Cloudy

[mud]

My pool was finished a month or so ago and so no more pool guy. Pool is a bit cloudy and when I rub my hand on the side of the pool a cloud of something shows up. Same occurs when I brush. I added some extra chlorine last night and this is where I'm at:

FC 12.0
CC 0.25
PH 8.0
TA 80
CYA 50
CH 240

What could be causing the stuff on the side of my pool that clouds up? Is it algae? My FC has been close to 1 or 2 over the last week but never 0.

It's hard to tell if pool has a green tint as plaster is dark.

 

[mud]

Forgot to mention I'm on a SWG, an IC40, and system says it's at 3450 ppm and at 70%.

 

[Guest]

I see a couple of areas that are confusing me.

The IC40 allows you to set the run time in increments of 20 (20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%); how are you setting yours at 70%?

The CYA levels for your pool are a bit low for a salt pool.

Your pH is too high. You need to get that down some (mid 7's).

Your FC may have gotten low enough to start a small algae bloom, so that may be what you are seeing. I would brush the entire pool, keep your FC levels up, run the pump and do the overnight test. That would address the algae, if that is what it is, but I would also work on the pH and CYA levels, which need some attention as well.

 

[mud]

Easytouch wireless controller says 70 under diagnostics/intelichlor but ic40 unit itself has 4 green lights so must be 80.

Already added some MA to lower ph. I'm probably going to have to add MA every 2-3 days as ph rises often.

I'm being cautious with the CYA as I don't want to overshoot and I haven't had my pool school yet to know if they have added any recently.

I'll do FC test tonight and in the morning to see where I'm at. I'm brushing twice a day at the moment.

Thanks for the help!

 

[257WbyMag]

For the overnight FC loss test, be sure to shut the IC 40 down tonight prior to testing FC. Take your reading, continue running the pump overnight, and then take an FC reading again in the morning before the sun hits the water.

 

[mud]

I tried to turn off the IC40 through the easytouch but all the lights stayed green on the IC40 so I just turned the pump off overnight.

FC was 11.0 in the evening and 11.0 this morning.

We were gone all day today so the pool wasn't brushed at all. When we got home, the water was crystal clear!

I brushed 1 section 5-10 times and didn't see much of anything. I then ran my hand over that same section and again, a cloud formed. What could be on my plaster that doesn't come off with a brush but will with my hand? Pool is 1 month old so could the Wet Edge Primera plaster still be "shedding" or whatever it would be called?

How should I clean this, whatever "this" is, if the brush won't do it?

 

[Guest]

Did they acid wash the Wet Edge finish after application? That product is somewhat similar to Hydrazzo, which typically gets "polished" after application also, so I wouldn't expect any dust from it.

Something is strange if the brush isn't producing anything but your hand is. That part doesn't make any sense to me. Are you in a dusty area, or surrounded by trees that could have pollen at this time? It still doesn't make sense that a brush would not make a "cloud" if you are, but I'm just not convinced it is the plaster finish.

 

[mud]

They acid washed before they polished and also did a light acid wash afterward.

Brushing does stir some of it up but my hand seems to stir up more than brushing.

I'd say the color of the "cloud" tends toward brown which would suggest dead algae?

Water was still clear this morning but I did no brushing yesterday.

In any case, I'll keep brushing and see what happens over the next few days.

 

[Guest]

The acid wash and polishing would have removed pretty much everything from the finish, so that is not what it is. It does sound like either dirt or algae, though.

Did you get a good test kit yet? That would help you to see what is really going on with your water, and allow you to take complete control of your pool!