My pool water is green & cloudy

[Mr. Bill]

Hi All, Here's the deal. 2 weeks ago, we went away for hte weekend. Floating chlorinator ran out of tabs, came home to an algae bloom.

For the last 10 days I have shocked almost evry night (probably 8 times) used 2 different algaecides (1 chlorine, 1 copper based) and the filter has run almost non stop (I've also cleaned it every other day).

The algae is somewhat subsiding, but the water clarity stinks.

Other factors, Air temps have been in the 80's/90's water 76-79F. pH

7.4-7.6, chlorine off the chart (duh!) pool capacity 25,000 gals.

I have had algae and clarity problems in the past but never this severe.

What do I need to do?

[ronm]

I've had this problem before. Once you think you've killed off the algae and just need to clear the water add a flocculent (sp?) . I use "clear aid" alum. Put in in with pump off, let sit for a day, then vacuum slowly, set to drain. Probabley have to vacuum again the next day too because you can't help but stir it up some. . Works great tho.

[Richard J Kinch]

What's the pH?

[RB]

Algae require phosphorous to live. If you add lanthanum carbonate to your pool it will bind up the phosphorous and make it unavailable to the algae so the algae dies.

When I lived in Texas we had ample phosphorous added to our pool every time the west Texas winds brought part of Midland and Lubbock east to us.

Leslie's sold a product called No-Phos which was a slurry of water and lanthanum carbonate. They now have a new, re-branded product which is essentially the same but I don't recall what it is called.

I was able to run my pool for a year with no chlorine, bromine or any other halogen and have no algae in it. You still will want some (albeit small amount of) chlorine to disinfect because of other organisms but there is no longer any reason to use large amounts of chlorine to control algae.

RB

Mr. Bill wrote:

[Larry B]

Sounds like you are doing the right stuff. Have you considered using a Polyquat60 algecide? Non-toxic with none of the metal based deposition/hair issues.

There is a site called Poolsolutions and I followed their guidelines with my great faux paux and it cleaned up great. The basic link for info is:

. Join the forum. Nothing but constructive assistance. The emergency disaster info I was given was:

"You can maintain normal high chlorine (near 3 ppm), and add double doses of

60% polyquat every 4 days, till it clears. Again, you should brush every couple of days. You may get a bit of cloudiness for 24 hours after adding a high dose of polyquat." My filter let some of the dead algae "dust" get through so I sucked it out off the bottom of the pool every week or so. Clarifier could not handle that. With the high quat levels, it died and never came back. Quat has no toxic level but it does diminish over time. It sounds like you know what you are doing. . Hope that helps a little. Good luck. LarryB

[Richard J Kinch]

Except to the wallet, $70/gal.

[Larry B]

True, but a gallon is a size that a pool maintenance contractor would need. A little goes a long way with this stuff. I read that a quart is not too costly at Walmart.

I forgot to mention that if he is using tabs that CYA could have accumulated, its level could be hi and may necessitate higher than normal free chlorine levels to be effective.

[Pop Rivet]

Go to a pool site - shocking won't work, there are some unintuitive things to get it back. It involves forcing PH WAAYYY off the scale and then bring it back. Get the info from a pool dealer - most online sites have the info.

Pop\

hte weekend.

algae bloom.

(probably 8

based) and

every other

stinks.

76-79F. pH

25,000 gals.

never this

[Bill]

Did you pour 16 ounces of algaecide in the pool and brush all the algae on the sides and bottom to loosen it up and get it "suspended" in the pool water so if would circulate through the filter. I would not put any more chlorine in it for a week or so. How is your pump "circulating"? Is the water coming out the return in the pool with a "strong flow rate" or is it "slower than usual"? Have you backwashed your filter? In the spring when you are first opening a pool that has been neglected for a while, you have to backwash almost daily for a while before you get the water cleaned up good!

Do you have Leslie's Pool Supply in your town? They will analyze your water for free. Check em out...

Regards, Bill

[Richard J Kinch]

Not at 32 oz doses for remediation.