You’ve got your eldest child’s first pool party on this weekend, and you wake up on Wednesday to find your pool a delicious shade of pea-green after those atrocious thundershowers of the past few days. You have very little time to turn your green pool an acceptable shade of blue or face permanent shame from the family. What do you do?

Why is my Pool Green?

Knowing why your pool is green will go a long way toward knowing how to fix it. Your pool is green because you have a sudden explosion of growth of algae. This tiny green plant flourishes in certain environments. It can be that you haven’t run your pool pump for long enough, or your chemical balance is out. Most often, however, after a thundershower, the atmosphere is buzzing with nitrogen which washes into your swimming pool providing the perfect plant food for algae which then multiplies exponentially.

Steps to Turning a Green Pool Blue

So, we know that we need to get rid of the algae. Here’s a rundown of what is most likely to solve your dilemma.

Step One – Correct the pH of your water

Your swimming pool water should be between 7.2 and 7.6 if you are planning to shock treat it. If necessary, use a pH decreaser to get it within this range.

Step Two – Shock dose of chlorine

A super dose of chlorine kills off any organic substances in the pool water. Follow the instructions on your product of choice carefully.

Step Three – Loosen and remove algae

A good brush of the pool walls will loosen up stubborn algae. You may also want to make use of a flocculant or clarifier. These cause the tiny particles in the water to coagulate which makes it easier for them to be effectively removed by the filter.

Step Four – Check your filters and run your pump

You will need to run your pump for a good 24 hours to make sure that the chemicals are circulated properly, and during this time you will need to keep a close eye on your filters to ensure that they don’t become clogged.

This should be enough to turn your green pool blue within a day or two. However, if you find that your pool is still cloudy then it may be an idea to check if your sand filter or DE filter is clogged or the earth is not fresh and needs a good backwash.

Still stuck? Call in the experts.