Cloudy Pool - New Pool Owner

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Adamf78

Member
May 31, 2023
23
Owensboro, Kentucky
Hello, I recently purchased a home with a inground salt water pool vinyl liner. The previous owners had a pool company treat the pool weekly but I thought I could do it myself and save some money. The pool water was crystal clear when I took over and I started doing weekly tests at the local pool store. For the past 3 week the pool store said I had extremely high phosphates (over 5000 PPM). I have been doing what the pool store recommended and now my pool is extremely cloudy (I have cleaned the filters 3 times and now just ordered new cartridge filters based on the recommendation of the pool store). After finding trouble free pools I have been researching a lot and feel that I have been "pool stored" and buying useless chemicals that are not truly helping. I am all in on TFP and purchased the Taylor K-2006 test kit and I am using the pool math app to take control of the pool myself. Looking for your suggestions below to help with the cloudiness of my pool after my first test results myself.

The pool is a 30,800 gallon salt water rectangle pool.
SWG is set at 40%
Return jets are pointed up for small ripples which I see may cause high PH? The 2 skimmers are on opposite side of the rectangle pools return jets so return jets should push debris to the skimmers?

Recent test results from Taylor kit:
FC - 8.0
PH - 8.0
TA - 80
CH - 450
CYA - 10 (I filled the water all the way to the top and can still see the black dot)
SALT - 3600 (SWG is set at 40%)

Any help / suggestions you can provide would be appreciated.

Thank you!
 
Welcome to the forum!
The phosphate remover stuff will cloud up your pool. It should filter out pretty quickly.
Regardless, you need to get some CYA in the pool water. Start with 30ppm worth. As the summer is on the way out, you may or may not need to raise it any further this year. Wait until your water clears and you are sure you have no algae.
Lower the pH to 7.4.
I suggest you read through Pool Care Basics - Trouble Free Pool and even look at a few of our videos TFP-TV - Trouble Free Pool
 
Hello, thank you for your advice I added 30ppm of CYA to the pool and my numbers are now in range. I still have a cloudy pool and my dolphin automatic vacuum has been sucking up a white powder every time I vacuum. Any idea what that could be? Here are my latest test results taken today. Thank you for your help.

FC - 8.5
PH - 7.6
TA - 70
CH - 425
CYA - 90
SALT - 3400
 
Likely still phosphate detritus. Test a pile of the powder with acid to see if it is calcium based.
 
So that is calcium scale. Likely created by your SWCG. But that does not normally cause a 'cloudy' pool. So they may not be related.

I noticed above you reported 0 CYA, added 30 ppm CYA worth of stabilizer, and are not reporting 90 ppm CYA. Something does not add up.

To eliminate the scale created by the SWCG, one must manage pH, TA, and CH to keep the CSI under 0. Your last test data shows a -0.37 CSI (assuming 80F water temperature). So it is odd that the SWCG would create that much scale.
 
With a SWCG and elevated CH, tracking CSI is a good idea.
Your FC is in Target for the 90 CYA so I would not reduce FC generation.

Can you fill out your signature so we have a better idea what pool type, equipment, etc you have? Thank you.
 
Ok most recent test results from this evening are listed below. Looks like my CYA is out of the ideal range so I need to add some stabilizer. Any other suggestions for reducing the calcium? Is that most likely the reason my pool is still cloudy?

Test Results 8/22/2023
FC = 7.5
PH = 7.6
TA = 75
CH = 375
CYA = 65
Salt = 3400
Water Temp = 88 degrees
CSI = -0.14
 

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If your CYA is accurate (65), I would not add more CYA. Round your 65 up to 70 (generally, only read CYA at the lines on the vial...CYA value should end in a 0 (zero)). 70 CYA is fine. And, if you have algae and it is causing your clouding, much easier to SLAM.

Please perform this test tonight. It will tell us if you have algae and that is cause of clouding. Link-->Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
 
Adamf78 said:
Any other things I need to do to take care of the calcium in the pool? Thank you.
Click to expand...
It is odd to have the SWCG create calcium crystals with your CSI. The only way to reduce your CH is to replace water. Do you know the CH of your fill water? Can you test it?

Read section 3.5, "no drain water exchange" to reduce your CH...

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
PoolStored said:
It is odd to have the SWCG create calcium crystals with your CSI. The only way to reduce your CH is to replace water. Do you know the CH of your fill water? Can you test it?

Read section 3.5, "no drain water exchange" to reduce your CH...

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Would calcium have anything to do with Algae? I have calcium stains on my concrete from pulling the robot out so I definitely think I have a calcium problem. I just tested the hose tap water I use to refill the pool and the CH is 70.
 
No idea why your calcium is high. You only need about 200ppm for a vinyl pool with a heater. I'm not sure that the calcium is causing the cloudy.

Adamf78 said:
I have been doing what the pool store recommended and now my pool is extremely cloudy
Click to expand...
What did they have you add? Can you enumerate exactly what they had you add to the pool?

I would do this test tonight...should tell us if you have algae causing the cloudy. Link-->Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Can you post a picture of your pool so we can see what "cloudy" looks like?
 
I took over the pool in mid July and the water was crystal clear. I had the pool store test my water on 7/27 and here is what they have had me do, the water has not been clear since I went to the pool store which is why I am not going anymore and taking over the pool myself.

7/27
pour half a bottle of phos free max into pool
manually shock the pool with 4 gallons of liquid shock

7/28
6 lbs of PH down and brush
clean cartridge filters

7/29
20 lbs of calcium add 5 lbs at a time and brushed where it settled

7/31
Retest water at pool store
15 lbs of calcium added 5 lbs at a time and brushed where it settled
turn output of SWG up to 40%

8/1
add half bottle of phos free max into pool

8/2
Clean cartridge filters

8/7
Retest water at pool store
add 2/3 gallon of muratic acid to front of jet

8/8
Add 1/3 bottle of phosfree extra to skimmer

8/10
Cleaned cartridge filters

8/10
Add 1/3 bottle of phosfree extra to skimmer

8/11
Retest water at pool store
Installed new cartridge filters
Added 10 ounces of clarifier to the pool front jet

8/17
Started testing myself with Taylor K-2006 test kit and taking advice from TFP
 
Here are pictures of my pool the first picture is in the shallow end (4 ft deep). The 2nd picture is in the deep end (8 ft deep). The other pictures are the calcium stains on my concrete from the robot.
 

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PoolStored said:
No idea why your calcium is high. You only need about 200ppm for a vinyl pool with a heater. I'm not sure that the calcium is causing the cloudy.


What did they have you add? Can you enumerate exactly what they had you add to the pool?

I would do this test tonight...should tell us if you have algae causing the cloudy. Link-->Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Can you post a picture of your pool so we can see what "cloudy" looks like?
Click to expand...
I won't be able to perform the overnight chlorine loss test until Thursday night but will post the results when completed.
 
There is NO sarcasm in my voice. Why did you add calcium? There is generally no need for calcium in a vinyl pool, unless (like you) you have a heater and 200ppm should be just fine.

As a general rule, do not add calcium products within 24 hours of ANY pH changing products (chlorine, CYA, Boric Acid, ph Up/Down), as it can cause clouding.

Suspend the use of phos free and clarifiers...forever. See links below. This can cause clouding.

I'm sure we can clean this up.

I would clean your filters and note your clean filter pressure. When it rises 25%, I would clean them again. Rinse and repeat. This should be normal maintenance.

Maintain your FC around 8 until we can sort out your CYA. You reported less than 10, added enough to get to 30, then reported 65. Can you clarify why such a wide range?

I would lower your pH to 7.4, this will help with scaling and lower CSI.

Do nothing else until you can perform OCLT, that will also give us a day to sort out any improvement in clouding with proper filter maintenance.

When you can to OCLT, post results. Take pictures every 12 hours that mimic the ones you posted so we can see improvement.

www.troublefreepool.com

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
www.troublefreepool.com

Non-Recommended Pool Chemicals

These pool chemicals should not be added to your pool. Save your money and frustration and avoid these chemicals!
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 

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