Cloudy Water

[evad]

Hello fellow pool owners!

I have been reading the information from TFP for about a year and a half and have started the BBB method full force beginning this pool season ..... this is a great site and before I ask a couple questions, I would like to thank all those involved in putting this together!

I have a 20,000 gallon pool, with a vinyl liner, a sand filter (third season for this filter), the pool is IG, the pump is a one and a half HP, I do not know the flow rate.

I opened the pool at the beginning of May, it was, as usual a dark green swamp, it has progressed into a beautiful shade of pale blue. I have shocked the pool with bleach just about every day for the last week and cannot get the cloudiness to completely disappear. I use a Taylor Test Kit, the FC in the morning is between 4 and 6, the PH is 7.2, the TA is 110, the CYA is 50 .... I have no other tests to report.
The FC does go down to zero after one day ..... any suggestions on how to get the water sparkling would be greatly appreciated!

Evad

 

[RobbieH]

You have to go through the entire shock process.

You can't really "shock every day". You either go through the shock process, or you don't. In your case, you aren't completing the process, so your pool isn't clearing.

Read through the shock process in pool school, ask questions if you have any!

pool-school/shocking_your_pool

 

[evad]

thanks Robbie, I have read the pool school information about shocking, and, at your suggestion read it again, it seems to me I am following the recommendations, I bring the FC up to shock level, it lowers after one day to 1 or zero and I bring it up to shock level
again the next day .... this has gone on for the last few days, so what part of the "process" am I not completing?

 

[RobbieH]

Yep, you have to keep it at shock level until you pass the overnight FC loss test, AND your CC is below .5. Your water should not be green at that point, but it might be cloudy white (mine was). Your FC can drop below shock level while you are at work, but should not drop to 0 or you will be fighting the battle ad infinitum. If you need to go above shock level so it holds during the day, by all means do so. When I shocked I started on a Friday night, brought it up 2 points above shock level, checked it again first thing in the morning, then continued to monitor all Saturday and Sunday. By the time Monday got around, I was able to hold some FC during the day, and add chlorine when I got home for the day, etc., until I passed the overnight FC test.

Checking one time each day is not going to be enough. Once your FC drops to 0, you are starting over. You will have to check multiple times a day until you start holding FC.

As you can see, this can take several days. Once you've passed the overnight FC and CC tests, your pool may remain cloudy for a while, especially with a sand filter (i have one too, and I love it). I suggest you run your pump 24/7 during the entire shock process. Watch your filter pressure for need to backwash!

 

[benavidescj]

Evad, you must maintain the shock level. When it drops down to 0 you are not maintaining it at shock level. At the beginning of the process you may have to add chlorine every hour in order to accomplish this. Shocking is not a one time event, it is a process that must be sustained. When the FC drops below shock level you are not sustaining the shock.

 

[evad]

okay, I understand ...... thanks for the advice, this will be very helpful

 

[evad]

Just thought I would update ...... I monitored the FC level every two hours yesterday (June 5), adding bleach all but one time to keep the level at 15, the pool cleared some, the CC dropped from 2 to 1, the CYA stays steady at 50, PH is 7.5 and alkalinity is 90 ...... overnight the FC dropped from 15 to 10.5, added
228 ozs of bleach ..... wanted to know if the cloudy water at this point may just be the filter moving slow

 

[RobbieH]

You are making progress! It will take a while for the cloudiness to clear, mine took about a week to be completely clear. Your CC level and overnight test show you are getting there, but not finished. Keep that FC level up and you'll be clear soon!

 

[evad]

Thanks Robbie, you have been a big help!!

 

[evad]

After reviewing my test records for two weeks and making sure I had not failed to complete the shock process, I report that my pool water is still a bit cloudy ..... From the afternoon of June 8 thru today I have kept the FC level above 20. I adjusted up from the 15 level (the first week) because I added the remaining Dichlor from last season, which raised the CYA from 50 to between 70 and 80 .... My last six CC readings have been just a smidge above .5 .... the PH is 7.5 and CH is 90, TA is 100. I do not have metal tests, but since I have added algaecides (Before MY TFP Discovery) which I knew contained copper and since I have iron stains on the steps, I have added a bottle of Metal Magic from Proteam yesterday. I think the filter media (sand filter) is in it's third season ..... My pool is deepest in the middle at 5.5 feet, the shallow end is 3.5 feet and the opposite end from shallow is 4.5 feet. I can see the bottom everywhere, but the main drain is barely perceptible at the deepest point in the pool. Should not the pool water be sparkling clear by now?????

 

[duraleigh]

Refer to the FC/CYA chart in Pool School. Since your CYA got upped to 80 because of the dichlor, your shock value changed to around 30.

 

[evad]

thank you, I do have a copy of the chart in my test kit, I will raise the shock level

 

[evad]

I might also add that for the first week of this process, I did keep the shock level at the proper point according to the chart, but the water did not get completely clear ..... does anyone have a similar experience and did your water eventually clear?

 

[dattia]

I am still in the process of doing mine for more than three weeks now... slight improvement every day. I was stuck in the pale green stage for more than a week and just when I thought all progress had stopped, I am now in the milky blue stage... SO excited. Hang in there. I would have given up hope a while back if I didn't know from personal experience this process WILL work if I stick with it.

 

[duraleigh]

This time of year, there is instance after instance of this same thread......Pools that are slow to clear.

Adequate chlorine and adequate filtration will clear everyone's pool.....it virtually always does.

So if your pool is not clearing as you like, check to see if you are not coming up short in one of those things...........filtration or chlorine.

Learning BBB is learning there is no magic bullet of a cure and there is no one's pool water that is different than any other......it's all H2O and it's all crystal clear.....you just have to kill the organics in it and then filter out all the solids and what's left is a crystal clear pool.

 

[evad]

Thank you both again ..... I will stay the course, it makes sense!

 

[adoptolderkids]

Yeah, mine seemed to take FOREVER to clear - but if you up the CYA, you need to up the chlorine as well to keep it at shock level.

Once I was certain there was no more algae, my pool was still cloudy for several days - but it did improve a bit every day. Sand filters take a while to get it all out, I guess. You'll get there!