It is best to wait 30 minutes after adding it to your pool. We recommend waiting at least 15 minutes to swim after adding algaecide to your swimming pool. Most algaecides are perfectly safe to swim with. It is not recommended to swim with flocculent in your pool as it will reduce its effectiveness.
Now is the time to add Pool Clarifier and let it circulate for 12 hours. This will clump the algae together into vaccumable pieces. Shut your pump off and let the cloudiness settle. This may take up to a few days for very cloudy pools.
Swimmers inside a pool that has too much algaecide will witness an onset of eye and skin irritations. Other water chemistry imbalances can lead to eye irritation as well, including too much chlorine or unstable pH and alkalinity levels.
It's important to know that using pool shock and algaecide together can create bad chemical reactions if you don't take the necessary precautions. Your chlorine levels won't return to normal right after you shock your pool anyway, so we recommend waiting at least 24 hours to add algaecide.
Regular algaecides do not contain copper, but rather quaternary ammonium compounds, also known as "quats" or "polyquats." These compounds are safe for immediate swimming. Use of too much algaecide may cause slight eye or skin irritation, so always be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions.
There are a few different types of algaecides that contain various chemicals to suppress and fight off algae. Many of them include copper or copper sulfate. It's this copper that oxidizes in the water. And when copper oxidizes it turns a green color causing your pool to look green.
If you add algaecide, keep in mind that some algaecide contains copper, which can actually make a pool cloudy. If the cloudiness persists 24 hours after shocking, then it's possible that you used a poor-quality chlorine shock.
While shocking and adding algaecide is effective in getting rid of algae, it should not be done together. This is because when you mix chlorine and algaecide together, it renders both of them useless. Hence, you should first shock the pool and wait for the chlorine levels to fall below 5 PPM.
Add a dose of algaecide, bring your chlorine level high by shocking, and run the filter continuously until the problem clears. The next day you should vacuum up the dead algae and backwash your filter. Algae thrives in hot weather and in pools with low or no chlorine.
Algaecide should be added to your pool water on a weekly basis. Preventing algae is the key to fun in your pool. Algaecides act as a backup to your normal sanitization program and prevent algae from starting and growing in the pool. Algaecide should be added after every shock treatment.
As for your foaming, it will dissipate over time as the algaecide will slowly break down from chlorine. You can shock the pool with higher chlorine levels if you want to get rid of it faster, but this is not necessary as it will go away probably in about a week (two at the most).
Algae can be very slippery, causing swimmers to fall resulting in bumps, bruises, cuts and even broken bones. Don't try to swim in a pool that's full of algae. Besides causing injuries, an algae infested pool creates a higher risk of drowning for those who are not expert swimmers or those who fall unconscious.
When closing and winterizing your pool, it is important to remember to balance your pool water's chemistry prior to closing and don't forget the algaecide. Algaecide is simple and effective with one quart of winter algaecide typically enough to treat 20,000 gallons of water all winter long.
So unless you're dealing with mustard algae or black algae, leave the algaecide on the shelf and get ready to shock the heck out of your pool. But when dealing with regular ol' green pool algae, chlorine is your best bet to kill it dead.
Algaecides. While algaecides are pretty shelf-stable and will be viable for up to five years, we only recommend getting enough to cover you for a season and a little bit for the off season.
Add Algaecide After Shocking
Wait for the pH to fall to a safe level for swimming (3 ppm or below) and then add a product such as Pool Time Algicide + Clarifier in the amount recommended in the product instructions. Pour this incrementally into the water as you walk around the pool.
You can get rid of algae quickly by vacuuming and brushing your pool, balancing your pool's water chemistry, and then shocking and filtering your pool water. Just be thorough as you clean your pool surfaces. If you leave behind even a small number of algae spores, it won't be long before they regrow and bloom again.
After Shocking Your Pool
It is safe to swim once your chlorine levels are around 5 ppm or after 24 hours. It is always best to test first!
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.
After the hose fills with water, backwash your sand filter for 2 - 3 minutes, or until water runs clear. Shut off the pump motor and push the T-handle back down into locked position. Turn your pump back on and note the lower pressure.
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.
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.
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. It's likely to do that regardless of if you overshocked the pool or not.
One final note on algaecide: Contact algaecide is different from liquid algaecide. Many liquid algaecides don't work in cold water, and we don't recommend using them even in the warm months.