I have read all of pool school (many times). I have one question though, this is my first algae outbreak (after having a baby and being unable to watch the pool closely). The green is gone and now the pool is cloudy. I see millions of questions about this and I often read that one criteria of being able to stop the shock process is shock until the water is "clear". Does this mean literally clear or just not green anymore. I mean is the cloudy water a good sign that things are progressing or a bad sign that I need to keep shocking longer? The water seems very clean, but certainly not clear. Please be very specific. The pool has been at shock level for about five days now. Incedently we have the puniest pump ever (780gph) so if I can get rid of cloudiness throug cloriantion instead of filtering that would probably be best. What say you all??

Clear is a bit subjective, but my take on it is that clear means you can see through the water clearly. Obscurity and opaqueness is not clear. Seeing general colors and shapes of items in the pool is not clear.

The test results help judge clarity. If you're getting consistent <.5ppm CC, the OCLT passes at 1ppm or less loss, and you can see through the water well then you're done maintaining shock level.

The filter media in these pumps can hardly clear algae. What size is the filter for the pump? Walmart distributes an A/C filter that has different media, it's dotty rather than like a dryer sheet. This media works very well but it also clogs quickly. If you can get the walmart filter in the pump it might help. I saw a huge difference in about 3 hours when I started using them.

I also use two pumps on my pool and run them both 24 hours. I couldn't keep it as clean as it is without both of these. Most/many Intex users upgrade their pumps because what comes with the pools can't do the job.

Clear means something like a glass of filtered spring water. Completely clear. You should be able to read the manufacturer name on your floor drain with the pump off.

For me clear means being able to toss a quarter into the deep end and telling if it's heads or tails.

Very scientific test now isn't it.

If you look at most of the photos of pools on the home page at TFP you'll see what clear looks like. In my pool it looks like this (except for the breeze making the water surface ripple) and this where from a distance you can clearly see the floor drain and pool cleaner almost as if there is no water in the pool. This thread shows some pictures of clarity at night.

Ok, so this can be achieved through the shock process? My water was crystal clear before the outbreak so now I get what you guys mean but can I do this with just chlorine? If this is the case why do so many people seem to have trouble "clearing" cloudy water? why not just keep shocking longer? (This includes me since I have cloudy water right now).

If you look at the criteria for being finished with shocking (in my sig as well), one of the criteria is a clear (totally clear/crystal clear) pool water. So those who follow the process do shock longer. On rare occasions there might be something else, like a bad filter, calcium, etc.

As we have discussed in your other post, your summer escapes ~700gph pump (please put your pool and equipment details in your sig) may take longer to clear the pool.

As noted above, special occasions like crummy filters can extend the process. Improve the media if you can in that filter, or add a sock to the return to catch fines but do not stop filtering. Or do both. Catch the dead algae in any way you can.

Hi merritt11 and welcome to TFP!
I started with a cheap above ground Intex frame pool.
It had a small filter cartridge pump. I went through the 'pool store' ordeal that I never was happy to get the pool water right.
I wanted to figure this out on my own and found TFP forum! After reading many success story's here, I decided this was for me to get my pool right. I got my TF-100 kit right away and has proven to be the best tool in my toolbox to fix any water problem I could possibly have.
I posted my pool water test results here and got a lot of helpful advice from the fine people here!
I passed the shocking process, but not a perfectly clear pool with the stock 'A' filter.
I bought a package of 3 filter socks to put on the skimmer basket and that helped a lot.
After some more reading I realized the undersized Intex filter is not very good at clearing a messy pool very fast, so I found a used sand filter/pump locally on Craigs list and fixed it up with help here, spent about $200 doing that. As it turns out this was the 2nd best thing I have done. (1st was coming here and getting my TF-100 kit)
My water went perfectly clear in less than 24 hrs.
Try some filter socks and see how that will help.

This is how my pool has been all summer! Perfect!

Chuck

Thanks for all the help everyone, thanks a lot! I left for four days with a still cloudy pool. I brought the pool up to shock (probably more than necessary) levels, covered the pool and left for four days. Came home to a sparkling clean pool (in spite of a crummy pump). My awesome husband did a little work on the pump and its spitting out water in the return much better now. So everyone was right, if you have cloudy water just keep shocking! I was so impatient for it to be clear, turns out all you have to do is leave home for a few days and let the chlorine do its work. Thanks for all the clarity (no pun intended) on "clear" water etc. This site is great!

Now see....good things do come to those who wait.

Now just stay on top of things and the pool will stay just that clean year round.