Cloudy Intex Pool with Balanced Water

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fralo

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Aug 25, 2016
49
Pace/FL
Hi all,

I'm entirely new to pools. Just bought a 22' above ground Intex. After adding baking soda, calcium, some sort of conditioner, and shocking as advised by local pool store my pool became cloudy, and has been since the weekend. I don't know at which particular step the water it became this way. Anyway, my pump has been running constantly and I clean the filter everyday. I also have good airflow. Just yesterday I added a clarifier as directed by local pool store. This morning...no change whatsoever. I have become aware, after googling, that the problem may be with the pump itself. However, Intex has no upgrade of a filter pump. I was thinking about going with sandfilter pump. Do you think that might be stronger?

I would greatly appreciate any advice you have. I can't see the bottom but my local pool store says the water itself is fine so I guess it's okay to jump in.

Thank you.
 
First step, stop going to the pool store for advice!! They really don't have a clue, and will sell you stuff you don't need like that clarifier.

How are you chlorinating your pool? Do you have a test kit? The cloudiness is likely the beginning of an algae bloom due to too much CYA (stabilizer) and/or too little chlorine.

At 10k gallons+, that is a big boy pool and you should have a big boy test kit. We recommend the Taylor K-2006 or the TF-100 (affiliated with the owners of this forum). To help you properly, we need a full set of test results from either kit. I know these are a little pricey as far as test kits go, but trust me - it's the cheap option.

In the meantime, give these 3 articles a read and come back with any questions. The last article details how to SLAM your pool (our version of "shocking") - this is likely what you will need to do to clear up your pool.

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool
Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
 
Same thing happened to me last year when I got a pool for the first time. Found this site, got a good test kit, learned about the TFP method and how to SLAM. Been trouble free ever since with the "cleanest" pool most people have ever seen.
 
fralo said:
Newbie question: What is the benefit of the test kits recommended above over just regular test strips, which I already have?
Click to expand...
Short answer is that they are not very accurate, and are unable to test in the ranges required to SLAM your pool.

A longer answer can be had here: testing with strips

Accurate testing is the cornerstone of Trouble Free pool care. When you have a clear and consistent picture of your water chemistry, it is very easy and inexpensive to know what your pool needs to remain healthy && crystal clear.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP fralo

Short answer, test strips aren't accurate and they won't be able to read the higher FC (chlorine) levels needed when you do a SLAM. But if test strips are all you have right now or you have a recent pool store test can you post your numbers so we have some idea where you are at ??
When you say balanced we have no idea if your balanced is the same as our balanced ;)

Being it's an AG (above ground) pool you have no need for calcium. All it can do for your pool is cause problems. Calcium is added to cement, tile, ... pools so the water doesn't leach out calcium and make the structure weak and decay/fail.

We love using this method to care for our pools so there much be something right about it. You will need to break down and get a test kit. Once you have that you will easily save it's cost in a year of DIY maintenance over over running to the pool store and being given a 20-45 dollar bottle of "try this" each time you have a problem.
TF100 test kit link in my signature.

Please add you pool and equipment info to your signature as outlined here: - - > Pool School - Getting Started
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I just purchased the Taylor test kit from Amazon. In the meantime here are the results from the local pool store taken yesterday morning. Bear in mind that it was taken about 10 hrs after shocking the night before.
 

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How are you chlorinating your pool? You need only liquid chlorine aka bleach. You can just regular store brand or Clorox concetrated bleach. Use Poolmath (link at the top of the page) to determine your dose. And check out the Chlorine/CYA Chart (link in my signature) to find what you should be targeting for you FC. Until you get your kit though, you are just shooting blind. I would just add half a gallon of bleach every day and run your pump 24/7 until the kit arrives. Then post your numbers and we'll get you sorted out!
 
Just to show you how ignorant I am about such things, I seriously can just add bleach, as in the bleach that my mind normally associates with laundry? :D

Currently I just have chlorine tables in a floater, shocking it twice.
 
Yes but only regular old bleach, no scented, no splashless, no outdoor. Regular old bleach is Chlorine, same as the liquid Chlorine you could buy at a pool store however generally not as concentrated, meaning it has more water in it. It's also the same Chlorine you'd get if you had a salt water pool and used a salt water chlorine generator. It's also the same as in your dry form of Chlorine except it doesn't have the other chemical binders in it.
 

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Liquid chlorine and salt water chlorine generators are the only way to chlorinate without adding something else to the water. Dry chlorines (trichlor, dichlor, cal-hypo) all have the chlorine bound to something. That something is calcium in cal-hypo and CYA in the others. Stuff you want to regulate separate from your chlorine. Chlorine is a consumable and has to be replenished daily. Calcium and CYA are not consumables, they'll just keep building up in the water until you have too much and have to replace water.

So, yes, just liquid chlorine bleach from now on! Once you get the test kit and get a real number for your CYA, you know your target FC using the Chlorine/CYA Chart (linked in my signature).
 
fralo said:
Thank you so much. So is this generally what you recommend as opposed to floating chlorine tablets, apart from when you SLAM?
Click to expand...

Yes. And that means daily Chlorine additions. There are a couple of automated ways to introduce liquid chlorine into a pool that many people use. Once you get the chemistry down you could possibly skip a day here and there and use tabs for vacation etc. but it's CRITICAL you know what the effect of what you are adding to your pool is. At the bottom of the Pool Math calculator there is a place to enter what you are going to add to see what effect it will have on your chemical levels.
 
So yesterday evening I poured in about half gallon of regular bleach and removed the chlorine floater. While waiting on my Taylor test kit to arrive on Monday I had a question I'd like to go ahead and ask.

1) Do I need calcium at all for an above ground Intex pool? I'm wondering if that's the cause of my cloudiness. I dumped a whole bag of it.

2) What chemicals will I need to keep on hand for daily maintenance? Regular bleach and baking soda?
 
The only thing you need to keep on hand is chlorine. You'll find out if you need the others on a regular basis, probably not. But others would be muriatic acid(lowers pH and TA), borax(raises pH), baking soda(raises TA) and salt if you have a SWG.

But again, chlorine would be the only thing I'd keep readily available. The rest could be picked up as needed.
 
Calcium is unnecessary in a vinyl pool and can lead to scaling on your SWG cell if you have one.
 
So I'll be getting my Taylor test kit from Amazon today and the first thing to do, obviously, is to test my water. My water has been cloudy ever since I got the pool about two weeks ago. I think it was the result of the "pool store" telling me to add baking soda, calcium, shock it, and instant conditioner without telling me that I was to space out these additions over several hours/days. I did it all in about an hour. So since my pool is cloudy I wanna take the bull by the horns immediately this afternoon by running a water test.

I've been doing a little studying in advance, in particular a nice set of instructions found here in thread 'Extended Test Kit Directions'. But it left me a little confused. There are separate tests: Total Chlorine, Free Chlorine and Total Chlorine, and Free Chlorine and Combined Chlorine. Which one should I perform, seeing that each one it appears can be used to determine the same information?

And then I will need to conduct a pH, TA, CH, and CYA test?

I was advised the other day that I ought to add about a 1/2 gallon bleach everyday since I was shootin' blindly until my kit arrived. Is this what I need to add daily from here on out, or is that yet to be determined depending on what my first results are?

Thanks so much for your help thus far. I really appreciate it.
 
TC = FC + CC. So there are only 2 chlorine tests. They feel like just one in reality, because you use the same water sample, vial, reagent, etc. You'll see.

Look at the CYA chart in my sig. Once you know your CYA, you will aim to add enough to get to "Target" and never let it fall below "Minimum". You use Pool Math to determine how much bleach that will take.
 
Even thought you didn't get the TF100 you can always watch the how to videos.

How to: https://www.youtube.com/user/tf100testkit?feature=results_main

This is really handy when buying bleach as it shows you how much per oz you're paying for the actual chlorine. Otherwise it's nearly impossible to try and figure out if 6% 96oz jug for $X is a better or worse buy than a 12% 128oz jug at $Y. Chlorine Price Per Ounce Calculator

You want to be careful that you know and enter the strength when using pool math too !!
 

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