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.
Pour the algaecide dose into the water, depositing it in several areas around the pool. Your swimming pool pump should be running at this time to help circulate the algaecide. Wait about 30 minutes before allowing anyone to swim after the algaecide application.
Run your pump overnight, or if possible, for 24 hours to clean all the debris from your pool water.
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.
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.
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.
Alkalinity Balance, pH up, pH down, Calcium Balance, Water Stabilizer, and clarifier are all swim-safe chemicals. Wait about 20 minutes, and you are free to swim. We suggest adding algaecide, Super Erace, and shock at night, after everyone is out of the pool.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Alkalinity Adjusting Chemicals for Pool Start Up
This should be the first chemical that you add to your pool during start-up. This one can really affect the pH level of your pool. Sorting this out first prevents you from ruining your hard work on your pool's pH level by doing it afterward.
If your water test shows you need more than the recommended level, you'll need to add the chemicals in stages. Wait at least six hours in between treatments. Alkalinity is the total alkaline material in your pool water. You should test alkalinity first because it will buffer pH.
Check Total Alkalinity (TA) first, then adjust for proper pH range. Proper TA will buffer pH, that is, it will help to prevent pH fluctuations. Use fresh, high quality test strips. Excessively high bromine or chlorine levels can result in false pH and TA readings.
pH Balance and Chlorine
Algaecides do not directly affect the pH balance in your pool, but too much algae will raise the pH level. By eliminating algae, the algaecide helps return pH levels to normal. Algaecide also works together with chlorine, helping the chlorine to be more effective against algae and bacteria.
Algaecides treat and prevent pool algae, but not all algaecides are created equal. To treat green pool water, ensure you select an algaecide that kills green pool algae. After treatment, some dead algae may remain in your pool. Continue to thoroughly brush your pool's surfaces often.
It's important to note that you should not try to vacuum green pool water until you have removed any and all organic debris using a pool net, and have added the proper chemicals to the water, and done proper brushing so that the green algae has visibly settled to the bottom of your swimming pool.
Chlorine combines with the algaecide ingredients and renders them useless. The best time to introduce an algaecide , which functions best as a preventative, is after you've shocked the pool and the chlorine level has fallen below 5 parts per million.
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.
A pool filter should be run for a minimum of 6 hours after shocking a swimming pool. This is to allow the filter to clean the water and give the shock enough time to fully mix with the pool water. Running the filter after shocking for 24 hours to 7 days is necessary if the pool has a large amount of algae.
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.