Trust the process: Black to green to blue.

Opened our pool two weeks ago to a black swamp. We’re first-time pool owners and did a ton of googling, filter cleaning, and praying to the above-ground pool gods to get here. There were times we thought blue was impossible and were ready to accept blue-green, but we got it to crystal clear :)

The pool: 18ft above ground, 10k gallons, DE filter

The process: 1/3 bottle of liquid chlorine 2-3 times a day for the first week. As soon as we could see the bottom, we started shoveling leaves (and other indistinguishable objects) out of the pool. This took days. Continuously bump filter to keep pump running. Open and clean filter to keep return flow high. Repeat as many times as necessary throughout the process. (3 for us.) recharge with 5lbs DE after cleaning. Brush and vacuum. After week 1, added floater with 2 chlorine tabs and 1 clarifying tab. This cleared up cloudiness. Tested water levels at 1.5 weeks. Adding 3lbs of baking soda daily to get ph and alkalinity to ideal levels. Added stabilizer to get CYA to ideal levels. (Wait 24 hours to test this again) Shock. (Wait 24 hours to test.) Test levels. (This is currently where we’re at and planning to swim in 2 days!)