Green Olympic pool proves Launderess correct

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

supersuds

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
1,844
Location
Knoxville, Tenn.
So, it seems the mystery of the Rio Olympics diving pool with green water has been solved. The culprit was an employee who mistakenly added more than 40 gallons of hydrogen peroxide, "neutralizing the chlorine" and allowing the growth of organic compounds that might have included algae.

Our Launderess has often said that it's a mistake to mix oxygen bleach with chlorine bleach. Now we can see why!

 
Back when I used Baquacil in my pool, it used hydrogen peroxide for the shock treatments!!  But, it didn't have chlorine to neutralize.  I hated that stuff, it cost more and was less effective than good old fashioned chlorine.  I finally drained the thing, changed my filter sand, and started over with chlorine and had no more green problems!
 
Green Water Indoors?

I don't understand how the pool water coming from a municipal water source would have “organic compounds”, including algae. I thought the chlorine and other chemicals in the potable drinking water supply would stop that from happening to begin with. I’ve seen other indoor pools turn green in years past but never understood how.
 
Roger, it's not that hard to understand, actually... people are dirty.

Most people do not shower right before getting in a pool, they carry bacteria, algae, fungi/spores etc on them, particularly if they are walking barefoot or wearing sandals and don't wash their feet before going into the pool.

You don't need much, really, because a bit too much chlorine makes people complain about eye irritation, for example, and also it smells too strong, and a bit too little chlorine doesn't disinfect properly.

I've never had a pool, but my experience watching people who do is that it's more like baking a cake -- the folks that are used to paying attention to details and measuring every ingredient very carefully have no problems and make it look easy, the folks that just want to buy a bag of something and drop it in the pool expecting flawless results end up disappointed.

Cheers,
-- Paulo.
 
pool maintenance

If I had to test, poke, prod, measure, etc to keep our pool clean, I'd never get it done. After I get it cleaned up after opening (shock and vac) it's 1/3 or 1/2 scoop of granular chlorine a day into the skimmer as a general rule. If we have a party, a bit more goes in the morning of. Same if there's a hot spell. I know they say it's not good for the pump, but I just replaced the original pump from about 30 years ago and Rich's uncle used to do the same thing before I was taking care of the pool.

With rare exception, the water stays crystal clear.

Chuck
 

Latest posts

Back
Top