Green-to-Clean Pool Recovery

If you cannot see the bottom drain, this is the service you need.

How the recovery works

Green water is an algae bloom, and it clears in stages rather than all at once:

1. Test and correct the chemistry. Shocking a pool with the wrong pH mostly wastes the shock.
2. Shock, and keep shocking. One dose rarely finishes a bloom.
3. Filter continuously. The filter does most of the actual work — expect to clean or backwash it repeatedly as it loads up.
4. Brush and vacuum to waste once the algae dies and drops.
5. Rebalance and hand back with a plan to stop it recurring.

Depending on how far gone it is, that is typically a few days rather than an afternoon. Anyone promising a same-day green-to-clean on a badly neglected pool is quoting for a different job.

What causes it here

Usually one of three things: a pump that stopped running, a period away with no service, or a heavy storm that dumped organic debris and rainwater into the pool at once. The third is common enough on this coast that it has its own page.

Worth knowing

If the pool is green and stained, do not shock first. Chlorine sets metal staining. Test, then sequence the treatment — that is the difference between clear water and clear water over a brown floor.