How to Determine the Best Way to Clean a Green Swimming Pool

NOTE: This photo is not of our pool, because our pool is crystal clear, however, it is one that we had to do some work on. Here's how to clean a green pool, and make it available to swim in again when it appears that it's a lost cause.

Maybe it got this way because you just purchased a home with the pool in this condition. Maybe it's a summer home, and you came back to it with it looking this way. Whatever the reason, it's fixable.

First.... don't waste your time staring at the big hole in the ground wondering if someone dumped pea soup in it. Get to work, and start emptying this bad boy.

 I know, emptying an inground pool is taking the chance of the pool popping out of the ground. This is why you call your local pool supply store and find out if they think it would be safe. It all depends on how much it's rained in your area.

 Or you could purchase hundreds and hundreds of dollars in pool chemicals, and it would take a month or so for it to eventually clear up. It also depends on how green the pool is. In this case, the pool water was actually thick in consistency. Plus, you can't even see the bottom, so goodness only knows what's hidden under the green goop.

 Let's decide that since this pool is so bad that you're having to deal with, we're going to go ahead and empty it, because it hasn't rained in quite awhile, so the ground is dry enough that the pool would not pop out of the ground.

As the pool is emptying, use chlorine to spray the walls of the pool.

NOTE: We are working on a concrete inground pool.

Let the chlorine soak into the concrete, and then go back and scrub the walls with more chlorine. You can not use too much chlorine to clean these walls. If you're working on a pool that has a sparkle grain as the surface, you will have to dilute the chlorine with water before scrubbing. A pump sprayer would probably work best on pools with these sort of walls.

As soon as the pool is cleaned, to the best you can get it, start filling up the pool immediately. You can not wait overnight to fill it, because you don't want to take any chances of the pool popping, so start filling it up ASAP.

 Once the pool is full, pour about 2 1/2 gallons of chlorine in the pool. Check the pH, and adjust it accordingly with chemicals. Let the pump run for 24 hours before adjusting it to only run during the day. It would be best to clean the filter if it's a sand filter, or replace the cartridge if it's a cartridge filter. Only do this after the pool is filled with clean water.

The pool is going to be cloudy at first. This is okay. This is just the chemicals doing their job.

 Once the Chlorine drops back down to the normal amount, your pool will clear up and you can go swimming.

(Photo of my Pool)

If you maintain your chemicals correctly, and do weekly maintenance on your pool, you won't have the problems of the pea soup appearance like the pool described in this article. Well water was used on that pool, therefore, no extra cost of water to the utility department was acrrued. However, in our case, we have city water in which we have a water bill, so emptying a pool could be very costly. Our pool is 14 years old, and if you take my advice, your pool will stay clean and bright forever.