Intex pool water clear dusty brownish green on bottom

John Prohaska

• 1378 Answers
• Posted on Jul 05, 2009

SOURCE: High ph, algea, salty taste

You are going to need to buy chemicals anyway (acid for sure and probably algaecide) so find a good pool store tech and have them test your water and recommend the proper doses.

In summary though, you should not taste the salt in the pool and being able to means the salt content is to high. Chlorine generators will not work if the salt is to high and the fix is to drain water and dilute the remaining water until the salt content is no higher than max. No chlorine could explain the algae.

Generators also cause the pH to rise over time so you will need to keep acid on hand to counteract that.

SOURCE: i have a 18ft x 52 intex pool with salt water chlorinator.green

although you may or may not have enough chlorine in your pool you must also realize that a pool need turned over at least 3 times a day.
an example is if you have 7000gl of water and a 2000gph pump you need to filter at least 10 hours or so.
More important than chlorine is the actual circulation of the water you can have all the chlorine in the world but if you do not have the circulation the water will become cloudy or green this also happens when you have no swimmers for days at a time


the filtration time is over and above the chlorine generating time your 4 hours a night for generating chlorine sound like you are guessing sometimes it may be 4 and sometimes 2 or 6
it depends on # of swimmers a day sun and what was in the pool to start

It is important to have a test kit for ph and chlorine and keep chlorine at 1.0to 1.5 now set your ph
ph will rise and fall with your chlorine level one you have them set good at the first time then ph should stay safe enough and re level as chlorine is kept right

also remeber that the wrong ph causes more problems than wrong chlorine levels

Also make sure your salt is no more than 3000ppm and no higher like some people recommend and no lower than 2500 test kits are available for 10 dollars

all of this can be found on intex.com either in a video or pdf files for water capacity and approximate time for generating chlorine.


to be sure always use test kits

SOURCE: Just added an Intex salt water Gernerator to my

Yes, you can add chlorine. Liquid chlorine will raise the ph a bit. Don't know what kind of shock you are adding, but wait a day, recheck ph level, than adjust.

SOURCE: Cloudy water after running system for 15 hours

yes ... do you have filter media insyalled and the proper amount of salt installed?

SOURCE: I purchased an intex saltwater system, hooked it

It, did not turn your pool green. The pool was ready to turn green before you installed the intex system.
before having the system did you regularly use stabilizer? non foaming algecide? How long do you filter? There are so many variables. I will try to make it as easy as possible

We will address the salt system last right now you need to get your pool back to normal
Start by shocking it with 1-2 gallons of liquid chlorine let filter run during this time to stir it up
after 12 hours you need to brush the sides and bottom and then let settle
Now vaccum and then clean your cartridge with a strong blast from the garden hose
Start filtering again and at this point add the non foaming algaecide
the next day brush again and let settle vaccum again clean the filter again and continue this until the pool is clear

once it is clear you will want to use the algaecide once every 5-7 days.

Now a little fyi
Intex filters can not support the gl ph that is needed to keep a pool clean and crystal clear. All of there pumps are under rated for the gallon of pool that is sold with it

A pool needs to be turned over at LEAST 3 times in a 12 hour period
I will use generic #'s
If you have a 5000 gl pool and a 2500 gallon pump that is 6 hours minimum filtering time you do the math for your pool

You should also run the pump continuous. It is the only way to really filter efficiently with an intex pump


now for your generator
Although a good concept it is really a waste of money.
All the salt system does for you is to make it so you do not need to add liquid chlorine or tablets but you still need to add chemicals as mentioned above

get a test kit for salt water the ones that read #'s not color
get the salt to 3000ppm no lower than 2700 or you will not be able to produce enough sanitizer and any more than 3800 and the water tastes terrible and will usually trigger an alarm for high salt
once your pool is clear shoot for this

now to maintain it

Although you may be told otherwise this is what has worked for me for this being the 4th season with no green ever

I filter 24/7 with generating chlorine any where from 4-12 hours depending on the day.
chlorine consumption is created by many factors # of bathers heat sun rain people sneaking in with sun tan oil and so on you will need to figure out what is best for your situation
Dont forget to get a good stabilizer to help with holding the amount of chlorine in the pool usually about a pound per 5000 gl
as mentioned I also use the non foaming algaecide just follow the directions for your gl pool
I also use a water clarifyer that turns minute particles into larger particals that the filter can actually catch
and even though the filter may not look dirty clean it every day.
I use 2 one in the unit and one drying
Spray it out hard and let it dry overnight

Dont ask me why or how but a filter that is dry from the start filters better than a wet one put back in right away

Had you been doing all of this since you opened the pool the addition of the salt system would have worked fine

Good luck