Stubborn Algae & Green Pool that just wont go away

by Ezra
(Texas)

Stubborn Algae & Green Pool that just wont go away!

My Question Or Comment: Hi there, so i've just set up my pool about 2 months ago, its a 16 ft. by 48 in. 6,000 gallon pool.

So here in El Paso we've suddenly been experiencing a absolute ton of rain. We never experience rain like this, nor have I ever owned a pool before so you understand the confusion I had as to why my pool turned completely green within a matter of days. Beforehand I was keeping up the pool, shocking it once a week, replacing the chlorine tablets, vacuuming, cleaning it, and swimming everyday. But then suddenly the rain began, it rained over here at least once a day every day for about 2-3 weeks. I admit I began to sort of let the pool go seeing as that the constant rain was creating a battle to even just go see how the pool was doing.

By the time the rain stopped the pool turned completely green, so of course I responded the only way I knew how to & I cleaned the filter, scrubbed the walls, floors, etc, and I shocked in the evening w/ 1lb of granular shock directly into the skimmer (as i read is what your supposed to do?).
When I woke the next day, there was absolutely no change. In fact the only thing that seemed to happen was that the already green pool just become cloudier. So that day repeated what I had done before in hopes that maybe it would work.

I rinsed the cartridge filter, scrubbed & vacuumed the pool, and shocked it (the same way I had done before) in the evening. Again, absolutely no change! So I did some more research this time and found that people were saying to shock it 3 times the normal amount, mix the granular shock in a bucket and pour around the perimeter of the pool & run the pump. So, I did just that last night, I went through the whole process of cleaning, rinsing the cartridge, pouring the shock (3lbs). And again nothing happened. Im very confused as to why nothing happens, and I've read articles, watched videos, read forums, and still I cant figure out whats going on...

So i'm emailing you today in hopes you can help save my pool? I've rinses out the cartridge once again, I took chemical readings, and I saw something on one of your forums about using unscented household bleach to keep the chlorine up, so I poured about half a gallon in the skimmer/filter? And here are the readings I got:
Free Chlorine: 10/20
pH: 7.2
Total Alkalinity: 40
Total Hardness: 200
Cyanuric Acid: 150

I can use all the help I can get, I really do hope you respond. Everyone keeps telling me to drain the pool, but I know its unnessesary & and more expensive than just cleaning the pool. Im running out of ideas here and money. Please help!!!!

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Hi Ezra. Many things going on with your green water and the process cannot be included with a simple email.

Even the best test kit cannot read past 100 ppm CYA. Maybe up to 120, but that's it. Your CYA is much too high for your FC to be effective. The proper CYA range is 30 - 50 ppm so the people who are telling you to do a 2/3 drain and refill are correct. If you just filled your pool 2 months ago and already have a CYA of 150 ppm I can safely assume you've been using stabilized chlorine all this time or perhaps overusing chlorine tabs.

Shocking a pool is a process, not a product. What you've been using is simply chlorine, either stabilized or unstabilized.

The people who say to "shock it" up to 3 - 4 times the normal level simply don't understand the process. There is a guy who says to do that, how to "properly shock a pool". But if you look at his videos, or really lack of videos, he doesn't have evidence that process actually works. It sounds good and he's camera ready with a great personality, but that's it.

It's also dangerous to do that on a consistent basis. You run the risk of bleaching the liner. If you've seen my videos on YouTube and my site, I don't do that, but I get perfect results each time.

You need a good Taylor K-2006 test kit. If you're using guess trips, get rid of them.

There could be several reasons for green pools such as bad or wrong pool chemistry, faulty filtration system, adding too many or too few chemicals, not chlorinating correctly and/or inconsistent chlorination, onset of algae, etc...

Due to this fact, I have several resources available such as eBooks that go into these details, how to fix your issues, and how to properly maintain a pool. I also have a brand new video series that teaches you all you need to know about clearing up and maintaining your swimming pool. The process of clearing up pools has never failed me and others that have used it. It's not my opinion that clears up pools. It's an understanding of pool chemistry and your filtration system. And it's a process you can duplicate because you'll have an understanding of what's going on.

Robert