Green water
Do this first
Keep everyone out. If you can still see the floor, brush the walls and shock tonight with the pump running; if you can’t, it’s a green-to-clean job.
Can you still see the floor?
Early algae. The chlorine fell behind — a few days of weather, a party, or a filter that needed cleaning — and you can turn it around yourself this week.
Fix it yourself
- Brush every wall, step and corner hard — algae clings, and chlorine only kills what it can reach.
- Clean or backwash the filter before you add anything, so the dead algae has somewhere to go.
- Test chlorine, pH and stabilizer. Put the readings and your pool’s size into the calculator for the shock dose — it is more than a normal week.
- Add the chlorine at dusk with the pump running, and run it around the clock until the water clears. Brush again the next morning.
- Retest each evening and keep the chlorine up until it holds overnight. Clean the filter once more when it is clear.
What you’ll need
In the store and online.
Easy Care™ Algatec®$59.12
PENTAIR 6'' Metal Back Stainless Steel Bristle Algae Brush$33.99
Refresh 68% Cal Hypo Shock 25lb$129.99
Or we’ll do it
Green-to-Clean Recovery · $300-$800
Still green after two days of this? Stop spending on chemicals — we clear it without draining, and the visit includes the chemicals.
Book itDone when you can see the floor clearly and the chlorine still reads in range the next morning.
A full bloom. At this point shock on its own is wasted money: the filter clogs faster than the water clears, and the pool needs a staged clean-up.
Fix it yourself
- Keep people and pets out of it, and keep the pump running so the water keeps moving.
- Pull out the leaves and debris you can reach with a leaf net — every bit you remove is less for the chemicals to burn through.
- Do not drain it. An empty pool in North Texas clay can lift out of the ground; a green-to-clean clears it full.
- Do not tip in chemicals blind. Without a reading and a working filter they go nowhere.
What you’ll need
In the store and online.
TurboShock® Shock Treatment 12lb$119.88
HASA Muriatic Acid 4 Gallon Case$44.90- Easy Care™ Algatec®$59.12
Or we’ll do it
Green-to-Clean Recovery · $300-$800
We clear it in stages without draining — brushing, the right chemistry, and the filter cleaned between visits.
Book itDone when it is blue and you can see the floor; the page on green-to-clean shows what each stage looks like.
The targets
The same numbers our techs and our calculators work to. Put yours into the calculator for the dose.
- Free chlorine
- 1–3 ppm
- pH
- 7.2–7.6
- Cyanuric acid (stabilizer)
- 30–50 ppm
Go deeper
- How we clear a green poolWhat a green-to-clean involves and what it looks like after
- Why pools turn greenThe usual causes, and how we fix them without draining
The full guides
- How to Fix a Green Pool Fast: Step-by-Step Texas GuideStep-by-step guide to fixing a green pool in Texas. Severity levels, the SLAM method, chemical dosing, filtration tips, timeline expectations, and when to call
- Green Pool Rescue: How We Bring a Pool Back in 48 HoursYour pool turned green. Don't panic. Here's exactly how we fix it — step by step, hour by hour — and how you can do it yourself if you're up for it.
- Why Your DFW Pool is Turning Green Despite High Chlorine ReadingsYou’ve checked the test kit and the chlorine levels look perfect, yet the plaster is slick and the water is losing its sparkle. In the North Texas heat, a high
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