Fed up with green pool water, taking drastic measures?
I’ve had my 5000 gallon metal frame pool for 3 weeks now. It took 8 days to fill the pool with water from my well. The water turned a nauseating color of brown. After tons of chlorine, many shock treatments, and 2 bottles of algaecide, the water is green. I’ve shocked again, added chlorine directly into the filter cartridge, and added another bottle of algaecide. Still green. Pool supply store tested water. It’s safe to swim. Didn’t really suggest doing anything different than what I have been doing. Tomorrow I will be buying 2 big tubs of oxyclean and tomorrow night before it gets too dark I’m going to dump them in. If anyone has ever done this please let me know.
Update. I poured a big tub of Oxiclean in the water last night. It immediately turned a cloudy white. I swished it around and let the pump run for about 5 minutes. White foam covered the pool. Then I turned off the pump and went to sleep. This morning the water seems clearer. I turned the pump back on and there is no foam. I haven’t taken any readings yet. I really hope this worked and I’m not going to burn my skin off when I get in it.
You’ve got mineral problems! Ours turns chocolate brown every start up from the new water and chlorine. The chlorine causes the iron in the water to precipitate out, that is become free. The best answer is the filter. It takes us 36 hours of continual filtering (thru the night, yes) to clear it up. Even then a lot falls to the bottom and must be vacuumed up.
I’ve tried mineral out stuff, etc but find for the smaller pools like 5,000 gallons, you best bet is keeping the chlorine level just right and filtering often, vacuum often. The more chemicals I used, the worse my problems.
I no longer take the alkalinity reading since it’s off the charts,pH runs a bit acidic—6.8 or even down to 6.5……too low according to the manuals. I let my eyes and feet tell me what’s going on. Eyes for color, feet and hands to feel the walls and bottom for "slimy" which means more filtering/vacuuming/ and a splash more chlorine for a while.
Good thing about the browns, they are just a start up problem. Once your pool has the excess iron out, you probably won’t have the problem again all year as you won’t be adding that much water at one time.
Try filtering more, vacuuming more before you dump more stuff in. Take those chlorine and pH readings daily to get a feeling for what your pool does. Each one is a little different.
I have no answer… I’m sorry! I just don’t know about this all that much. But GOSH! That IS some pesky algae you’ve got there!
maybe clarifier and usable chlorine.im new to, but 2nd yr.run the filter often if not constant.if you have a cartridge filter, buy a couple replacements and change em out when the flow slows.then clean em in soapy water, let em dry and blow out with compressed air, thatll help, worked kinda with my above ground pool.