Cloudy water control

Jump to latest Follow Reply
RonnieP

RonnieP

0
Jul 31, 2016
5
Cincinnati
I am new to pool care but I found a thread on this forum that seemed to describe my issue perfectly. It was titled "the bottom of my pool is dirty every day" Since that post was 792 days old, I was told to start a new thread. So here goes! What happens is this...my pool looks great one day and the next it is cloudy, the next day there is "dirt" on the bottom of the pool. if you swish it, it mixes with the rest of the water and disappears although that section of the pool is now more cloudy. The thread I was looking at said it was algea ( but to me it looks like dirt) But sure enough the next day my pool has a slightly green tint. Many folks on that thread talked about CYA being too high. so I ordered a test kit. In the mean time, I brushed the pool, super shocked it and lowered the PH. the pool looked great for 24 hours. Last night it started to cloud up again so I added 2 more gallons of chlorine. This morning it looks better, but it is not crystal clear.:( Then the test kit arrived. Not sure what all readings you experts need but the chlorine levels are bright dark purple and the ph is 7.2. The CYA is negligible, The test instructions for CYA tell you to mix pool water with the chemical and then pour in to the test tube until you can't see the black dot, well I filled up the tube and can still see the black dot. Pretty sure I followed the directions correctly. That said I am guessing the cloudiness will come back by later today and within a couple days I will have the green tint back unless I keep adding huge amounts of chlorine and this redhead does not want to be blonde the rest of the summer, so someone help me! What other test results do you want? Is there an algea preventative? brand name please? What am I missing?
Thanks!
Ronnie P.
 
RonnieP said:
I added the info to my signature, not sure why it does not show up but here is the info.
IG - Concrete - 27K gallons, Sand filter
heated, lots of trees
Click to expand...

Welcome!

what are your numbers for the following tests:

FC=
CC=
CYA= I understand it's not detectable, you can skip it for now
pH=
TA=

do them all in one go so we could get 'snapshot' of your pool state. Please add your test kit name to your sig so nobody will advise you to buy it again :) Post a picture of your pool in daylight preferably over stairs.
 
pool school.jpgok here is the pic and the test results, I think I flunked chemistry in high school, but I think I follow directions well!
FC=17.5 ppm (high right? but I just shocked it ~ 36 hours ago)
CC= 1 ppm I have no clue what range this should be
CYA= still not detectable
pH=7.4
TA=90
My test kit is a Taylor, the one that is in the link in the pool school info.(will add to my signature! Just a note, I see no green today and the shallow end of the pool is clear, I can see the bottom. The deep end which is about 10 ft, I cannot see the bottom of.
Thanks for your help!
 
CH is important for your pool and not related to the immediate issue, but posting it will be helpful to make sure you won't have any long term issues.

Did you use the 25ml sample or the 10ml sample when testing FC? You can use the 10ml sample and multiply the results by 0.5 which will help save on reagent.

Have you been using liquid chlorine all season? Most folks show up here with very high levels of CYA, so it is surprising that you don't have any.

You definitely need to SLAM. Right now your chlorine is battling both the sun and what is growing in you pool. First we need to get your CYA up to 30 to help buffer the FC and protect it from the sun. CYA is sold as "stabilizer" or "conditioner". It comes in solid and liquid form which is more expensive. You can find it at Wal-Mart, home improvement and lastly pool stores. Also, pick up several jugs of bleach/liquid chlorine.

Use pool math to determine how much CYA you need to add. Post what you think you need so we can verify it. You don't want to add too much
 
Last edited:
RonnieP said:
...My test kit is a Taylor, the one that is in the link in the pool school info.(will add to my signature! Just a note, I see no green today and the shallow end of the pool is clear, I can see the bottom. The deep end which is about 10 ft, I cannot see the bottom of.
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Taylor is the company making bunch of kits, I wonder which particular one do you have? 2005? 2006? something else? We just need to make sure you have FAS/DPD test with high enough upper range.

It would also help to take you pics over stairs where you could see cloudiness increase with depth- makes progress tracking easier.

Add 3/4 lb of solid stabilizer (or post what you got using PoolMath) using 'sock' method. I'd add 1/2 lb first, let it dissolve over few days then test and then see if you need more at that point- it's hard to get rid of if you overshoot.

CC must be close to 0 - it indicates something is eating your chlorine in the water so you need to go through SLAM process. You need to buy 10-20 gal of bleach, make sure you have time to perform FC tests and adding bleach every couple hrs on the first day. The SLAM is multi- day process which should be completed once started, you can't give algae a break in the middle or you'll need to start from the beginning. It gets easier and less demanding after first day or two so weekends are usually perfect time to start.
Please make sure your pump and filter are in good shape as you'll be running them 24/7 during SLAM. You'll also need to brush your pool regularly during SLAM, the more the better but at least couple times a day, esp at the beginning.

Let us know when you're ready to start.
 
Thanks guys! The test kit is the K0006. Sorry I cant take a picture from above. I don't have that kind of a vantage point. I am on day three of non-green water and good clarity in the shallow end. In my eyes that is progress! I added stabilizer yesterday and my readings today seem to show it. FC=17 (holding) CC=2 (up 1) and CYA is 40.
PH is way up though at 8.0. I added PH minus to bring it down. I brushed the pool today as well but there did not seem to be anything to brush, but I did it anyway. SOmeone asked if I was using liquid chlorine and yes about 90% of the time. Should I be mixing that up? Before I started this thread, I kinda did a mini slam, so I will hold off a couple more days before I give up and start over.
 
You are off to a good start.

The PH test is unreliable when the FC is above 10, so you shouldn't have adjusted it. Don't worry about PH for now. It was 7.2 when you started, but you can test PH if your FC ever falls to 10.

Stabilizer can take up to a day to show up after it has been fully dissolved. So, you might need to retest just to make sure your CYA is still 40.

Brushing helps remove the protective coating from algae, so it is still important that you brush daily. The more often you test FC and adjust will make this go faster.

Backwash whenever your clean pressure rises 25%. Sand filters work best when they are a little dirty, so don't backwash early.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply