Cloudy water again this year

[MOM&POP DIY]

I fought this same battle last year and finally lost the battle. I resorted to using a clarifier which worked over night. But, I really do not want to add this to my pool. I have used the pool calculator at the pool school and kept my water over the mustard shock level for 3 days - still cloudy with no daily improvement noted. Only change is when I first started water had a greenish tint that is now more milky than green.

My levels at this moment:

FC 14.0
CYA 20
TA 70
PH 7.8
Salt 3000

As I said in the beginning - this same thing happened last year. I fought what I feared was mustard algae, as I had a powdery brown/tan substance on the steps and along seam lines on the bottom. I fought for several weeks last year with clorox till I feared I would ruin my liner - no improvement. I finally began to believe that this was dust and NC pine pollen, so I used a clarified - it cleared up over night - first treatment. So.....if the clarified worked by binding particles to make it easier to trap in the sand filter, then it stands to reason, my filter just is not doing the job. Am I right?

Do I need a new filter, should I replace the sand, or can I safely add DE to a sand filter. I have washed the sand twice this year already. Any thoughts?

 

[JamesW]

What is your calcium level?

How long do you run the pump each day?

How old is the filter?

You should get your cyanuric acid up to help protect your chlorine from burning off so fast.

 

[poolmomma]

You really need to shock your pool and in order to do that you need to keep it at shock level until it clears. Shock for your size is 15, but only if you can get and maintain your CYA between 30 and 50. Mustard algae is a yellowish color more than green. Sounds like you have a good green algae bloom that just isn't ready to die yet. Getting rid of algae takes patience and you have to keep at the shocking until you see results. 3 days just isn't enough. I have been shocking my swamp for 3 weeks before I even saw it change from green to cloudy blue. I even had my dog in the swamp to stir it up a little. Keep on it, day and night, adding chlorine to keep it at shock level until you can hold shock level overnight. Once it starts to clear, you should be able to let it drop to normal and keep it.

Clorox isn't going to ruin your liner unless you aren't using it properly. If you can smell it, you are using too much.

Have you changed your sand? I noticed a great improvement when I changed my sand for the year. And have you vacuumed the bottom lately? I have a small pool and have vacuumed mine 3 times in 2 months just to get all the debris out. Algae is a pain and will come back if you don't scrub it all gone! If you have a ladder, take it out and soak it in bleach. Anything that has come in contact with the algae, bleach it or get new.

Good luck and don't lose faith! You are well on your way to a trouble free pool!!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

If you can smell it, you are using too much.

Not necessarily true... if you can smell it, that is likely CC and MORE clorox is the solution in most cases...

Do you do an overnight FC loss test? If the FC held overnight, the algae is dead and it can take up to a week for a sand filter to achieve the desired clarity. I agree, you should post your CH level.

Yes, you can safely add DE to your sand filter and that should help things some, but if the FC isn't holding overnight, you are not done shocking. So perform the FC overnight loss test first, and then go from there.

Instructions for adding DE to the filter as well as performing the overnight loss test are located in Pool School.

Post back if you need clarification on anything