The only thing that kills algae is CHLORINE (or your sanitizing product, or one of the copper-based algaecides on the market). 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. RUN THE FILTER 24 HOURS A DAY.
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.
Pools can immediately turn green after shocking when they have metals like copper in the water. These metals oxidise when exposed to high levels of chlorine which makes the pool water turn green. Adding a metal control product such as Zodiac Metal Remover will help to restore the pool water.
Green algae, unlike its black counterpart, is a true algae; it isn't resistant to chlorine, so you can control it by shocking the pool. If you don't want to spend a lot of money on expensive pool chemicals, you can shock with household bleach.
The use of baking soda in pools can spot treat algae
No one ever wants to see algae build up in their swimming pool. It can turn any backyard pool murky green or cause unsightly black spots on the walls and floor of any swimming pool.
Light Green or Teal Pool Water:
This means there's a low amount of algae in your water and you won't have to use a hefty amount of chlorine shock. In this case, you should double shock your swimming pool water. To double shock, you will need to add 2 pounds for every 10,000 gallons of water.
Is it Safe to Swim in a Green Water Pool? Short answer – it depends. Lakes contain a full ecosystem, complete with aquatic life that feeds on bacteria and toxins. This makes swimming in green water in nature safe.
When the levels are properly balanced, chlorine will keep the algae at bay, but the water will slowly begin to turn green as the algae take over if there's not enough. But be careful—adding too much chlorine in pool water can cause those metals to oxidize and turn the pool a different shade of green.
Clorox itself recommends using between 100 and 200 ounces of regular-strength bleach per 10,000 gallons of pool water -- one gallon is 128 ounces, and many bottles of bleach are available in one-gallon or half-gallon sizes. Pool professionals tend to recommend more conservative amounts of bleach.
After five to seven days, you can add algaecide to complete the cleaning process. Algaecide will work with the chlorine or oxidizer to kill and prevent white water mold from returning.
Should I drain my pool to get rid of algae? Yes, you can because it saves time and money, but only if you do it properly. Use the main drain in your pool and drain water through the filter pump. Or rent or borrow the pump, place the hose down the street or storm drain, and drain.
Some of the best natural homemade pool clarifiers include baking soda solution, bleach, white vinegar, lemon juice, rubbing alcohol and borax. Compared to commercial chemical clarifiers natural ones have enzymes that break down the dirt in the water making it easy and cheap to filter them out.
Using Bleach as a Shock
You need to use less of such products per volume than you do if you simply add chlorine, and if you opt for chlorine alone, you need more bleach than you do pool chlorine. Bleach contains the same chemical -- sodium hypochlorite -- as pool chlorine, but the concentrations are different.
It's not a good idea to use pool shock at the same time as clarifier. Some clarifiers are polymer based and the shock can act to break up the polymer causing the clarifier to be ineffective. It's best to shock your pool before and wait a day or two before adding clarifier.
To kill green algae, add a chlorine-based shock to the pool. Give the pool a thorough brushing and run your filter to remove the dead algae from the water. After you've killed the algae, you'll need to add a clarifying product (flocculant) that will cause the skeletal remains to sink to the bottom.
Use a vacuum or backwash the pool to remove the dead algae. Apply a mustard algaecide following the label directions. Allow the water to circulate for 24 hours. Use a pool vacuum or backwash the pool again to remove the remaining dead algae.
What happens if too much shock is added? You cannot overshock a swimming pool or add too much. Adding too much shock or overshocking your pool will kill off algae. The negative of adding too much shock is it will upset the chemical balance of your pool.
The presence of too much algaecide can lead to a foamy pool water. Small bubbles will begin to be produced as the water is pushed through the return jet and back into the pool. Do not confuse these bubbles and foam with another common problem, which is air in your pool lines.