Tak-It-EZ Pool & Spa › Guides › Cleaning
Why a cleanup is quoted separately from weekly service, why the filter matters more than the shock, and how long it really takes.
A green pool is not a dirty pool. It is a pool that lost its chlorine long enough for algae to take hold. Bringing it back is a project with a beginning and an end, which is why it gets its own quote instead of being folded into a regular visit.
In an Inland Empire summer, a pool can burn through its chlorine in a few hot days. Add a week of missed service, a pump on a short timer, or a filter full of dust from a wind event, and algae gets ahead. Once it does, it eats chlorine faster than a normal dose can replace it.
First the water gets tested, because very high stabilizer or phosphates change the plan. Then a heavy shock dose, brushing every surface to break up the algae, and running the pump around the clock. The filter does most of the work, so it gets cleaned between passes; a green pool will clog a cartridge in a day.
Most pools clear in one or two visits. A pool that has been green for months, or is black at the bottom, can take longer and may need the filter media replaced.
Shock kills algae. The filter removes it. Pools that stay cloudy after they stop being green are almost always a filter problem: dirty cartridges, a torn grid, or a pump that isn't running long enough.
A pool that went green once will go green again on the same schedule that let it happen. Weekly service keeps chlorine steady through the summer so you don't pay for a second cleanup.