Have the pool guy do a complete test using the Taylor K-2006 kit. This tests for chlorine, combined chlorine, pH, alk, hardness, and stabilizer (CYA).
I have never heard of adding two combinations of sand. Most sand filters use #20 silica sand, and that's it. You can add a pound or two of DE. This does help capture smaller particles. I have only used this kind of sand in all the sand filters on my route and at the Y.
If you have the right kind and amount of sand the water won't go green. I have no idea where he's getting this from. Older, clogged, or not enough sand can be a contributing factor, but not the only one.
The pool is rejecting the chlorine because of the sand? That's a new one. Have him check the CYA.
Copper sulphate is probably an algaecide he's using. Tell him to not do it. It's a cheap algaecide and you're adding metals to the water. If anything, use a PolyQuat 60. If you can't get tot he pool store to test for metals, try a Taylor’s Metal Test Kits for Pools & Spas.
He can't put in soda ash to increase the pH, then use a pH reducer. What's the point? Soda ash increases the pH without much happening to the alk.
Chlorine granules, or probably calcium hypochlorite, has a pH of 12. So, he's going to add soda ash to increase the pH, then pH reducer to reduce the pH, the cal hypo will increase it. You're also adding hardness to the water. If you don't know what the hardness is don't allow him to use cal hypo. If anything use liquid chlorine.
It's difficult to go into alot of detail in an email. I'll offer this to you. I do consultations over the phone for a small donation. This way we can cover alot more ground in a shorter amount of time.
Is he charging you for the chemicals?
You can go to my site. On the Navbar at the top is a donate button through Paypal. You can put a message, your phone number, and the best time to call. If you're in Canada you'll need to call me. It's about $1 per minute on my cell phone. I don't charge a flat fee, just what people think it's worth.
www.clean-pool-and-spa
We can also do a conference call with the three of us or put me on speaker phone with him there. This way you'll get both sides. I can't guarantee I can be available for you through email.
Mar 03, 2014 Rating
Algae Treatment For Pool by: Shelly
We don't have a proper pool place that I can go and get a full analysis. Anyways yesterday I was talking to a pool guy and he said that the pool filter have silica sand alone.
You have to get 2 or more sand combine with that or else the pool will always get green at least once a month. The reason why the pool water gets green is because when you add the chlorine to the pool then it washes the dirt with the sand and then it goes in the pool that’s when the water starts getting cloudy.
Then the dirt combine with the chlorine have nowhere to go but stay in the pool and that’s when the pool water starts getting green. The pool water is rejecting the chlorine. The pool guy is advising we add water to the pool to dilute the chemical and then start from the beginning.
He will add copper sulphate, soda ash, PH reducer and chlorine granules and get it balance but he is not going to give us guarantee that the pool water will not turn green again because of the sand that we have in the pool. I would like to know your opinion about this.
Mar 03, 2014 Rating
Pool Algae Treatment by: Robert
Thanks for the readings. I need a bit more than that. I'll explain. The alkalinity, calcium hardness and cyanuric acid (CYA/stabilizer) are all important as well. If the CYA is too high, above 90ppm or too low, below 20ppm, it can render your chlorine inactive. This is why it's called pool water balancing. All the chemicals need to be in line for everything to work properly.
If the alk is off it can cause the pH to go up and down which is called "pH bounce". Many times the CYA is too high which again makes the chlorine much less effective in killing organic matter and bacteria. The only way to remedy this is to do a partial drain and refill then rebalance the chems.
If the CYA is too low you need to shock with Dichlor. This is a stabilized form of chlorine.
As you can see a green pool is simply not a green pool. It can go green for many different reasons and the chem readings will show the proper course of action to take.
If you can I'd encourage you to take a sample of pool water to your local pool store for analysis and get a full chem rundown then email back with the results. If you continue to add algaecide, which should ONLY be a Polyquat 60, and shock you could be literally flushing money down the drain.
Pool stores are more than happy to sell $400 - $500 worth of product and in the end the pool owner must drain the refill due to the CYA being too high. That's alot of money wasted. Most of the time the guys at the pool stores are not real pool guys like me. They're pool store employees who never have cleared up a pool in their lives. They may get 2 - 3 days of orientation then get put on the floor to help customers. I've been doing this since 1999. I had a route in AZ and was the pool operator for the Y for 3 years.
I'm making a series of videos that you can find on Youtuve:
There's lots of good info about chemicals and their ranges.
Get back to me with the rest of the readings and we'll go from there.
Mar 03, 2014 Rating
Algae Treatment by: Shelley
Thanks for getting back to me. I really appreciate it.
The last test was done on Friday 10th January 2014 and it includes the following:
Chlorine: 0.2 Bromine: 0.5 PH level: 7.8
On Thursday 9th January 2014, 32oz of algaecide treatment was added to the pool. The last time chlorine granules was added to the pool was around Monday 30th December 2014 and that was when we noticed the water was cloudy and then over the weekend it turned green.
We came to the conclusion that the pool became cloudy because of too much chlorine so we didn't add chlorine granules back to the pool as yet. We are unsure as what to do.