Green Pool to Clear in 5 Days: A Walkthrough

We did a green-to-clean last month on a Stuart property that had been sitting unattended through a rainy three weeks. Here's exactly what we did, day by day, in case you're looking at a green pool right now.

Day 1: Tested water. Free chlorine 0, pH 8.0, CYA 90. Cleaned skimmer and pump baskets, brushed the walls hard, backwashed and rinsed the sand filter.

Lowered pH to 7.2 with muriatic acid (about 32 oz for an 18,000 gallon pool). Added 4 lbs of cal-hypo shock and ran the pump 24 hours.

Day 2: Water turned milky blue — that's actually a good sign, the algae is dead and now needs to be filtered out. Vacuumed to waste. Added another 2 lbs shock.

Day 3: Clarity coming back. Tested again, chlorine at 5 ppm. Brushed everything. Backwashed.

Day 4: Vacuumed the bottom (still some dust). Adjusted alkalinity with sodium bicarb.

Day 5: Crystal clear. Final chemistry: FC 3, pH 7.4, TA 90, CYA 50.

Total chemical cost on that pool: about $145 in shock, acid, and clarifier. Labor: 4 visits.

The faster you catch a green pool, the cheaper this gets. If your pool is starting to look hazy, don't wait a week.