Algae Will Not Die In My Pool
by Bryce Alexander
I have shocked the crap out of it and still can not get it to clear up, not even enough to vaccum the alage out. Is there anything that I am doing wrong? My pH is 7.4 to 7.6. My alkalinity is 110, and my stabalizer is 30. I have no metals in the water. I'm fixing to just put the cover back on it. I just replaced the sand in the filter as well. Can't figure this out. Please help. Thanks for the question Bryce Clearing up a green pool does take time a patience, and it's also important in how you do it. First I would recommend getting a Taylor FAS-DPD K-2006 pool test kit. It the one I've used since 1999 and most pool professional use. Water Testing Kit Pool Water Testing Your chemical readings seem to be fine. pH is good and alkalinity, although just a bit high, doesn't need to be adjusted. It's when you get into range of 130ppm and above should anything really be done about it. CYA is at 30ppm, which is good for a home pool with a chlorine level between 1.5 - 3.5ppm. You need to be sure that you're hitting the super chlorination mark, at minimum 10Xs above what you normally run the chlorine. You'll continue to have an algae problem without doing this. Whenever I've cleared up green pools for customers or even shocked the YMCA pool, I always go for more. When shocking, a little more is better than a little less. Sometimes I even hit 25ppm for a shock. This is when the chloramines got up there. What many people do is "shock" the pool, but don't take a chlorine reading afterward. They think they hit the mark, but they don't. Shock the pool at night and keep the filtration on. This is so the sun and heat won't eat up any chlorine. In the morning you'll have one complete turnover of the pool water. This is when you'll realize if you hit the shock point. And this is the part that most people fail to do. You may have only hit 8 - 9ppm. You can't shock the pool, then not test it, or test it after an hour. It needs a complete turnover, regardless of what anyone says. I've personally cleared up hundreds of green pools. Shock the pool with either liquid or granular chlorine. If you have hard fill water, use liquid. To get a good shock, 15ppm, you'll need at least 6 gallons of liquid chlorine for a 30,000 gallon pool. This is the tricky part. When you shock the pool, the algae will consume alot of the chlorine. This might cause the chlorine level to come down. When the algae is dying, it will turn a grayish/white color. You'll need to manually dose the pool to keep the chlorine level above 10ppm and allow the chlorine to do its job. If this isn't possible due to time, you can use a PolyQuat 60 algaecide during this process. It will give you a little more time and be a good backup against algae coming back. Use a large bucket filled with water. Add the chlorine, stir with a stick or PVC pipe, and walk it around the perimeter of the pool. Always add chemicals to water, never water to chemicals. And be sure you're wearing old clothes, rubber gloves and goggles. Be sure the sand filter is being backwashed once per day and brush the sides and floor the best you can. This will keep the algae in suspension and it will be filtered out more effectively. Once you're able, I'd suggest you vacuum to WASTE. This will bypass the filter so it won't get clogged up with more algae. But, keep the water level above the skimmer. With backwashing, you're going to be using more water than usual, so keep an eye on the water level. 1/3 - 1/2 from the skimmer is recommended. These are links to my green pool water pages: Swimming Pool Algae Green Pool Water Here's some other links about green pool water. Look these over as well: Shocked The Pool & Still Having Swimming Pool Algae Swimming Pool Algae Has Taken Over Our Pool....And Our Lives! Green Swimming Pool Water In Above Ground Pool..Algae..Shock Again, this will take time and patience, but you can do it and still have lots of fun this Summer. Hope this helps and have a fun and safe swimming season. Robert |
