New Pool Owner....Need and appreciate any help! Thanks.

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Iceman82

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Bronze Supporter
Jun 19, 2016
34
Aurora, IL
Hello to all!

I'm a new Pool Owner and new to this forum. I hope to be here for awhile, meet others and use this as a valuable resource in the future.

I'm completely lost when it comes to what needs to be done to maintain and clean a pool. I've been reading alot in forums, but still have so much to learn. My issue is the water keeps getting cloudy. Even when it's cleared up, it only stays clear for a day or so then, returns to a cloudy state. I'm hoping that I can get the water crystal clear. I've been going to Leslie's Pool Supplies daily (and probably getting ripped off) and purchasing more and more chemicals. At this point, I figured I should stop wasting money on chemicals and consult a new resource.

Here is everything that has been done to my pool so far:

2 weeks ago pool was opened. We hired a service ($275...it was a ripoff) to open our pool. He attached the pump and filter, shocked the pool. Told us to wait a week for pool to clear up....and it did. Later he returned to vacuum and clean the pool and filter. He didn;t measure any chemicals and was literally just dumping stuff in our pool. He gave us the ok to swim in it. 2 days later it was super cloudy again. You couldn't see the bottom at all, let alone anything beneath the surface.

View attachment 50450
I went to Leslie's to troubleshoot. Here were my results from the water test
Free Avail Chlorine: 3
Total Avail Chlorine: 3
Calcium Hardness: 230
CYA:100
Total Alkalinity: 110
pH: 7.0
Base: 6
Copper: 0
Iron: 0
Total Dissolved Solids: 900
Phosphates: 500

I was told to purchase Soda Ash, PhosFree, Algae Control and Jumbo Chlorine Tabs (I've included photos of what I purchased).
View attachment 50452
As instructed, I added 1lb 7 oz of Soda Ash. After 4 hours, I added 16 oz of PhosFree to the skimmer. Next morning, I added a 4 oz of Algae Control. The pool began to clear up a day later. However, after 2 days , it went back to being cloudy. I used a pH strip and ALL chemicals were balanced; pH, TKA, CYA and Chlorine. I was so LOST as to why the pool would be cloudy? Perhaps, the CYA being a little high?

I took another water sample and returned to Leslie's. Here are the results:
Free Avail Chlorine: 1
Total Avail Chlorine: 1
Calcium Hardness: 200
CYA: 90
Total Alkalinity: 120
pH: 7.4
Copper: 0
Iron: 0
Total Dissolved Solids: 800
Phosphates:0

I was told that the water was safe to swim in and that everything was in balance, besides Chlorine being a little low. As for water clarity, they tried selling me a billion products. I refused. I ended up buying 1# of Power Plus Pool Shock. I also called the pool guy who instructed me to add 5# of Pool Shock product. That sounded like an awful lot to add to an 8600 gallon pool. I added 1# of shock, then added Nature's Way Clarifying liquid 6 hours later and again 4 hours after that. The water cleared up a bit after a day and I could see the bottom. There was brown sediment all over the bottom of the pool, my wife vacuumed most of it up. After vacuuming, the pool was super cloudy AGAIN!!!! I was also told to backwash the filter ( I have NO CLUE what that means or how to do it) and clean the filter. However, I can't seem to get the filter open. Ugh.

Did we vacuum wrong? I dunno.

I went outside this AM and pool looks more clear. So, I guess it worked a bit. It's still not clear enough to my liking though. I'll atleast get in it. I refuse to get in the pool, if it's cloudy and I can't see the bottom. LOL.

I just want a crystal clear pool. Is that possible? I'd appreciate any feedback or recommendations that you can share with me. If there is anything that I did wrong throughout the process, please let me know. Any tips that you can share are greatly appecated!

Thanks in advance for your help. I look forward to learning more with everyone here.

Happy Father's Day to any Dads out here!

Have a great day! Thanks.
 
Welcome to TFP! You've come to the right place.

All of your test results show that your chlorine levels are too low for your CYA level. What is very likely happening is that your pool is on the verge of an algae bloom - that's what's turning the water cloudy.

Step one of practicing our methodology is to take control of your water testing. I would look into one of the the Recommended Test Kits to properly manage your pool. I use the TF-100 because it's the best value and they have a freshness guarantee. You can order it here: TFTestkits.net. They ship fast - you should have it in your hands in 2-3 days with normal shipping. Plus, it'll probably cost less than your last trip to the pool store.

Step two - While you are waiting for your kit to arrive, here are some resources to give you an overview of managing your pool using our methods:

1. Begin with this article: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry. This boils everything you need to know about managing pool water chemistry down to one page.

After you have a good understanding of the ABC's article, the following articles will give a little more information on the pool chemicals we recommend and the recommended levels.
2. Recommended Pool Chemicals
3. Recommended Levels

The most important concept to understand is the chlorine to CYA ratio. Once you understand that, you are well on your way to a Trouble-Free Pool.

BTW, do not worry about Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Phosphates. These are parameters that pool stores often include as part of their "free" testing to get you to buy more snake oils.
 
Focus only on the Target and Minimum levels for now. The Target level is the recommended maintenance amount of chlorine (FC) you should dose up to when adding chlorine. The Minimum is the level that FC should not drop below for proper sanitation.

The 16 shock FC is only for what we call a SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain. This is only necessary if your pool has an algae bloom or other organic contamination (which you may indeed have based on your pics). But you will need one of the recommended test kits in order to do the SLAM properly since most pool store test kits will not measure FC at SLAM levels. That's why I would order that kit tonight. Looking at the pic of the chemicals they told you to buy, I'm willing to bet that TF-100 will cost about what you paid for the PhosFree + Algaecide + Clarifier (all of which you will not need, BTW). So if there is any way you could return those three items, you'll get the test kit almost for free.
 
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