Cloudy water

[LadywithIron]

I understand why I got the cloudy water, I let the FC slip too low in the heat of the day for a few afternoons, I have a CYA of 30-40 so I am currently holding the FC at 15ppm, have had it there for about 24 hours now, I think it held overnight, I am not a real early bird, checked it about 9 and FC was 12ppm still. No CC. Ph 7.4, TA 110. Vinyl liner so CH shouldn't matter should it? I do have sesquesterant in the water.

My question is, do you leave the FC at shock level until the cloudy goes away, or do you let the FC level go back down to the recommended range for your CYA, and THEN the cloudy will go away?

There is nothing visible to the naked eye in the water, no tiny particles that I can see, it really looks kind of soapy.

I can get the CH number if I need to.

 

[JasonLion]

You should definately keep it at shock level for at least another 24 hours. You want to make sure you really got all of the algae. If you can't get a clear test, ie drop of 0.5 or less overnight, because of not testing first thing in the morning then it might be safer to just keep the FC high till the water is clear.

The filter will probably take several days to clear the water after all the algae is dead. You should see an improvement each day. During this period continue to keep an eye on the filter and backwash/clean as needed.

The CH level doesn't mater with a vinyl liner as long as it isn't very very high.

 

[LadywithIron]

Thank you
CH is only 130.
I guess I should not use clarifier? I have the intex pump with the paper filter.

Also, would swimming be out of the question with the FC this high with this CYA level?

 

[JasonLion]

Clarifier won't help. You could try floc, which is very similar. Using floc costs more and is a bit of work but will usually get the water clear in less than 24 hours. Clarifier gets the particles to clump together so the filter can take them out. That isn't an issue here, you just need time for enough of the water to go through the filter and it will take out the murk just fine. Floc gets the murk to fall to the bottom of the pool and then you vacuum it up.

Swimming is possible as long as your chlorine level is holding, ie not diving towards zero. Not everyone agrees, some won't swim with FC that high. I recommend rinsing off both yourself and bathing suits after swimming with high chlorine levels.

 

[LadywithIron]

I have kept it at shock level, it's held two nights in a row overnight, it wasn't a pretty sight, but I managed to get out there early and check it, so I am letting it drop some now, probably just back to the 6ppm. It's still very cloudy though, doesn't seem to be clearing. I am running the vacuum now, just to get any dirt that might be down there.

I did notice some scaling on the ladder, it's metal. But with the CH level where it is, that doesn't make sense to me. Could it have something to do with the sesquesterant level in the pool? It's HEDP based, can you get too much of that?

 

[JasonLion]

Scaling usually only happens when the chemistry is off. Could you post a full set of numbers? Or you could try calculating the CSI with my pool calculator and see if you are in the range for scaling. Are you sure it is scale?

 

[LadywithIron]

I am not sure that it is scale, it could just be kind of a reaction thing with the paint on the ladder? This water seems almost soapy, bubbles last a long time on the top of the water.

The numbers as of a few minutes ago are

FC 10
CC 0
TA 110
PH 7.2
CH 130

I tried the calculator, and came up with -0.49, but I really have no idea about the borate level. I have added borax a couple of times, just very small amounts, I left that at 0, and salt also at 0.

For now, I have the pump turned off, I am going to see if everything will settle to the bottom. I think it might because I have a bucket that I empty the filter pump water into, and at first that is really cloudy every time, and then within a couple of hours, it settles to the bottom.

EDIT: Ok this is later, and I just looked at the water with a flashlight in the dark and YICH you can see things floating around in there! So I am still letting it settle to see if it will go to the bottom for easier vacuuming, but I went ahead and brought the FC back up to 15ppm.