Good Levels.. but a little cloudy.

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K

kparente

0
Jul 24, 2009
21
First post, so be gentle. :-D
Hello, Been lurking since July 2009, New pool install in fall 2009, finished May 2010.
Opened the pool to crystal clear water.
Pool has been open a month and have had my 2 kids in it and there loving it.
Last week (Mon-Thurs) we had the pump off from it being cool and showery out and very busy. I don't have a timer on the pool ATM.
Turned pump on last Friday 11th after seeing cloudy water starting to happen in the deep end. I vacuumed the pool, only had a handful of leaves and some dust/sand on the liner seams. After I used 1 bag of shock.

Got the water tested on the 14th and the levels were not alarming, but have cloudy water.
--------------------------------
Readings from the 14th
FC: 1.5
TC: 2.7
CC: 1.3 (high?)
pH: 7.5
CYA: 16 (low?)
TA/ATA: 23 (low?)
CH: 18 (low?)
"Per the pool company that installed and service"
* added 8lbs Alk
-waited an hour
* added 6 lbs CH
ran pump for 8 hrs
on the 15th (8am)
* added 4 lbs CYA
-------------------------------
on the 15th (1pm) tested with the acustrips and the levels were good again.
Pool less cloudy, I can see the main drain, but not the liner pattern. Shallow end easily seen.
@ 1:30 took sample to Leslie's, I know I know I got to get a test kit... :roll:
FC: 3
TC: -- did not provide
CC: -- did not provide
pH: 7.2
CYA: 30
TA/ATA: 70
CH: 50
Phosphates: 1000 (Yowie!!?)
"Per the Leslie's" and I have not done the below items yet..
* wants me to add 5 lbs Alk Up
-wait an 4 hours
* added 2 liters PhosFree (to bring down the phosphates). They think that the high Phos may have caused the cloudiness.
run pump for 8 hrs more
on the 16th tomorrow..
* add 12 lbs CH and then another 12 lbs of CH on the 17th
-------------------------------
Looking to clear the clouds and get back on track. I'm new to all the pool stuff, but like working on the pool. I've been to PS, and read all the goodies. Still learning what chemicals affect what. I'm a quick learner so any advice from TFP would be greatly appreciated. I'm here for the long haul and looking forward to understanding and maintaining this huge investment.
 
You've already admitted knowing what you need to do (Get a good test kit.)

Make sure your main drain is working correctly.

Another thing is that you should run your pump every day. Leaving the pump off will allow spots of low FC and allow algae to grow. Which is what I suspect haas happened.

I think you need to shock. Read Pool School on how to do that. You'll need that good test kit to do it correctly.
 
Ok, I'll take stab at it here.

First, you really do need a good test it, but you already know that.

1) you need to run the pump everyday, even if its cool and rainy. The pool water needs to be filtered every day for at least one water turnover, usually around 8 hours per day is a good place to start.

2) your water is cloudy because there is algea starting to grow due to low FC levels and no ater filtration for several days. The water is not cloudy because of phosphates. Ignore that advice.

3) The CC numbers are too high. Indicates that you have organics in the pool that is eating the chlorine.

4) Dont mess with the CH. 50 ppm is fine for a vinyl pool. Dont add any more CH at this point.

5) A TA of 70 MAY be a bit low, but for now, it's fine.

6) pH of 7.2 is ok for now. You could add some borax to increase it to 7.4 or so, but it's not critical.

7) What is critical is that you get some liquid chlorine in the pool now. for a CYA of 30, you need to bring the FC level to 13. For your pool, thats 3.5 gallons of 6% bleach. Add that, and hold the FC at 13. Run the filter 24 hours a day while shocking. If you hold the chlorine at 13, it sholud start to clear.

8) Read and re-read pool school.

9) Get a good test kit.
 
Thanks all....

Notes takes:
* Pump will be fitted with a timer next week.
* Going to go to BJ's and get 4 jugs and dump er in.
* Will dive into the clouds and check the main drain.

Here is the quote of the week from Leslie's
Leslie's said not to ever use bleach for the pool. I chuckled, but want to know why they would blanket statement that.
 
Hello,

BJ's has 2 Jugs Clorox Bleach @ 182 OZ ea for $5.49
Namco Pool has 12% liquid Shock 4 for $17.99

bk406 says 4 jugs of bleach, while Melt In The Sun says "You should pick up a lot more than 4 jugs!" Do you mean to keep on hand? How much more? Don't want to use too little or too much?? :?:
 
If you are shocking you will need to bring the FC level up to shock level, which the amount to add should be calculated in the pool calculator. Then you will need to keep bringing it to shock level several times a day for as many days as it takes until you are done shocking.

Read How To Shock Your Pool in pool school and you will get a clearer picture and see why you'll need to stock up. :mrgreen:
 
ok, will re-read. Can't get out to the store right now. I will shock tomorrow morning

As a side note is it safe for the kids to swim in the pool with the readings from today. The last thing I put in the pool was 4 lbs of CYA @ 8am and it is 5pm now.
 
OK, to clarify: according to bk406 you'll need 3.5 gallons (so about 2.5 jugs @ 182 oz/each) to reach your shock level of 13. But, that chlorine will probably be used up quickly and you'll need to keep adding chlorine to keep it at 13 until it holds overnight. It shouldn't take all that long, but it can be hard to predict. You will almost certainly need more than 4 jugs, and it won't hurt to have some extra.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

At the prices you posted, the bleach is a much better deal!

Oops, more posts since I started typing! I would not let anyone swim.
 
I'm not the impatient type, but I just want to kinda gauge how long this process will take. If I add say 6 jugs of bleach tomorrow morning, how long before I would see some results. I'm not expecting the cloudiness to go poof, but want to prepare myself for some duration of babysitting the pool while I work from home tomorrow.

Also I re-read pool school, but the CYA chart has me.

For me to understand the number I should shock to I take my current CYA and then in the same row on that chart......
Current CYA=30
min = 2
target = 4
my shock number = 12ish.

I keep chuggin jugs and testing till I reach 12ish and hold there till the cloudiness go away?

Of course I dont have the test kit yet and only have test strips. So I can't test CYA to see where I'm at without a store water test. I would order from TFP, but I think Ill get a taylor kit in the morning.
 

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The best way to get an idea of how long the shocking process is going to take is to measure the amount of FC you lose overnight. The more chlorine you lose overnight, the more chlorine it is going to take to clear things up.
 
Will do on getting the taylor kit.

On a side note... I got Liquid Shock for same price as clorox bleach. Liquid Shock @ BJ's was $12.50 for 4 gallons, and they had pallets of it.

I know TFP chants BBB, and "chuck the pucks and use the jug", but just would like to know if using the small handhel bag of granual shock is not a good alturnitive. The pool Co. set me up with 20 handheld bags of the stuff.

I currently have 2 jugs of the liquid shock in the pool now and will test in 2 hours.
 
I know TFP chants BBB, and "chuck the pucks and use the jug", but just would like to know if using the small handhel bag of granual shock is not a good alturnitive. The pool Co. set me up with 20 handheld bags of the stuff.
Click to expand...
The short answer is "Maybe!".

They are probably Cal-Hypo, and assuming you don't have enough CH in your pool already, they're fine. If you have too much CH now, they're troublesome.

They might be di-chlor. Assuming your CYA is not too high, they're fine. Troublesome if your CYA is already high.

The point of BBB is not always using liquid chlorine (although it's absolutely the best) but rather understanding the consequences the other stuff brings to your pool and whether or not they are important.

Test your pool water and understand what to do with the results and you are a BBB'r regardless of what goes in your pool.
 
What's the ingredients in the bags of "shock"? It will either add CYA or Calcium. Either is fine if you need them and bad if you don't.

Actually BBB is more about knowing what you're putting in your pool, and why you're putting it in there. And doing it as inexpensively as possible. It just happens that a few grocery store items fit perfectly with our mantra.

[edit] Dave beat me to it but I'm posting it anyway! :) [end edit]
 
2 gallons of shock certainly made the chlorine go zoom'n up.

Tested the pool this morning and level were a little elevated, and of course CL was 4.0+. I'm sure with this weeks sunshine, most will burn off.

I also had an "aquapill" clarifier that came with the pool. I put it in the skimmer to bobber around and after 8 hours the pool is nice and clear.

Going camping for 3 days starting tomorrow and I'll check the levels when I get back on Sunday. All the chems are a little elevated from shocking, so after 3 days they should calm down.
 
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