Cloudy pool for week now

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laceyb95

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Jul 22, 2015
5
cookeville, tn
I have an above ground pool it 28,000 gallons. I just killed the algae with bleach and the cloudiness won't go away. I tried water clarifiers, more bleach, and now trying a floc.

FC: 0.02

TC: 0.14

CC:0.12

PH: 7.8

TA: 117

CYA: 1

I also use a pool RX which ionizer using unstabilized sanitizer. Today I went to the my local pool place and they told me to put floc in the skimmer and 2 bags of shock (1lb each) at night. So far no difference at all. This first time using floc does it normally takes this long? Also, the pool place advise me to backwash and rinse after 24 hours.
 
Welcome to TFP! How did you get those test results? I would advise you to stop going to the pool store! That will solve 90% of your issues...stop using floc, algaecides, ionizer stuff, magic potions and other virtually useless chemicals that they will so happily sell you. Get a good test kit like the Taylor 2006C or the TF-100 (great kit). Post a full set of results and the experts here will get you going in no time!

Oh, go get yourself about 10 to 20 jugs of plain old Walmart Great Value bleach. I suspect that you're gonna need bunches of the stuff.

That ionizer might look fancy, but it is not needed and something I would remove.
 
laceyb95 said:
I have an above ground pool it 28,000 gallons. I just killed the algae with bleach and the cloudiness won't go away. I tried water clarifiers, more bleach, and now trying a floc.

FC: 0.02

TC: 0.14

CC:0.12

PH: 7.8

TA: 117

CYA: 1

I also use a pool RX which ionizer using unstabilized sanitizer. Today I went to the my local pool place and they told me to put floc in the skimmer and 2 bags of shock (1lb each) at night. So far no difference at all. This first time using floc does it normally takes this long? Also, the pool place advise me to backwash and rinse after 24 hours.
Click to expand...

Welcome to TFP,

Unfortunately, you would think Pool stores would be the best place to get advice, but they are often not. What they prescribed won't get you out of trouble. Free Chlorine, not floc is what will cure your problems. In reality, you have none according to that test set. I highly doubt the 1 Cya, because there isn't a test I Know of that can determine that low amount. I'd be very skeptical even if it was claimed it could. The best remedy is taking control of it yourself. It just means learning a little, and testing your own water. It's not hard at all, and with a little effort, you'll have a beautiful pool, and you won't be guessing about what's going on.
 
laceyb95 said:
I have an above ground pool it 28,000 gallons. I just killed the algae with bleach and the cloudiness won't go away. I tried water clarifiers, more bleach, and now trying a floc.

FC: 0.02

TC: 0.14

CC:0.12

PH: 7.8

TA: 117

CYA: 1

I also use a pool RX which ionizer using unstabilized sanitizer. Today I went to the my local pool place and they told me to put floc in the skimmer and 2 bags of shock (1lb each) at night. So far no difference at all. This first time using floc does it normally takes this long? Also, the pool place advise me to backwash and rinse after 24 hours.
Click to expand...

After re reading your post and seeing that you've asked advice from forum members on here about the use of products that would almost never be recommended or approved for pool care the way it is taught here, it's looking like maybe you've just stumbled on to this website or maybe even just this forum for help with your pool and don't really realize the significance and the treasure that you've found here.

What is here is a totally different method of pool care. The big difference is that this method of pool care is more simple, cheaper, and most importantly, it works! But you've got to go to the home page, read pool school, and understand what you're going to be doing. Nothing the pool stores or chemical manufacturers teach is anything like what is taught here.

Please, if you haven't already, order one of the recommended test kits, get some cases of freshly-dated bleach; and then start reading pool school and get an understanding while you're waiting.

What you've found here is a system of pool care based on accurate, daily testing of FC that will be based on the CYA level of your pool and no one else's pool. A system of pool care that does not subscribe to a bunch of fancy chemicals that do nothing good for pools, but rather, a system of pool care that promotes chlorine as both sanitizer and algaecide. A system of pool care that requires, except for some very rare circumstances, only bleach, baking soda, borax, muriatic or dry acid and CYA (only the latter is a product that must be purchased at a pool store; the others can be purchased at grocery stores and hardware stores).

Since you have a cloudy pool, what's going to happen next is that you're going to get one of the only test kits that will accurately measure FC at the high levels that you will need to fix the pool, which have been linked above. Usually, you can get one of these kits only online. After testing and possibly makings some PH and/or CYA adjustments, you will be doing something called a SLAM. This is not the same as simply shocking a pool and hoping that it'll be fixed. Shocking is part of SLAMing, but SLAMing also means you'll be maintaining shock level and scrubbing the pool until you pass an ONCLT, the pool is clear, and CC's are below .5. After clearing the pool and truly killing whatever caused your pool to go bad, TFP also involves a different, more simple, and much more effective way of taking care of your pool on a daily basis.

If any of what I typed in the paragraph above doesn't make sense, please ask. This is not a place on the web where you will find experts teaching pool care the pool store way. This is alot different and alot better, and you have to understand the components of this method as you go forward. It's all here on these web pages. If you follow the methods here, you can and will permanently fix your pool. You may never see a cloudy pool again.
 
Thank you so much for your advice! Them test result is the one I received from the pool store and I even thought it was inaccurate especially about my cya. I did buy a testing kit of my own and unfortunately it isn't a taylor trying to save up to buy one of them. From what I read I need to buy bleach; however, I bought around 22 bleach from walmart. My pool at the time was green and the bleach cleared it right up, but left cloudiness. I read the swimming pool school but the slam confused me. Would love to learn a cheaper alternative because the pool stores are costing me a fortune.

- - - Updated - - -

I really doubt my cya that low but that what my local pool store said. How would I test my cya with my own pool kit?

The pool kit I have is the Poolmaster 22270 5-Way Test with Case - Premier Collection. I retest my pool and my

FC :0.6
PH :7.2
TA: 160

That the only thing new how to test with this kit. My pool cleared up barely with the floc, but still cloudy.
 
Unfortunately my pool kit doesn't have a CYA test. I planning on getting that recommend pool testing kit asap. Really wanting to start treating my pool using the TFPC method. Just very intimidating and don't want to mess my pool up. Want are the basic you keep on hand? I already read the pool school and I believe I can do this.
 
I believe the experts on here normally recommend a couple of jugs of 8.25% bleach (or equivalent) each evening for your size pool while you wait on the test kit. This way you should be able to keep it from getting worse while your waiting.

It looks like you've started reading on here. It's not complicated; just different than pool store advice. The kit will likely be no more expensive than the bleach you'll need to SLAM with that size cloudy pool. The folks on this forum can help walk you through everything, but you've got to have kit in hand, and you will need to read the instructions; carefully test and read results, and then post them all on here. From that point, members can help you through the steps. And, by the time you successfully SLAM, you will have learned a great deal about how TFP methods work and how to proceed from now on.

The recommended kits are the only ones that will let you accomplish a successful SLAM, because you'll have to achieve and maintain a shock FC level and the FAS-DPD test is the only one that's going to let you accurately maintain that shock level.

Also, you'll need a kit with a CYA tester, because we're skeptical of the pool store test, and so, since you need the FAS-DPD anyway; I'd just order one of the recommended kits if you have to beg borrow or steal.

What has happened is that you put in enough bleach to kill the visible algae, but if the pool is cloudy, then there is still organic material in the pool, and it will keep growing and coming back and you'll be in the same shape. A pool store fix will also likely be a temporary fix. You are going to need to SLAM the TFP way to kill it all, which may take several days, and then following the TFP daily routine will prevent this problem in the future, because, from then on you'll be keeping an appropriate level of FC in the pool for your CYA.

But to get started with a real fix, you've got to have one of those test kits.
 

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Without a doubt you can do this! You can also do it way cheaper than using a pool store to treat and advise you on clearing your water. I can absolutely tell you that one item you can't be without is a recommended test kit. If you follow our advice, it is must...bite the bullet and be on your way to a perfectly balanced pool.
 
Hello laceyb95, and welcome to TFP,

I have to agree with gregsfc above when he said," maybe you've just stumbled on to this website or maybe even just this forum for help with your pool and don't really realize the significance and the treasure that you've found here." Today IS your Lucky Day!!!

Being a newbie here myself, I understand what you mean about "feeling intimidated and not wanting to mess up your pool," BUT you have come to the exact right place to lose the feeling of intimidation, gain wonderful knowledge, to be taught what you should, and should Not do, in order to not mess up your pool. Plus, you become self sufficient in the care of your own pool, and can say what chemicals need to be in there, what chemicals don't need to be in there, and Why.


The 1st thing I suggest you do is get the right kit as they have already suggested. It will Save you a lot of money in the long run, and the proper test kit is crucial for this process to work. Also, listen to these people here because they know what they are talking about, and how to get the job done, correctly. Follow their techniques to the letter, if you don't understand how to do something, ask, if you still don't understand it, ask again, and keep asking until you understand it. No one here will ever get aggravated at you for asking the same questions, or try to make you feel stupid, so there's no reason to ever be afraid to question those things that you don't understand. The majority of the time if you have a question several people will chime in and all describe it a different way, so usually one of the comments will give you that AH HA moment when you say, Oh now I get it. It will take time to learn, and to do the process, just be patient, ask questions and keep your FC level up always where it needs to be, and the results will be awesome.

Allow them to teach you, and allow yourself to gain all this new free knowledge. (It's all very interesting once you do get it figured out, lol I'm still working on figuring it out too, but I'm a lot further along then I was a week ago).

The people here are awesome, so knowledgeable, and they are always willing to help you. Your job in the process is to follow the directions they give you in the process, in order to kill out the algae that is right now responsible for keeping your pool cloudy.

The 2nd thing on your list needs to be to not use all that expensive algaecide, clarifiers, powder shocks, pucks, etc. because that is one of the easiest ways I know of to mess up your levels, and possibly mess up your pool.

I am proud to say I personally returned $158.96 worth of that stuff just today, and I'll never buy Any of that expensive, useless, unnecessary, and undesirable, stuff again. Yes, some of those things can clear up your pool, but the problem is most of the time, they aren't killing off the algae, they are merely masking it; therefore, the algae is still alive, and well in there, but it is only temporarily hiding. It will prove it too, the 1st time your FC level drops a little low, the live algae will turn your pool a bright emerald green color again. Also most of those products add stuff to your water that just hangs around in there causing your levels to be erratic, your pool to become cloudy, etc. It usually requires another product to get rid of what the other product left behind in your pool, and yet another to rid the pool of what the 2nd product left behind, and so on. It is a vicious, continuous, cycle, and exactly what will keep a lot of pool stores in business when most of the time they have no clue what your pool needs, so they guess, and sell you tons of unnecessary chemicals, and it causes you more problems in the long run.

I am in the middle of a SLAM myself, and my pool is also cloudy, but I've learned enough here in the past week that I know it will be that way until I Kill ALL the algae out. Could I clear it enough to swim in it by throwing masking products in there, yes, but the pool will still be full of live algae, and actually isn't safe to swim in with all that live algae I don't know about you, but I personally don't want to swim in algae at all. Not only is it slimy and gross, but it can also cause medical issues too. I want my pool crystal clear, and I want to know what chemicals I'm swimming in too, which is what BBB, and the wonderful people here will teach me, and You to achieve.

So don't be intimidated by the method itself because there's no doubt in my mind that you Can do it. I hope you get your New test kit soon, so you can get your BBB process started, and clear that algae out of your pool, and keep it out. Have A Wonderful Night. :)
 
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