Green Pool - How to Fix It?

Do you have a green pool? Once a swimming pool turns green it can be a pain to get it back to that beautiful blue of yesterday.

There are general three types of algae that will give you a green pool. You may encounter green algae (surprised?), yellow-algae, or brown algae. We'll come back to these types in a bit, but all three types can take hold quickly and leave you with a mess.

Besides, you were doing an ok job at looking after your swimming pool. You went on vacation for a week or maybe just forgot to look at the pool recently. Regardless, you now have a green pool on your hands.

Here's the overview on how to turn it back to blue:

1. Get your pool chemistry right
2. Backwash or clean your filter
3. Determine the type of algae you have
4. Add the proper type of algaecide and lots of Chlorine or shock
5. Scrub the floor and walls then Vacuum the entire pool
6. Run the pump and filter for 24 hours

So that's the overview. It sounds so simple, but you will find that even this simple recipe may find you sweating, confused, and ready to jump into that pool loaded with chemicals.

So you must be willing to adapt based on what the green pool and algae throw at you.

Besides, once you have a green pool nature seems to want to keep it that way. You are growing a living thing. It has plenty of water and the sun just keeps feeding it. The problem is that it's just not the same living organism as the flower you want growing in your garden.

So you may try to skip all of the steps above and take the gorilla approach...that is dump a bunch of liquid chlorine, algaecide, and/or shock in the pool. Then hope for the best.

That may work. But only if you happen to have your pool chemistry correct before you started. Which brings us to that critical mind-opening moment...

You MUST get your pool chemistry correct before you will ever be able to get that algae to go away.

So outside of the gorilla (and pray) approach, without any question the first step is to check your pool chemistry. Do this before you even worry about which kind of algae may have taken over your pool.

And this isn't time to shave a few minutes off the testing effort. Take the time to do it right, and test every aspect. Make sure you know your alkalinity, your pH, your Chlorine, your cyanuric acid, and your Calcium.

Add the right chemicals, test often, and get it back in balance.

If you need help getting your pool chemistry back in balance don't hesitate to call your local pool supply store or a pool service professional.

Remember, once a pool is clean and sparkling it can be fairly easy to keep it that way if you're willing to put in the time and effort. But when the unexpected arises it may be best to ask for help.

Good luck keeping that algae out and the water blue...

 

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