If your pool is green and cloudy, it's likely an algae problem. Algae can persist in a pool even after shocking. A green pool – especially one that turned green overnight or after rain, can also be from a pool pump that isn't properly circulating water or an issue with your filtering system.
Wind and rain also carry contaminants that affect the chemical levels in your pool, making an algae infestation more likely. Regularly clean your pool to keep dirt and debris from gathering at the bottom of your pool. The use of algaecides can prevent algae growth.
Throwing Off Your Pool's Chemical Balance
If we're talking about a particularly heavy downpour or even a few days of intermittent rain, the chemical balance in your pool could be thrown out of whack. For example, if a heavy rainstorm kicks phosphate levels up too high, you could end up with cloudy or green pool water.
After a hard rain or stormy weather, it's important to shock your pool with a chlorinated shock, such as Leslie's Power Powder Plus or Leslie's Chlor Brite.
Heavy rains will deplete many of the chemistry levels in your pool. Generally your alkalinity will drop significantly. It is a good idea to have Alkalinity, Muriatic Acid, Chlorine (or Salt), and Shock on hand to be able to test your water and treat your pool immediately after the rain stops.
Rainfall dilutes pool chemistry levels and lowers the readings for pH, alkalinity, hardness, stabilizer, and chlorine. Rainfall does not contain chlorine.
No matter how badly you'd like to cool off, if your pool water is green due to algae growth, you may want to reconsider diving in. Green algae welcome the growth of bacteria like E. Coli. By choosing to swim in a pool with algae, you run the risk of developing a rash, infection, or illness.
Double or Triple Shock the Pool
This process involves adding chemicals to the water in order to keep it balanced and raise the free chlorine levels. When working against a green algae problem, a double or triple dose is necessary. The increase in chemicals will kill algae and bacteria.
Can you over shock a green pool? No. The more chlorine shock you add to a green pool, the better chance it has to kill off all the algae. Follow the normal shock treatment based on the size of your pool and you can double, triple, or quadruple the dose to kill algae.
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.
Green pool water is often caused by the presence of algae in your pool. Algae blooms can appear when your pool has a low Free Chlorine. Exposure to high heat, heavy rain or poor circulation, without the use of a preventative algaecide, also increase your risk of developing pool algae.
Lightning flashes create nitrogen in the atmosphere which then gets washed into the swimming pool with rain water. This can make your pool green for the following reasons: Nitrogen turns into a total dissolved solid which creates bacteria in the water.
You can expect a heavy rain to introduce lots of organic matter and algae spores to your pool. The main time to deal with the mess is after the storm has passed. However, it's not a bad idea to pretreat your pool water. Adding some algicide to your pool water will help you get out ahead of the algae.
Adding shock to your pool super-chlorinates your water. And this extra dose of sanitizer will kill algae growth. The more serious your pool algae problem, the more shock you'll need. We recommend using calcium hypochlorite shock, or cal-hypo shock, as an effective algae treatment.
Does baking soda kill algae in pools? Only algaecides can "kill" algae in pool water. However, baking soda can help clear up algae. Use both so you can restore sparkly, clean water!
Shock the pool with chlorine every day until all the green is gone (possibly 3 to 4 days). 2. Run the filter 24 hours a day and backwash every day until the green and then cloudiness is gone (usually up to 7 days, sometimes as long as 2 weeks depending on the filter). 3.
Green or Dark Green Pool Water:
This means there's a medium amount of algae in your water and you'll need to triple shock your pool. Triple shocking requires 3 pounds for every 10,000 gallons of pool water.
If the pH is high, your chlorine is slow to react, and algae can begin to form, making the pool appear green or cloudy. If the pH is low, the chlorine will be “hyperactive”, reacting quickly, and dissipating out of the pool too rapidly, causing a low chlorine residual.
Green algae, which are a common sight in unmaintained swimming pools, aren't harmful. However, the bacteria that feed on the algae can present a health risk to humans. Green algae exposure can mean bacteria exposure, leading to rashes and various breaks on human skin.
It may surprise you to learn that algaecide isn't a magic bullet for getting rid of algae in your pool. In fact, algaecide is more effective as a preventive measure than a treatment. Don't get us wrong—it still helps as an algae treatment, just not in the way you might think.
In addition to debris being blown into the water by the wind, the rainstorm can dilute the previously in-balance chemicals, impacting your pool water's pH and alkalinity.
Pool Overflowing From Rain
Rain, by itself, usually wouldn't harm your pool. However, as rain falls, it deposits pollen and other particles in the air onto the ground and into your pool. Any runoff into your pool will also contain contaminants, which can quickly turn your relaxing, beautiful oasis into a mess.
The first and most obvious way that rain affects your pool/spa water is that extra water will raise the level of water in the pool. It is important to inspect the water level after a heavy rain and make sure it hasn't gone above the skimmer. If the water level is too high, drain as needed to get back to normal.