Why does my pool remain green after multiple shock treatments?

Anyone know?

 

Without starting a new thread, how often should I run the pool pump?

I noticed that my electricity bill was sky high because I left it running 24/7.

What is the LEAST that I can run it?

 

Many factors to tell you over the internet. How many gallons is the pool? How big is the filter? What kind of filter? Cartridge, DE, ? How many HP is the pump? How hot does it get where you live? Northern or southern exposure?

I have a small "spool" and is only about 10,000 gallons. I have a cartridge filter and a 1 1/2 HP pump. To take advantage of the lower electricity costs, I run my pump/filter from 0600 hours to about 0930 hours. It seems perfect to my southern exposure pool. For a large pool (as yours looks to be) I would guess 4-5 hours of run time in the summer, and 3-4 hours in the winter.

My advise is to get a pool guy over, pay him $50-$60 on a one time fee, and let him tell you if the water is old and needs to be replaced, and if your filter is running smooth. Or as advised above, take a sample to any pool supply business and they will test your water for free, and provide you very simple instructions on how to get it crystal clear.

BTW, I have a single (but large) cartridge filter. I need to clean it every 2-3 weeks to keep it running good. I just cleaned my filter this morning.

 

first, I see some sort of floating device to hold a chlorine tablet. that's worthless. It probably doesn't add enough chlorine to do much good. Many years ago, when I lived in miami, I had a pool that held 13,000 galons, I added 1 gallon of liquid chlorine every night and didn't shut off the pump until 2 hours had past. Adding the chlorine in the evening or at night let the chlorine work without having the sun weakening the chlorine I also turned on the pump/filter about 8 or 9 am, so it ran for about 12 to 14 hours each day Doing this, I never had an algae problem.
My suggestion to you is to add about 3 gallons of liquid pool chlorine at night and let the filter/pump run all night. The next day your pool will be sparkling.
One of the disadvantages of having a pool is that it will run up your elect. bill and chemicals aren't cheap. Also the maintenance is a pain in the a**, but that's the price you pay for having the luxury that a pool provides
Bite the bullet and use liquid pool chlorine (3/4 to 1 gal each night ), keep the pool water at a neutral PH and you wont have any more problems

 

How often do I need to add this to keep it clean?

What's the harm in letting the pool turn green if I can't afford the electric bill?

 

you could make it your own fishin' hole like bud says or you can swim in it and make some doctor and hospital rich.
A pool without circulation and with green water will breed all different kinds of bacteria ( including the flesh eating bacteria where you can see your skin start to rot,, but that might be kind of neat to watch ) and bugs.
I would start by adding the 3 gallons of chlorine to clean and purify the water, If that doesn't help add 5 gallons. If that still doesn't help, drain the pool and scrub the entire pool with detergent and bleach. All this might seem drastic, but you've let this pool go all to hell and if you want to stay safe, it's necessary.
After you get this sewer cleaned out, go to any store that sell pool supplies (even wal-mart ) and get a chlorine and PH test kit, test you water daily and add the proper amount of chlorine and acid (usually )
until you get a safe reading. Soon you will know how much chemicals you will need on a daily basis
Most importantly, don't swim or use the pool until you get it right. If you can't afford the cost, fill it with sand
Oh yeah, dont forget to clean the filter. If its a sand and gravel filter change the sand and gravel, If it's a DE filter check the filaments and clean them , then add the required amount of the DE (diatomous earth )
Lots of work, but you caused it

 

In my area, they use helicopters and satellite images and within a day of seeing a green pool, the local code enforcement cops are knocking at your door with a citation hand delivered to you. With green pools, it is an environment for mosquito breeding and is hazardous to not only you, but your entire neighborhood. One of the leading businesses in Southern California is pool demo companies. For a mere $20K, they will drain the water, cut two 2' x 2' holes at the bottom of your pool, and bust any incoming and outgoing plumbing to the pool. They then fill and pack DG into the hole until the plaster is covered.

My ex-wife did exactly this to the pool in the backyard that I lost in my divorce.

 

Where do I buy 3 gallons of chlorine? Are you talking about just liquid bleach? Is there a brand name?

I don't think you can drain pools in Florida. The water table is very shallow and it could cave in.

Just added my last 5 shock treatments. There are tadpoles in the pool. I turned the pool pump back on. The shock treatments came with a water test strips. I will use them after the shock treatments have had a chance to soak in.

The dimensions of the pool are slightly smaller than 17' x 38'. I don't know the depth because I can't measure it. What's standard for depth?

 

I also live in Florida ( Ocala ), and though I don't have a pool any longer, I still use the pool chlorine for other purposes. I get the chlorine at my local Wal-mart (Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid
$3.64) I usually find it in the garden section.
Household bleach is a 5% solution, and Pool chlorine is a 10% solution.
You might say, O.K. I'll just add twice the amount using household bleach,nope, it doesn't work that way.you gotta use the 10%
If you cant find it in Wal-mart, you should be able to find it at any pool supply store, but dont let them sell you powders or tablets as they make a bigger profit on them than the chlorine
the standard depth for a home pool is about 6 ft. at the drain, but of course the bottom will taper down from the shallow end to the deep end.
You can legally drain the water to your yard without any problem, when I had my pool, I rigged a drain line to the sewer clean out plug ( it was illegal, but I did it anyway and used it for 20 years, and for all I know, it's still in use
Where in Fl. do you live, I might be able to help you locate the chlorine

 

I put in 5 shock treatments and 4 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine. If it's still not blue enough, I'll buy some more liquid chlorine.

What would happen if I didn't run the pool pump, but continued to add chlorine. I want to run it as little as possible to save electricity.

Can I add a timer to my pool pump?

 

John, you need to run the pump to circulate the chlorine. Although I'm in the North, I had tadpoles this spring but skimmed them out and used the liquid chlorine to shock the pool. After that I used one of those test kits with strips and bought the ph and calcium additive to add to the pool. Worked fine and cleared in a couple days. I have my pool on a timer and run it 3 hours every days. Yours is larger so you need to run it longer. Got my pool chemicals at Wal Mart by the way.

 

Once I get my water right, why do I need to run the pool pump at any time other than when I add chlorine?

 

Buds probably right. It's time to drain the pool, clean it as he says and start over. Also, find someone who has a pool ( and maintains it himself ) and ask him about pool maintenance
Water circulation is essential for pool care, and, yes, you can add a timer, but make certain that it runs long enough.
In any event, considering that you really don't know enough about having a pool, try to get as much info about it including the structure and plumbing ( for instance: does your pool have a skimmer?, Where is it and what does it do? How do you backwash the filter and why?
I think you get the idea that the more you know about the pool the easier it will be to take care of and increase you enjoyment of it
By the way, as far as draining it to the yard. there isn't any problem with doing that as when you think about it, where do you think everyone that has a pool drain it to? Draining your pool to the yard probably isn't any more water that if you had got 1 or 2 inch's of rain

 

Your pool filter cleans the water of any debris and unwanted minuscule particles. If you don't do this the water will become cloudy and dirty. As I said, mine is 3 hours a day.

 

Your biggest problem is the filter. If you shock it real well, the filter will fill up in a matter of minutes with the pump running. You will have to clean the filter more times than I care to mention. Or you drain it and refill. That is the easy way. However if you have ground water, the pool can jump out of the ground when drained to a a level that will make it float. I have seen this happen first hand too. Good luck.

 

I've seen pools cave in due to the high water table in Florida.