Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlorine.

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L

Lawrosa

0
May 19, 2010
44
Central NJ
FC. Shock level 13+ (Have not added any bleach in 36 hours)
PH. 7.2 ( Was 12+ while shocking. Came down when I stopped adding Bleach)
Alk. 80 ( has not changed since opening)
Hardness 17 ppm or 1 gpg (Tested with my powder test kit I use to test my well water hardness)
CYA 20-30. ( cant tell with cloudy pool. Dot may be disapearing from the water. Does not matter chlorine will not disapate)

Opened green pool. Shocked it and kept shocking it. Maybe shocked too much. Green went away and pool has been cloudy 4-5 days now.

I have been filtering 24/7. Low speed, hi speed. Removed my sand filter and installed my cart back. Still cloudy. I am thinking its too much bleach.

The cart filter pressure start is 15 psi. The pump has been running high all day. Its almost at 20psi in 10 hours. The sand filter pressure would not rise at all unless I added DE. The pressure with the sand and DE would climb 5-8 psi in 1 hour. I though it may just be the DE. Whow knows.

I never had an issue like this before. I added that blue Crud that is supposed to work good with the carts. I only added 2 oz mixed with water, and spread around the pool.

If this pool clears up when the chlorine comes down then I can say its too much bleach. Somewhere I read it says bleach will not cause a cloudy pool. I think this is my case on why the pool is staying cloudy. That cart and 1 hp pump turns my water every two hours. I turned the water at least 5 times with the cart alone, and who knows how many times with the sand.

The pool has been BBB since day #1. Just this yr the cover had to come off early and the pool was GGGRRREEENNNN!!!!!

Anyone?????
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

Not really. I have a thread regarding adding DE to the sand filter I had hooked up. And one regarding high ph when I shocked.

Like I said the pool was a swamp last tuesday. Its been white cloudy for

I just tested the chlorine.

Its down to

FC 1 Added 5 and 5 drops r1 and r2
TC 1. added 5 drop r3. Went from 1-2. ( Does that mean FC 1 plus TC 2 = 3???)

What should I do. Bring it to shock level again??? Ugg more bleach if so. I went through 28 gallons already in a week I think.

Mike NJ
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

I'd get back involved in that shock process quickly before all the bleach you have used so far ends up being a waste. You're getting there. I'd go to shock level for the "high" side of your CYA estimate.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

You need to keep the pool at shock level until you pass the overnight test. Sand filters do not filter as efficiently or catch tiny particles as well as DE and cartridge filters, thus you will see a slower rise in pressure with a sand filter. It is good that you have to clean a DE or cartridge filter frequently while fighting algae, it means the filter is doing its job catching all the dead algae, it will just take time to finish.

Time to open some POP (pool owner patience) :wink: and complete the shock process. Your pool did not get this way overnight, it will not become clear overnight. If you keep at the shock process I think you will see good results soon.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

OK went out to shock.

Silly question.

Before I shocked I got

FC 1 5 drops r1 and 5 drops r2
TC 2 After adding 5 drops r3 in the same mixture from above went from 1 to 2. So TC 2? Correct?
CC -1 (here is the silly question) My kit says subtract FC from TC. 1-2= negative -1

Is that correct? Negative -1

And you need to shock whenever you have any CC???? Or if you have a 1 or a 2 you can wait until after the weekend say???
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

FC is 1, TC is 2. Subtract FC (1) from TC (2) is TC-FC is 2-1 is +1, which makes sense though it isn't great. You want CC to be 0.5 or lower.
 

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Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

Good morning.

OK checked the pool FC this morning. Over 5 so I diluted the test 1/2 and 1/2 and got a FC 6

Pool is still cloudy and filter pressure seems to stop at 19 psi. Starts at 15 psi. But it was up to 19 psi before I went to bed. Hmm... The sand filter did that too with DE added.

OK brought the chlorine back up to shock.

I read on the pool calc, that if you have 0 cya becareful. Whats that mean?? I also read is your CYA is 0 you should not raise the chlorine above 5. Whats that mean.

Anyway pool is as cloudy as ever. I think there is something else I should be doing. I added 2 oz of clairifier yeaterday. Should I clean the filter and add another 2 oz? The label says 4 oz for 10000 gal pool, so I cut it in half.

How about floc?

OK, going to go brush the pool. Be back in a few.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

If the pool has never ever had CYA in it then chlorine can be much more corrosive than a pool that has ever had CYA in it. It only takes a tiny residual from previous CYA usage to cut down the effects of the chlorine substantially. The numbers in the Pool Calculator recommended chlorine levels all assume that a CYA level of zero means there used to be CYA in the pool, but the test is showing zero. In which case the actual CYA level is probably around 5 to 10.

On a completely new pool that has never had CYA, the recommended FC level is 1, shock is 2, and you should never raise FC above 5. But as soon as there is even a little CYA in the water the levels go to what the Pool Calculator recommends.

You can try floc if you want. You have to be able to vacuum to waste, it will end up dumping a lot of water, it is a lot of work, and it doesn't always turn out right. But it can clear up the water overnight.

It sounds to me like water is bypassing the filter somehow as soon as the pressure gets to 19, so your filter catches some stuff and then stops working. That can happen if one of the seals in the multi-port is not quite right. I'd try backwashing as soon as it gets to 19 a couple of times and see if that does anything.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

I switched it back to the cart yesterday.

OK went out and vacuumed the pool blind since I cant see the bottom. I did this a few times with the sand filter earlier in the week.

Cleaned cart to 15 psi. Did 1/3 the pool and pressure rose and flow almost stopped out the return. Cleaned cart, 15 psi, and 5 swipes of the vacuum and low flow again. Repeated this 6 times or so. On the last time cleaning the cart flow out the return maintained somewhat.

By the way the cart is 8 yrs old. I soaked it in muratic acic and water. It seems to work better. I have a new cart on the way.

The hayward cart they want over $100 for. All the online sites have the unicel. Thats what I got. I hope its good. It was half the price $60 with tax.

OK, cleaned the cart and pool is shocked and running on high.

1. I used alot of chlorine. Its getting expensive to own this pool this yr.
2. I am using alot of electric running on high 24/7.

11A x 120v = 1320 watts hr.
1320 watts x 24 hr = 31680 watts a day
31680 watts a day / 1000 watt hrs = 31.68 watt hrs

31.68 x .17 cents a watt hr = $5.38 a day or $161.00 a month........Ouchhhhhh!!!!!
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

The Unicel cartridge will be fine.

Your actual electrical usage is probably a little less than that, but close enough. You mixed up watts and watt hours and kwh a little, but your math is all correct despite that. The only difference from what you calculated is that most pumps don't actually use quite as much electricity as they are rated for.

You almost never want to soak a cartridge in muriatic acid, and then only after soaking in detergent. The best way to do a complete cleaning is to soak in a mixture of one cup of automatic dishwasher detergent for every 5 gallons overnight. Using acid without using detergent first can cause any oil on the cartridge to solidify and cause some blockages. Acid is only needed when there is calcium scaling, which is very rare and should be visible.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

A few years ago I did a calculation on what it takes to run a pool, on normal cycle. I had a friend around the corner from me with a 24,000 gallon pool and interestingly the same exact house as mine. They kept their house warmer in the summer than I did, but their electric bills were consistently $120 a month higher than mine. Of course depending on what your rates are, YMMV.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

I actually washed the cart in the dish washer. I removed the top rack so it would fit....LOL. Hey, I read that somewhere. It cleaned it pretty good, then I did the acid. It got the pressure to start at 15psi, instead of 18 psi. So it must have done something. The only thing is it seems to clogg up in an hour or so, and flow really reduces. I think its shot. 6 - 7 yrs old I think. We got the pool in 04' but did not use the filter for 1 yr when I had the sand.

Uggg, the kids want to go swimming and are bugging me. All the neighbors pool are open. They are probably all laughing at me because they know I use BBB. They use pool store and they are swimming. I know its eqiupment issues and the fact that my pool was a swamp.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

Lawrosa,
I also live in Central NJ and can say this with experience. We are still in the height of pollen season and the recent high temps, intense sunshine, and lack of rain aren't helping your situation. Just keep it at shock level and keep filtering. May I suggest that if you can't babysit the pool all day, as I can't, you bump the FC slightly above shock to help get you through until you can. Also, I'm not an expert but there may be a better PH to shock at. Wait for a more knowledgeable opinion on this. Good luck and lets hope for a break in the weather, huh?
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

Having the PH at 7.2 while shocking is just fine. The only reason to raise the PH would be if you are using dichlor or trichlor, otherwise leave it alone.
 
Re: Still cloudy after opening. I am thinking too much chlor

I found out the cart has some thin spots. No holes but I can see light. I actually hooked up both filters in series. I finally removed the cart because I thing the filter is shot.

I am running sand filter again. I am home all day. Been laid off for 2 yrs now. I have all day to work on the pool...LOL. I am fried by the sun. Nice burn going.

I am now adding 1/4 cup of DE to the sand filter again. I added 4 oz of that blue stuff this morning. I found when I backwashed tonight the site glass was white for a good minute or so. I think it may be catching stuff now. I dont think it was the DE because that unually comes out quicker.

We will see in the morning.

Hey Toms River, we had a heck of a storm, then golf ball sized hail for about 5 minutes here in Monmouth co. Crazy...
 

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