Suddenly Cloudy Water

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Reebs

Reebs

0
Bronze Supporter
Aug 4, 2008
94
Hebron, CT
I suddenly have cloudy water. Never in 4 years have I had cloudy water! It has always been clear during the pool season. I think my solution is an easy one- I have very little FC. My concern is why and what do I do to raise it. I am assuming Bleach from what I have read? How much do I add? I have a SWG so I have never had to worry about this before. Is it not doing what it needs to?

On June 8th, my FC was high at 6.5. On June 28th it was 2, but still clear water. Yesterday I started to see it get slightly cloudy. Today much more so. I did the Chlorine Drop test for accuracy this morning and I have FC of .5 and CC of .5 for a TC of 1. I trust this is my problem?

Other data is: PH-7.5, TA- 90, CH- 200 and CYA- 35. I always have low CYA and I need to get that up. CYA was 40 on June 28th. Lastly, my Salt Level is 3200 which is lower than the 4000 the SWG system recommends. June 28th it was 3700, but we have been pounded with rain in June and the first few days of July- I am assuming that is contributing to the FC problem too? Can you help?
 
You need to shock your pool with bleach or liquid chlorine. Refer to the CYA chart for your shock level.

Follow the instructions in Pool School - for How to Shock your Pool, and performing the Overnight FC Loss Test.

It sounds like your FC got too low, you had "nascent" algae take hold, the SWG couldn't keep up.

After you are done shocking, and your FC is holding overnight, you can resume use of the SWG. But raise your CYA up before you resume normal SWG operations. Shock now at the lower CYA level, raise the CYA up after your situation has cleared. :wink:
 
Many Thanks. Can you elaborate a bit? Forgive the novice questions, but I have never had to shock my pool. The pool company left me some “Super-Shock” when I built the pool. I have 3 gallons of it just sitting here. Each gallon has 12.5% of Sodium Hypochlorite. Is this safe for a SWG? I will perform the overnight FC loss test.

How quickly can we swim after I add shock? We have 12 people coming tomorrow!
Using the chart by Chemgeek, I need approximately 14 Shock FC. What is 14??? 14 What?

Are you also saying to shut off my SWG until tomorrow morning?
 
One other thought to add...I have been running the SWG at only 35% this season. Would all the rain water be a reason for cloudy water? I only boosted the SWG to 80% yesterday morning and the filter only ran for 8 hrs. Am I not giving the SWG enough time to do what it should?
 
Sodium Hypochlorite is fine to use in SWG pools. It is actually the same thing that your SWG is making. Depending how long you've had the 12.5% and where you have stored it, it may have lost strength. Just buy regular bleach...same stuff but 6% SodiumHypo

Your CYA is too low and your SWG could not keep up. If you've had a lot of rain, that helped to lower the CYA even further. Read about how to shock. Use the Pool Calculator to find the FC shock level you need to reach according to your present CYA level. You can keep running the SWG and I would keep the pump on the entire time....until you are ready to do an overnight test. Then you don't want to have your SWG running, because you are trying to determine if there is anything depleting the FC.

Once you get it cleared up, raise your CYA to 70, and you'll have to adjust your SWG power and time that it runs so it can manufacture enough SodiumHypo to keep up the FC level. The power level/time varies with each pool/unit but I would say it is safe to assume that 35% for 8 hrs is not enough...certainly not with a low CYA.

Keep the shock level up, keep the filter on, sweep, vacuum, backwash often and it should clear up soon. :-D
 
Andrew,

Huge help- Thanks! I will try everything you mentioned. I bought 4 gallons of Instant Pool conditioner to have on hand. I will raise my CYA accordingly. However, my question still is, if I am reading the chemgeek chart correctly, I need a Shock FC of 14. What does that mean?? 14 what? And…should I even shock the pool if the SWG will do its job over the course of the next 24 hrs? Thanks!
 
Just to be clear, folks are suggesting that you shock with your current CYA level of 35. Meaning, do not increase your CYA level until after you are done shocking.

It is much easier (less jugs to haul) and much cheaper (less jugs to buy $$) to shock at lower CYA levels. When you look at the Chlorine/CYA Chart, you will notice that FC levels (all FC levels) are higher with higher CYA.

You want to raise your FC to 14 ppm to reach shock level.. You can use Jason's Pool Calculator to determine the correct dose to reach your shock level.

Also, go to Pool School and read "How to Shock Your Pool".

If things are still unclear, post your q's back here and someone will be along to help. :)
 
Yes. Ditto what Joyce said.

To try to elaborate - 14ppm of FC. So if you use the Pool Calc, enter your gallons - in the "now" column put .5 and in the "target" column put 14. HIt calculate, and it will tell you 302 oz of 12.5% or 2.4 gallons. (assuming this stuff is still good. And you'll probably need more.)

Yes, safe to use with SWG. :wink: And yes, you should turn the SWG off when you do the overnight FC loss test.
 
I could use some help again on cloudy water. I rarely have this issue, but I do have it again. From all my reading, I think it has to do with low CYA levels (initially at start-up this year) and leaving the SWG (35%) initially too low this year. After my pool was opened this year the pool company put a lot of shock in. I was getting FC readings of 8- too high. I lowered the SWG output to 35% and this let the chlorine drop to 3 somewhat quickly and I had low levels of CYA at this time (around 35-40). I think I made the mistake of bringing up my CYA to quickly before shocking my pool. I have been able to get my water clear again, but it isn’t lasting. I have shocked the pool and it seems to work, but I think I am not shocking at high enough levels. I used “Jason’s Pool Calculator" and entered a target of FC of 5. My guess is I need to make this number higher? My CYA is higher now because I added several gallons of conditioner (it is now around 70 or 75 and I did this prior to shocking my pool). I have my SWG at 100% too. When I read “how to shock your pool” the chart says my shock level is 28. I don’t know how much bleach to add to clear the water long term. Additionally, I brushed my pool yesterday (because the walls felt "slimy") and that is when it got cloudy again. Any suggestions on how much bleach to add? My question is add 28 what? I am attaching the chart below from “how to shock your pool”.

Thanks!


This is from the Chlorine/CYA chart from How to shock you pool:
SWG Pools

CYA (Stabilizer) Minimum FC Target FC Shock FC
60 3 4 24
70 3 5 28
80 4 6 30
 
If it got cloudy after you brushed, it's probably because you brushed algae or similar off the walls and into suspension in the water. In order to find out what you need to add and how much, you need to return to the Pool Calculator, enter your pool gallons in the box at the top, and start plugging in numbers.

Enter the FC you have on the left and the FC your want (28) on the right. Then you will know how much bleach to add. Do use bleach as it is easier to measure and dose and it doesn't add any other stuff to your pool that you don't want. I would turn off your SWCG cell or dial it back significantly during this process. Running the SWCG cell at 100% puts lots of wear on the cell.

Keep the FC at 28 as best you can and run the pump 24/7 until your FC loss is no more than 1 ppm overnight (sundown to before the sun hits the water in the a.m.) and you CC is 0.5 or less. Brush lots. This may take a few days. Bringing the water to shock level once and calling it good is not going to do it. You must maintain the shock level until the process is finished.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I may have missed it in your posts, but I didn't notice if you explained what type of test kit you are using to get the numbers you report? For example, on the first post you indicated an FC of .5 -- how was that tested? TF100 kit; Taylor kit; test strips; pool store, etc? Also, what are you using to test your CYA?
 
Thanks for the help. I didn't realize 28 meant FC. I just didn't imagine you'd ever want FC that high when ideal levels are 5. It just seemed extreme, but thank you for the clarification. I will try this now.

Also, I was aksed about the kit I am using- Yes- TF100.
 
Can anyone help confirm this? The pool calculator is suggesting I add 1170 oz of 5.25% bleach. Jug size 128oz to shock my pool. This seems very high? Can this be right? I have a current FC reading of 4.5 and I entered a target of 28 according the shock level required. The only reason I am doing this is because of slightly cloudy water. My FC is actually testing pretty normal at 4.5…CC is less than .5 right now- barely regerstering.

Thanks!
 
I calculated slightly more 1253 oz...why 5.25% - can you not find 6% or pool store shock 10-12.5%?

I know it seems like a lot but thats how much you need to reach shock level...
You'll need to do an overnight test tonight to confirm if organics are causing the cloudiness.
 
Thanks...My wife picked up bleach at the store (just 2 jugs) and that was all they had. I used 21000 gallons because I have two conflicting diagrams on my pool...one says is is 20k gallons and the other says it is 22500. I think it is 22500, but I was going conservative.

I only have the 2 jugs on hand...should I add them and see what happens or wait to add bleach when I can add it all?

Also, can I swim right away after adding bleach?
 
I only have the 2 jugs on hand...should I add them and see what happens or wait to add bleach when I can add it all?
Click to expand...
You will need volumes more bleach than that. Two jugs of bleach won't accomplish much.

Shocking the pool is a process...not something you can do with a one-time dose....even if you had enough bleach for the suggested dosage, you would still not have enough.....it needs to be added more than once.

Read "How to Shock you Pool" up in Pool School
 
Swimming after adding bleach

When using bleach to shock your pool, how long do you have to wait before swimming after adding the bleach?

EDIT: I merged the threads together so responders can see your whole "story". It's much easier to follow that way...Duraleigh
 
I have what I think is an Algae question and perhaps problem?

My water levels from test results are pretty good other than CYA being on the low side, but it usually is and I have clear water and good Chlorine levels. My water is perfectly clear too. However, my pool walls are much more “slippery” or “slimy” feeling than usual these past few weeks. I assume this is algae? Can I add anything to get rid of it, or I am supposed to just brush the pool as often as possible? Thanks!

TFP test kit results from today: FC= 3, CC=0, PH 7.8, TA 100, CH 110, CYA 40 (a bit low)
 
Out of nowhere I had cloudy water this morning. On 6-3-12 my water test results were as follows:

FC: 4.5
CC: 0
PH: 7.6
TA: 140
CH: 60
CYA: 40
Salt: 3850 (4000 normal)


This morning (June 9th) my results were:

FC: 0
CC: 0
PH: 7.6
TA: 110
CYA: 40
Salt: 3610 (4000 normal)

The obvious is I lost my chlorine and I will add some right away. The question is why? We did have a lot of rain this week (which is why my salt level has dropped some).

The only I thing I can think of is on June 4th (day after the first test results) we had our lawn Limed by our fertilizer company. They typically stay away from the pool when they treat my lawn, but I could easily see a few Lime pellets reaching the water without their knowledge/intent. Could this zap my Chlorine? Would it also drop my TA?

THANKS!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
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