Who to hire for a green pool

Short answer

A pool technician. A green pool is usually recoverable by shocking, correcting the chemistry and running the filter hard for several days — draining it is rarely necessary and is sometimes actively dangerous, because an empty fibreglass or concrete shell in wet ground can float or crack.

Soon, not tonightIt will not usually get cheaper by waiting, and it is rarely worth an after-hours rate.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a pool service business.

  • an electrician

    the pump has stopped. A pool that goes green suddenly usually has a pump or a power problem behind it.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Check the pump is actually running and the filter pressure is normal.
  2. Empty the skimmer and pump baskets and backwash or clean the filter.
  3. Get the water tested. Most pool shops test free and the result tells the technician exactly what they are dealing with.
  4. Scoop out leaves and debris. Organic matter consumes chlorine faster than anything you can add.

What to ask when you book

  • Can this be recovered in place, or is draining genuinely necessary — and if so, what are the risks to the shell?
  • How many visits will this take and is the chemical cost included?
  • Is the filter media at the end of its life?
  • What caused it? A pool that goes green every summer has a cause worth finding.

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • How far gone it is, and how long it has been that way.
  • Chemical quantities, which for a badly neglected pool are substantial.
  • Filter condition and whether media needs replacing.
  • Number of return visits.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Pool servicing is not separately licensed in most states. Anything involving the electrical supply to the pump is licensed electrical work, and the pool barrier is separately regulated.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a green pool
A pool technician. A green pool is usually recoverable by shocking, correcting the chemistry and running the filter hard for several days — draining it is rarely necessary and is sometimes actively dangerous, because an empty fibreglass or concrete shell in wet ground can float or crack.
Should I drain a green pool and refill it?
Usually not. Beyond the cost and the water, an empty pool shell loses the internal load that balances ground water pressure, and in wet ground a fibreglass shell can lift and a concrete one can crack. Draining is a decision made for specific reasons — very high dissolved solids, a repair — rather than a shortcut to clear water.
Why does my pool go green every summer?
Chlorine demand rises sharply with heat, sunlight and use, and a pool that is fine in winter can be under-chlorinated in January on the same routine. The other two usual causes are stabiliser levels that are wrong in either direction and a filter that is not running long enough for the volume.

Find a pool service business near you

1,444 pool services in this directory, ranked on published evidence rather than on advertising.

Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.