Use a filter cleaner, or change the sand or cartridge if it's not been done in many years. Use clarifier to help coagulate suspended particles or use flocculant to drop particles to the bottom. Fill the pool high with water and vacuum the pool to waste, by setting a multiport filter valve to waste (sand or DE filters).
Recovering Pool Water
Adjust the pH levels as well as the water hardness. Use pool shock until the dark green water turns blue-grey. Make sure the filter is running throughout until the water becomes clear. Use a clarifier and flocculant to coagulate and drop particles to the bottom of the pool.
For a severely neglected swimming pool, the best way to clean it is to drain all the water, sanitize the pool shell to kill the algae, and refill the pool. However, about the only type of swimming pool that can be completely drained safely is a gunite pool.
Depending on the type of surface in your pool, you can use a brush to scrap it clean with or without water in it. If the pool has a soft vinyl liner, you will use a rubber or nylon brush to keep it clean. If the pool has a concrete floor and walls, a stiff and course brush will do the trick.
If your pool is very dirty, it may need MANY gallons of liquid chlorine (shock) over a period of days before the water clears. Start off by adding 3 or 4 gallons, and if you see no results overnight, add 3 or 4 more gallons the next day.
If your pool is looking brown, and murky, try adding a Flocculant such as the Vitalyse Fast Floc. Perfect to use after rainstorms this concentrated formula binds dirt and mud particles together and drops them to the bottom of the pool floor where they can easily be vacuumed.
Use a filter cleaner, or change the sand or cartridge if it's not been done in many years. Use clarifier to help coagulate suspended particles or use flocculant to drop particles to the bottom. Fill the pool high with water and vacuum the pool to waste, by setting a multiport filter valve to waste (sand or DE filters).
If dirt is reappearing at the bottom of your swimming pool after you've vacuumed it your pool's filter may be working poorly. Pool filters often work poorly because they're in need of cleaning. If you have a sand filter for your pool you need to make sure that the sand is sharp and freshened up.
Brush the walls every week during swimming season while the pump is turned off. A vacuum removes the debris that collects on the bottom. Vacuuming requires moving the vacuum head over the debris on the bottom of the pool until the bottom appears clean.
In an average sized inground pool, we would recommend 10 to 20 gallons of Liquid Shock. Liquid Shock in 5 gallon containers is the cheapest way to purchase Shock. One gallon of inexpensive algaecide may also be added. This should help kill whatever algae was living in your pool.
Baking Soda and Green, Blue, or Yellow Algae
You'll need to use an algaecide to kill the algae and superchlorinate your pool to clear the water. After this treatment, test your pH and alkalinity and add baking soda to raise alkalinity to at least 100 ppm and pH to between 7.2 and 7.8.
But did you know there's an easy way to reuse the water that's already in the pool? All you have to do is recycle it! Meet reverse osmosis — the best way to purify your swimming pool water. It works by pushing the existing water through semipermeable membranes that hold off any impurities, particles, and buildup.
First, if the draining is done at the wrong time or under the wrong conditions, you can actually risk damaging your pool structure and liner. All the water from your pool needs to go somewhere when it's drained, and that usually means the ground.
Ideally, your pool's chemistry should remain as balanced as possible throughout the winter. Keeping everything balanced is easily accomplished by testing the water at least once per week. There's a low chance that you'll need to add chlorine as long as the pool isn't being used and there is no water circulation.
You need to raise the level of your chlorine – shock the pool – and maintain that high level until all the algae is dead. This may take 3 to 4 days.
Using Fill Water From a Well
Wells are commonly known to be one of the greatest sources of metals in a swimming pool, especially copper and iron. Iron reacts with chlorine to form iron III chloride, which is reddish in color. This is why your pool may turn to brown or rusty color when chlorine is added.
Pool water turns green because of algae in the water. Algae can grow rapidly, particularly when it's warm like Summer, which is why it can surprise you overnight. This generally comes down to an imbalance or lack of chlorine in the water.