how to clean a green pool with bleach
How To Clean A Green Pool With Bleach (Quickly & Easily!)
If you've woken up to a green pool, there's no reason to panic. This is a normal occurrence that typically happens when a pool is left unused for roughly two or three days. However, it can be surprising when your pool changes to a green hue seemingly overnight.
In most cases, this occurs as a result of excessive algae and bacteria. The presence of either is unsafe for swimmers and should be dealt with before you consider swimming again. Fortunately, this problem can be easily resolved by shocking the pool with some household chlorine bleach. First, to ensure the bleach's effectiveness, you'll want to adjust the pH and alkalinity levels in your pool.
While this may sound like an involved process, cleaning a green pool is not as complicated as you might think. Continue reading for our detailed guide on how to clean a green pool with bleach.
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Table of Contents
- Why Is My Pool Green?
- Is It Safe to Swim in a Green Pool?
- Why Use Bleach to Clean a Green Pool?
- How to Clean a Green Pool With Bleach
- Materials You'll Need
- Step One: Determine the Size of Your Pool
- Step Two: Test and Adjust pH Levels
- Step Three: Test Cyanuric Acid Levels
- Step Four: Test Chlorine Levels
- Step Five: Brush the Pool
- Step Six: Add the Bleach
- Step Seven: Wait Three to Four Days
- Related Questions
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- Why is my pool green after shocking it?
- Will baking soda kill algae in a swimming pool?
-
Why Is My Pool Green?
The green discoloration of your pool water is a reaction from algae growth. In fact, algae are the only thing that can turn pool water green. It can grow and spread quickly, especially in warm climates. On a particularly hot day, a mild case of algae can become a major infestation just overnight.
Algae growth can have a number of causes such as when the water is warmer than normal, the pool lacks circulation, or the chemicals are out of balance. Since chlorine is an effective sanitizer, allowing chlorine levels drop for even a day can cause a green pool in a very short period of time.
This is exactly why it's important to be constantly monitoring your pool's chlorine levels to avoid any green surprises.
Is It Safe to Swim in a Green Pool?
It is strongly not recommended to swim in a green pool. The algae found in pools present a much higher health risk than naturally occurring algae found in bodies of water. Also, the presence of algae in a pool may indicate the existence of dangerous bacteria in the water.
With that said, it is not safe to swim in a pool that is green. You must ensure that your pool returns to a stable chlorine level before you even think about going for a swim. We'll walk you through what you can do to address this problem quickly.
Why Use Bleach to Clean a Green Pool?
Instead of purchasing expensive pool cleaning products, bleach can be used as an effective and convenient alternative for cleaning a green pool. Some of the benefits to using bleach for pool maintenance include:
- Bleach is less expensive than liquid chlorine.
- Bleach disinfects and sanitizes your pool.
- Bleach is safer to use than chlorine tabs.
- Bleach oxidizes ammonia and other wastes excreted by swimmers.
- By using bleach, you won't have to add in a stabilizer.
There are a number of different types of algae. The class that turns your pool green is known as Chlorophyceae, or "Green algae." Therefore, bleach is the ideal product for cleaning a green pool since, unlike other algae types, Green algae are not resistant to the chlorine found in bleach.
How to Clean a Green Pool With Bleach
Maintaining a pool is already a cumbersome task, and it's made even more difficult when it's affected by green algae. To help simplify the process, we've drafted up a step-by-step guide that'll help you return your pool back to normal.
Materials You'll Need
Before you begin, make sure you have the following tools and chemicals on hand.
- pH Test Strips: These will be used to verify the pH of the pool water before you can apply bleach.
- DPD Test Kit: DPD test kits are essential for determining the pool's chlorine levels.
- Cyanuric Acid Test Kit: This kit will be needed to test the Cyanuric acid levels before you use bleach to clean your green pool.
- Bleach: Bleach is absolutely crucial for this process, as it effectively kills the algae that creates that green color.
- Cyanuric Acid: If you detect low Cyanuric levels in your pool, you'll need to introduce Cyanuric acid or a stabilizer into the pool before cleaning it with bleach.
- Measuring Cup: A measuring cup is beneficial to help you accurately measure the amount of bleach powder.
Step One: Determine the Size of Your Pool
First, you need to know the exact size of your pool in gallons. Knowing this will help you determine the exact amount of bleach your pool requires to clean it. The volume of your pool can be found by consulting the user manual or by checking the installation paperwork.
Alternatively, you can perform some math to determine the size of your pool in gallons. You'll need to know the length, width, and depth (shallow end and deep end). Then, simply enter these numbers into an online pool volume calculator.
Step Two: Test and Adjust pH Levels
Before adding any chemicals to kill the algae, it's crucial that you check the pH levels and adjust accordingly. Using a pool test kit or pH strips, determine the current pH of your pool. It should be between 7.2 and 7.8.
If the pH of your pool is above 7.8, the chlorine in the bleach will not be effective at killing the algae. To clean your pool effectively, the pH level must be between 7.2 and 7.8. If it's below 7.2, you'll need to add in sodium bicarbonate. Whereas, if it's above 7.8, use muriatic acid or dry acid to lower it.
Step Three: Test Cyanuric Acid Levels
Next, you should check the concentration of Cyanuric Acid in your pool. Using a test kit, verify that the levels are between 20ppm and 50ppm. If they aren't, you'll need to use Cyanuric acid or a stabilizer to adjust accordingly.
Step Four: Test Chlorine Levels
Rather than solely relying on your sense of smell, you should use a DPD test kit to determine the chlorine level in your pool. Normal pool chlorine levels should be between 1ppm and 3ppm. Anything lower than 1ppm and this is confirmation that algal growth exists in the pool.
Step Five: Brush the Pool
Before you shock the pool with bleach, it is essential that you brush off the algae from the pool walls, liner, floor, ladders, and even tile grout using a pool cleaning brush. You'll also need to remove the sediment that collects at the bottom of the pool.
Both of these steps may seem tedious but they are important to ensure that the bleach works as effectively as possible at cleaning your green pool.
Step Six: Add the Bleach
At this point, it's time to start shocking your swimming pool by adding the bleach. To effectively shock your pool, the chlorine levels must be raised to between 5ppm and 10ppm. The proper amount is 5 gallons of household bleach for every 30,000 gallons of water. Or, think of it this way: to achieve the most effective results you'll likely want to add bleach twice the amount of what you usually add for liquid chlorine.
Always shock either in the late afternoon or early evening, as sunlight degrades bleach. Add in the bleach by pouring it in as you walk the perimeter of your pool. To ensure that the bleach is properly mixed, circulate the water for at least 4 to 5 hours. After 24 hours, you should start to see cloudy water that'll be discharged immediately.
Here are some important things to keep in mind when shocking your green pool:
- During the treatment, be sure to properly clean the pool's sand filters, DE filters, and cartridge filters.
- Before you being the shocking process, it is advisable to wear a high-quality face mask and gloves to protect yourself.
- DO NOT enter the pool until the chlorine has dropped back to safe levels.
- Ensure that children, pets, and the elderly steer clear of the swimming pool while the treatment is in progress.
With that said, while the job can be performed by yourself, it is highly recommended to have a pool cleaning professional do it for you.
Step Seven: Wait Three to Four Days
As previously noted, you should avoid using your pool after you've added the bleach. In fact, wait at least 3 to 4 days before you consider going for a swim. During that time, monitor the chlorine levels and shock the pool if the levels drop below 1ppm.
Only when the levels have returned to normal can you use your swimming pool again. Also, be sure to vacuum out the dead algae that collects at the bottom of your pool.
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Why is my pool green after shocking it?
If a shock treatment turns your pool water green, you may have too much copper in the water. The copper may be naturally occurring in your water source or it could be released from your plumbing. In either case, you need a chelating agent to clear it up.
Will baking soda kill algae in a swimming pool?
Unfortunately, baking soda does not directly kill algae. However, it is a safe, natural, and effective way to loosen algae roots – which indirectly kills them. By using baking soda, you'll be able to scrub the algae from your pool much easier.
Jessica Stone
Jessica considers herself a home improvement and design enthusiast. She grew up surrounded by constant home improvement projects and owes most of what she knows to helping her dad renovate her childhood home. Being a Los Angeles resident, Jessica spends a lot of her time looking for her next DIY project and sharing her love for home design.
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how to clean a green pool with bleach
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