Why is My Pool Green?
Algae vs. Metals
When your pool turns green, your first assumption may be that algae is the offender. While this is often true, you could actually be dealing with increased heavy metals. Try these simple tests to determine the real cause of your green pool.
Test your chlorine levels. If there is free chlorine in the pool and it is green, copper is the likely culprit. If there is no free chlorine, suspect algae.
If your pool turns green after adding shock, copper is the likely cause. Other minerals, such as iron and manganese can turn the water brown, pink or purple. A metal remover will bind with the minerals in your pool water, allowing your pool filter to remove them.
A way to test to see if there’s metal in the water is to take a bucket of the pool water and add a small amount of liquid or granular chlorine. If the water turns green you’ve got copper! (turns another color you have another metal. Iron-brown, Manganese-purple)
If you add chlorine and your pool clears up? Hooray! Algae was the offender. Mystery solved!
Metal vs. Algae Tip: Metal stains won’t brush off the pool. Most algae will, with black algae as the exception.
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Tracy Dieselman – Owner
Your article was so insightful, thank you for sharing. I wanted to add that in order to get rid of algae and achieve better filtration, you also need to ensure that your pool pump is working properly. And it’s also worth considering upgrading to a variable-speed pump.