Cloudy water & what salt can I buy for my pool?

[NateEssex]

Hi all,

New pool owner and forum member. I got a salt water generator last year and the installer put the pool salt in and I had clear water all summer. Now I just opened the pool, shocked it, and it's gone from green to blue but cloudy. I used an algaecide and continue to run the filter. The water is maintaining the chlorine from the shock (used test strips). I bought the Dolphin Triton Plus and it comes out with greenish sand/sludge each cycle. What next?

Once it's clear, I have to add salt. All of the local stores are out of pool salt, but they have the other large bags of salt, I think solar salt and water softener salts. Are they okay to put in the pool?

Thanks!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I'm going to try to answer that which I can right inline-

Hi all,

New pool owner and forum member. I got a salt water generator last year and the installer put the pool salt in and I had clear water all summer.That's a good start!
Now I just opened the pool, shocked it What do you consider "shocked it" to mean?, and it's gone from green to blue but cloudy. What do you test results say? From one of the reliable kits, no "Guess-strips" please.
I used an algaecide and continue to run the filter. Algaecide isn't an algae killer, its an algae-avoider. It helps prevent it. What you need is chlorine, plain and simple.
The water is maintaining the chlorine from the shock (used test strips). I bought the Dolphin Triton Plus and it comes out with greenish sand/sludge each cycle. What next? Chlorine, Chlorine and more Chlorine.... liquid... like as in household bleach. Yup! Same stuff. Have you read any of the Pool School articles yet? Start here: ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Once it's clear, I have to add salt. All of the local stores are out of pool salt, but they have the other large bags of salt, I think solar salt and water softener salts. Are they okay to put in the pool? Solar salt is fine, but how do you *know* you need more salt? Best way to tell is to test it yourself with the Taylor K-1766 test kit.

Thanks!

Your pool is large, and it needs proper testing and chemical management to overcome the cloudy blues, and even the swampy greens. You need a proper test kit- The TF-100 is our preferred kit, available on Amazon or via TFTestkits.net It will save you mucho bucks and help you get the most out of your pool this summer. Toss in the Speed Stir and you've got a chemistry testing party going on there

WHen you manage your pool our way you only add to the pool exactly what it needs and avoid the rest that pool stores want to sell you. Keep filtering the pool and read up on how to perform a SLAM procedure, brush the pool often and get some bleach.

please provide us with:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
....and we'll help you fix it up and make it pretty again!

 

[pooldv]

+1 to getting a TF100 from TFTestkits.net. I've been buying mine there for years. Great test kit!

 

[NateEssex]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I ordered one of the recommended kits from this site, TAYLOR TECHNOLOGIES INC K-2006 TEST KIT COMP CHLORINE FAS-DPD. I should have it in a couple of days. I turned on the SWG and added 2 bags of salt to get the reading up to 3200. The water is a little clearer. Using one of the testing sticks, I can't tell if the CYA level is 0 or 30-50...I don't know why they make the colors so close....

I'll post back when I get my real testing kit.