleach (Walmart) and I'm keeping the chlorine in the bright yellow/orange range.We also went ahead bought a small bucket of chlorine tablets and we're keeping one in the basket. We figured we'll need them anyway and maybe that would help keep the chlorine level up while we go buy more bleach. The ph side of the tester is nearly clear. I cannot afford the expensive test right now. Do we keep adding bleach every day like this until it's clear? Does it matter about the ph right now? In my first post watermom said to load up on borax as well. When will I use that? My kids ask me a hundred times a day about the pool and I don't really know myself what to tell them. I really appreciate y'all answering my questions. We're trying to be hopeful our pool will be okay eventually.