Real Recovery, On Video
Watch a Green Pool Come Back to Clean
This is a real pool here in the Las Vegas Valley, filmed over 4 days from a heavy bloom back to clear water, and again a month later to show whether it held. If your pool has turned and you are wondering whether it can be saved without draining it, this is what the work actually takes. It plays straight through, or you can jump to any point below.
What You're Watching
A bloom this heavy looks like a water problem. It is a chemistry and filter problem, and that is what the 4 days go into fixing.
What Caused It
Not phosphates, which is what Michael expected walking up to it. Those came back at 113 ppb, barely above the ideal range. The cause was cyanuric acid at 161 ppm with almost no chlorine left. Too much CYA suffocates the chlorine that is there.
Where It Hides
Algae does not stay in the water, it collects in the filter. A bloom cleared without cleaning the filter gets reseeded on the next pump cycle, which is why the filters come apart before any chemical goes in.
What Changed
Filters stripped and cleaned, every inch brushed by hand, and repeated chlorine doses every 12 hours with the pump running around the clock. The water came back over 4 days without draining a drop.
One Month Later
Michael kept working this pool after Day 4. Clearing a bloom is rarely one visit and done: algae pushes back in almost every pool taken from green to clean, so he was back a couple more times with algaecide and the right chlorine level until it stopped returning. The owner picked up weekly service from there, so the rest folded into regular visits. The follow-up was filmed a month on, once the water had been holding on its own.
What It Took
Algaecide, plus the right amount of chlorine. The Leslie's Green to Clean program Michael followed does not call for algaecide, and he flagged during the recovery that this pool might need one anyway. It did.
What Is Still Open
Cyanuric acid is still high, and draining is the only way it comes down. That waits for cooler weather. Until then Michael runs the chlorine higher than usual, closer to 8 to 10 ppm than the normal 1 to 3, so the CYA cannot suffocate it.
Go Deeper
The Chemistry Behind What You Just Watched
Why Pool Algae Keeps Coming Back in Las Vegas
The three conditions a bloom needs, and what a recovery actually takes.
When to Drain a Las Vegas Pool
Why high cyanuric acid is a drain problem, and why summer is the wrong time.
Green Pool Recovery Service
What a one-time algae cleanup covers, and how Michael approaches it.
Get Started
Is Your Pool Green Right Now?
Michael will look at it in person, find what caused the bloom, and tell you what clearing it actually takes.
Schedule a Free Assessment