Battling the Blues of a Green Pool

It’s a hot summer morning. The family has suited up and is ready to jump in and cool off for the day in your pool, but crystal clear blue waters are not what greet you. Instead, your water has turned into a shade of green overnight, which means you now have algae in your water. Blooms of algae can happen very quickly if your water’s care is out balance. We take a deep dive into algae and how to clear it up and get your waters blue again.

The Lowdown on Algae

Microscopic spores of algae can be found everywhere and be carried into your pool waters through wind, rain or from swimmers. So if spores always exist, why is your water not constantly green? It takes perfect conditions for these spores to blossom, including low levels of free chlorine, warm weather, sunlight and poor pool circulation. When it’s a perfect storm of factors, green water can appear seemingly overnight. While not harmful to humans, a green pool is not an inviting environment for a swim.  

Clearing up Algae for Clear Water

If you are faced with green water one morning, there are steps to take to bring it back around to blue. 

A Clean Sweep: First and foremost, get as much of the larger debris out as possible with a leaf rake or skimmer, then vacuum your pool to waste as long as it’s not green to black in color. If there is too much algae, you could damage your equipment by trying to vacuum. If it is this dark, an expert is needed to come out and analyze your water and go over options. 

Brush Away: Algae can be clingy, so use a heavy-duty brush to scrub your pool’s floor and walls.  (Make sure to clean it after and between uses so you do not re-infect the pool.)

Test Time: You need to know what you are working with chemical-wise to know where your pool is at today. Perform your water testing for chlorine, pH and alkalinity levels. Something is probably off for algae to be visible. 

Shock Away: Since algae has bloomed, more than likely your chlorine level is low or non-existent. Pool shock is the blast of chlorine needed to blast out the green stuff. This is a higher amount of chlorine than you usually add, so to help it work properly add it after the sun is down as the sun affects chlorine levels as well.

Filter It Out: This is the critical time to really watch your water as you run the filter system continuously. This consistent flush is needed to help your water clear up and clear out all of the icky green. 

Re-test: Once your water is moving in the right direction, test it again for all of your chemical levels and adjust what you add accordingly.

Five Days and Counting: If you are not able to clear it up on your own and summer days are passing you by, contact a pool professional for help.

We’re Here to Help

Contact us here at Caribbean Pools if you need assistance getting your water back to its blue self!!