The problem
The owner called in October with a pool that had turned solid green. In the photos from the first visit the water is opaque lime, the steps disappear a few centimetres under the surface and the floor can't be seen at all.
A pool doesn't get like this from one missed week. It happens when the water goes without sanitiser for a while and the warm spring days arrive.
What I found
Before reaching for chemicals I test the water and check the equipment. There's no point shocking a pool if whatever let it go green is still broken.
The chlorinator was the culprit. A saltwater pool relies on its chlorinator to make chlorine from the salt every time the pump runs. With it producing nothing, the pool had no sanitiser at all.
What I did
- 1Tested the water and inspected the pump, filter and chlorinator.
- 2Replaced the faulty chlorinator so the pool could make its own chlorine again.
- 3Shock dosed the pool to kill the algae.
- 4Added a flocculant to bind the dead algae together and drop it to the floor.
- 5Vacuumed the floor to waste, so the dead algae left the pool completely instead of clogging the filter.
The result so far
By the second visit the change was obvious. The water had gone from opaque lime to a clear green-blue, with the floor, steps and tile line all visible again.
The job isn't finished yet. Two more visits are booked to clear the last of the colour and balance the water properly. I'll add the final photos here when it's done.
Why fixing the cause matters
Shocking a green pool without fixing the equipment only buys a few days. If your pool keeps turning green, get the chlorinator, pump run time and filter checked. That's exactly what the free equipment health check covers.
