A week after algae bloom, pool still cloudy.

[RTamanda]

Hello! I'm a new poster to this forum, but I have been silently stalking you all for weeks! I have learned a lot, but I need to tell you exactly what I've got going on so I know if I'm doing what I should. My pool's back ground: I have an Intex metal frame above ground pool. This is the 2nd season we have put it up. It is a 15' X 48" (4440 gallons). I upgraded the filter this summer to an Intex 2500 filter pump. I use the Intex krystal klear SWCG. I live in Elgin, Oklahoma and we haven't had a drop of rain in many weeks and temps over 100 for the past 40-something days. The water where I live is terrible, but it is from a city supply. It has a pH and TA that is off the charts high (higher than 8.2 and my TA first read 280ppm) and the water is very hard. But once I got the pool full it was clear and beautiful. I used pH minus and slowly over a few days lowered the pH to 7.6. I remember reading somewhere else that as long as your water is clear and pH is in normal limits, the TA doesn't have to be text book perfect, so I didn't correct the high TA. I added a salt pool 3 in 1 product that had CYA, clarifier and SWCG cell saver built in. My water was beautiful for about a month. I did battle chronically low chlorine levels. Most days it wouldn't even register, and I'd just turn it on the "boost" mode for 24 hours. Sure enough, you guessed it... algae bloom about a week ago. I found it in the morning and it wasn't a swamp yet. Just the water was tinted green, there wasn't any floaties or anything stuck to the sides. After a mild anxiety attack I came inside and got on the internet. I ran to the store and came home and put in 1.42 gallon of clorox. (My filter running the whole time). I also turned on the boost mode on my SWCG again. I also bought some CYA and put it in the filter bringing my CYA reading up to 70ppm. The next morning it was no longer green, but was very milky and I could not see the bottom of the pool. The FC was 10, TC 12.5, CC 2.5, pH 7.5, CYA 70. My filter flow was nil. My SWCG was alarming "low flow". Duh. I changed out the filter and voila, it was flowing hard and fast again. I went out to check about 6 hours later, still milky and next to no flow again. Changed filter again, and it was flowing fine again. Long story shortened, over the past week I have had to change the filter 3-4 times a day. Yes, A DAY! I have been power washing them well and sitting them in the hot sun to dry all day and rotating them. It is just too expensive to put in a brand new one every time. I went to Leslie's 3 days ago and explained my problem and the guy sold me a bottle of Natural Chemistry's Perfect and Clear clarifier. I put it in and it did make my filter clog even faster, so I guess it is doing it's job, but my water is still extremely cloudy. Yesterday the FC read 5 and since my daughter and about 8 of her friends swam all day, I shocked it again with another 1.42 gallon of Clorox. I tested it a hour after I put it in and the FC was 25. Water is still super cloudy, but I can slightly see the bottom now. I'm still having to change the filter multiple times a day. Oh, and this morning my SWCG was alarming "low salt" but I tested the salt and it's right at 3000 (perfect). I guess I need to clean the cell with vinegar, but now I'm worried that with all the "boosting" I did, I burned out the cell. AGH!!! AND, I have a small hole in the bottom of the liner where a piece of bermuda grass has started to grow through (I have a ground cover tarp under the pool, too!). I bought a repair patch but haven't been able to fix it because the water has been too cloudy, so I've been having to add about 2 inches of water every other day. Okay, here is my readings right now:

pH: 7.6
FC: 25
TC: 25
CC: 0
CYA: 70ppm
TA: 270 ppm

Do I just keep changing my filter and pray it clears up? Please help! Thank you so much!!!


Amanda

 

[frogabog]

How are you testing CYA? I ask because 1) you're loosing water and refilling, 2) you added it to the filter, yet changed/cleaned it the next day, and 3) between those two things, a week later your CYA is still 70. Doesn't quite add up.

I also note that you seem to be shocking by adding 1.42 gallons of bleach, and then letting it sit. This is very likely why you've stalled out. Shocking is a process, and it requires constant high (shock level) chlorine until all three criteria are met:

1- CC of less than .5ppm
2- OCLT 1ppm or less
3- Water is clear

Until these three are met, you should continue to shock and maintain shock level. It will require you to test regularly (hourly at first) and add bleach to raise back to shock level when you find it below that level.

I would also suggest planning to tackle that TA number. You'll have to add acid which will lower your ph, and then aerate to raise ph but don't mess with that till after you're done shocking. Lowering your TA could take a while, you'll want to do it in steps when FC levels are under 10ppm because PH testing is not accurate above that level.

I did not see a CH test result, yet you say the water is hard. Might want to go check that as the SWG apparently can collect calcium deposits at high CH levels.

May I ask what test kit your using?

Hang in there, keep the faith. We'll help you fix this up. :~}

 

[Bama Rambler]

Unless I'm wrong, you've lost most of your water through evaporation. "we haven't had a drop of rain in many weeks and temps over 100 for the past 40-something days."

I agree that you need to shock correctly and that requires you to hold it at shock level as often as you can.
How are you testing?
Don't worry about the rest of the stuff until you get done shocking.

 

[RTamanda]

I'm testing using Taylor Technologies Complete Poolcare DPD Test Kit. And for CYA its the one you fill up to 7 mark with pool water then reagent to 14 mark, then shake and drop into small tube until you can't see the black dot anymore. I always second guess myself if I can still see the black dot or not, but I get a second opinion from my husband. I tested my calcium hardness when I first set up the pool and it was 300. Thanks so much for your help! I'll continue to test and shock, then fix that hole, then fix the TA. Thanks again!

 

[frogabog]

I have the same pool as RTamanda, and the last hole I patched absolutely drained at least 1" of water every day, it was on the floor. The other hole I patched that was about 8" below the rail did not leak quite that much. Water pressure makes all the difference. Evaporation aside, I would think that the leak is probably the biggest source of lost water.

I also find it incredible that grass can grow through a liner. WOW... ummm... never heard of bermuda grass before reading on this forum.

RTamanda, good call on re-using the filters. That'll save you some cashola :~} If you want to "clean" them just soak them overnight in a bucket of water and dishwasher soap. Dawn dishsoap also works quite well if you want to do a deep clean on them and re-use immediately.

 

[RTamanda]

Thanks frogabog! I'm going to start using your Dawn soak idea!

 

[RTamanda]

Can you tell me where to read up on this OCLT? I have no idea what that is. Thanks!

 

[Beamup]

There's a nice link in Bama's signature.

 

[LauleaHere&There]

Can you tell me where to read up on this OCLT? I have no idea what that is. Thanks!

OCLT stands for Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. It is a way to see how much chlorine is being consumed by organisms like algae or bacteria. The less chlorine you lose, the fewer live organisms you have.

At the top of this page on the right there is a big button that says pool school. Click it and scroll down to the section called "How To". There are tutorials for performing the OCLT amongst other things. It'll get you up to speed. I know you're overwhelmed now, but it'll start making sense real soon and you'll wonder why you ever went to the pool store.

 

[RTamanda]

Awesome. Truly, thank you all.