Why does my pool keep going green?

There are many reasons your pool may be going green and the most common is lack of maintenance. Pools require a lot of work to keep them crystal clear and clean for it to be safe for us to swim in.

A general weekly routine should be in place for looking after your pool. We recommend following the 3 C's:

Circulation- Run your pump and filter daily for up to 8 hours. 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours at night is the recommendation.

Cleaning- Be sure you are skimming debris from the top of the water, brushing sediment from pool walls and vacuuming the pool regularly.  

Chemicals- Adding the correct chemicals is vital to you and your pools health. Fundamentals of a pool chemistry is its Salt, Chlorine, Alkalinity, Acid and Sunscreen levels. We recommend getting your pool tested ever 2-3 weeks to keep on top of this particular part of maintenance. 

If you have a salt pool, your acceptable range is between 4 and 6 on your salt reading. Your salt is what goes through the pump and then turns into chlorine. The chlorine is then what kills the germs in the water to make it safe for you to swim in. 

Chlorine's acceptable range is between 3 and 5. If your pool is purely a chlorine pool, this should be monitored regularly and chlorine added as soon as it begins to drop under 3. Lack of chlorine is one of the top reasons a pool goes green as it acts as a preventer for algae growth. 

Your Alkalinity and Acid help maintain a balanced PH level in the pool. If it is not balanced correctly, it can also cause the pool to be unsafe to swim in. Acceptable ranges for your PH level is between 7.2 to 7.6. 

And last but not least, your sunscreen. The sun's UV rays 'eats' away at 30% of the chemicals you just put in your pool every hour. That's a lot of wasted money on chemicals! That is why we highly recommend making sure your sunscreens acceptable range stays between 30 - 50.

 These chemicals can be found here. We also do FREE instore pool testing and can give a printout stating exactly what your pool needs. 

If you are still having issues with your pool going green after following these steps, we recommend the following:

• Check cell is clean, use 1 part acid to 10 parts water to remove white residue.  Do not soak for more than 10 mins.
• Check cell is operating properly.  Bubbling should be highly visible.  Check fuse & terminals are clean and tight.
• Check chlorine output dial or setting.  Should be running at 80-90% capacity. Do not leave running of full capacity.
• Check timer is running for minimum 8 hours per day, split into 2 blocks.  Self cleaning cells, check changeover time and set blocks to twice the changeover time.  White build up on cells indicates it is not cleaning properly.
• Check filter needs backwashing.  If pressure gauge is > 80-100 backwash filter.  Normal pressure should be 40-60.
• Check the 4 way flow valve has been set back to "filter"
• Check skimmer basket and pump basket are clear from leaves etc.
• Check vacuum hoses for leaks.  Air entering the system may cause the pump to lose prime.
• Have your water checked regularly, and in particular after rain, topping up or big weekends and school holidays.