Cloudy Water

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C

crokett

Well-known member
Jul 17, 2007
677
Hillsborough, NC
We went on vacation on the 23rd. I changed the cartridge filter just before we left. My neighbor who was watching the dogs called on the 1st to say that while we were gone he noticed the pump didn't seem to be circulating much, so he changed the filter on the 26th. He thought it looked a little cloudy. My sister called to say on the 28th that the water was cloudy. I asked and she said the pump was running. I had her shock the pool and shock it again on the 29th. When I got home on the 30th, the pump was running but no water was moving. The low-flow alarm was blinking on the chlorine generator. I changed the filter again, shocked it again and brushed it. I also shocked it and brushed it yesterday. Now after 36 hours the water doesn't look any better. I can see the bottom of the pool but the water definitely isn't clear.

Also, if it matters we had t-storms on the 27th and 28th but apparently the pool was starting to get cloudy already.

pH - 7.4
TC - 8
CH - 170
TA - 110

So, how to clear up the water? Whatever this is it is too small for my filter to catch.
 
It sounds like you have algae growing in the water and have not added enough chlorine to kill it all.

Do you know what your CYA level? It is crucial to know your CYA level so you can know how much chlorine it will take to kill the algae.
 
Sorry. CYA is 50. I thought about algae, and I've had an algae bloom but it grew on the bottom of the pool? I can see the bottom, the bottom looks clean. I would also expect algae to be colored. The water looks the same as always, just cloudy. I will keep shocking and brushing and see what that does. How high does the chlorine level have to be to cause a false pH reading? I thought a side effect of the chlorine generator was rising pH, except so far I haven't seen that. I am testing after shocking so I am wondering if my pH test is accurate.
 
Whenever I have had algae the pool was always so cloudy i could not see the bottom. I have never had a green substance on the floor or walls just milky cloudy water. Also the filter would stop up in about 4 hours easy (I have a DE).

Shock and change the filter as much as needed and run it overnight (24) hours. By the 24 hour mark the pool should be normal. i actually had a problem where it would come back weekly and could never figure it out. Later I pulled the pool steps out and under each step was massive green algae. Once I killed it off the steps it has yet to come back.
 
Ok so I shocked the pool again this afternoon and the chlorine generator finished about 1/2 hour ago. I figured if it was algae it would not hurt. Now the pool looks more cloudy not less. Is that dead algae? Or is it something else?
 
Hmmm ok so I decided to scratch the OCLT. I just shocked it again and doubled the run time on the SWG. I will see what it looks like in the AM. Interesting thing - I have a cup marked in oz that I use to dose the pool. When I put the bleach in, I could see areas of the water that were a little whiter than the rest of the pool as the bleach spread. Is this the bleach killing algae?
 
Most likely yes. The only time I ever seen it turn white like that is when I added cal-hypo to the pool or when I shocked the pool to kill algae. I never added pure bleach so i cant comment on that.

But it sounds like you are winning. Just keep the filter going.
 

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I changed the filter just to check it today and there was a beige sludge on the filter, so I am thinking it is indeed algae. The pool clouded back up after I shocked it for the first time this morning, I figure that is more dead algae. Is there any harm (or benefit) in letting the SWG run longer, like 8 or 10 hours? I've already doubled the run time on it. Also, the pump is a little 1000 GPH pump. Will it move any more water if I pull the skimmer and just run water directly through the pool wall? Aside from brushing and/or jumping in to stir up the water, is there anything else I should be doing?
 
Ok, last questions for a while :) without a DPD test kit for FC (my K2005 uses the color scale) what are some ways to know I am winning? After shocking the pool just before dinner, I changed the SWG to the max 12hr run time. When I shocked again just after dinner, the color of the water had changed. It was still cloudy but it was whiter, if that makes sense. I just shocked it again, and under a flash light I see very small white flakes floating in the pool. I did not see them before this, at least in daylight. I am going to try to find a local DPD test for chlorine tomorrow or the next day.
 
Update, and thanks for all the suggestions. The cloudiness is not algae. If it was, it isn't any more. After the last shock of the pool Sunday night, I decided to turn the SWG off and do the overnight test. The pool sat all night and I could see no difference in the FC levels Monday morning, even when I tested with a 50/50 pool/tap water mix as per the directions. It was still off the scale. Monday evening was much the same, except I turned the SWG back on after the test. The pool is still cloudy. My pH test would not work because FC is so high. I took water to the pool place, the chlorine is screwing up their results also. Lastly, I talked to a guy at Taylor and between them and the pool place we have to wait for the chlorine levels to drop so I can get a good pH and TA test so I know how to adjust it to clear the water up.
 
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