Ok, this is the first full summer we're going to have a pool. We bought our house in Sept. and the previous owners left the pool/swamp lol. The end of last summer we managed to get it crystal clear but it had already got to cold to swim. Well this year we've done everything we did last year and we've even had our water tested and it all came back great but we can't get the water to clear up at all. The woman at the pool store told us to shock it again and add filter aid to it so we did all of that and still no improvement. Any suggestions? We've been running the filter 24/7 for about 2 weeks now and we just decided to turn it off since it was doing no good. Please help! We live in TX and its already starting to get pretty hot.
Cloudy water more like opaque
- Thread starter anorment9310
- Start date
Hi, welcome to TFP! Could you post a complete set of test results? That will help us determine what your next step should be. Also, what have you been using to chlorinate the pool, and what have you used to try and clear up the water so far?
Test Results: as of yesterday
Free Chlorine 2.0
Total Chlorine 3.2, a little high but we had just shocked it
Combined Chlorine 1.2
pH 7.4
Hardness 107
Alkalinity 104
Cyanuric Acid 33
Copper .28
We have used granulated chlorine and we've used tablets, we've gone through 4 lbs of shock, 16 oz of filter aid, around 16 oz of clarifier and about 16 oz of algeacide. The pool supply owners said that all of our levels were great and to just add 1 more pound of shock and add the filter aid and it should clear up. Well, nothing has improved
Free Chlorine 2.0
Total Chlorine 3.2, a little high but we had just shocked it
Combined Chlorine 1.2
pH 7.4
Hardness 107
Alkalinity 104
Cyanuric Acid 33
Copper .28
We have used granulated chlorine and we've used tablets, we've gone through 4 lbs of shock, 16 oz of filter aid, around 16 oz of clarifier and about 16 oz of algeacide. The pool supply owners said that all of our levels were great and to just add 1 more pound of shock and add the filter aid and it should clear up. Well, nothing has improved
Welcome from Texas! Your problem is your CC............that's bad stuff. Even though you've thrown "shock" in it.....it has not been shocked per pool school here. Ya' gotta MAINTAIN that shock level until you meet the criteria there. Also, have you backwashed the filter? I'd stop the clarifier and that magical high dollar algaecide. Hard to beat plain old 6% bleach to shock with. Read shocking your pool and see the CYA/chlorine chart there. NOW is the time to get your own good pool testing kit recommended there also. Best money you'll ever spend on the pool.
We've been having to backwash every morning because of all the pollen we have everywhere! A few weeks ago we used prob. around 3.5-4 gallons of bleach in and still nothing. 
Don't backwash too often. Only if the PSI is 10+ the "clean" PSI rating. (meaning after a backwash cycle take notice of the PSI and then backwash only when it gets higher than 10 of the original). But if the pollen is causing that much of an issue, try skimming out what you can????
From what I gather it sounds like you have a sand filter. When debris gets filtered and "stuck" in the sand, it causes a tighter mesh meaning it will over time filter even smaller particles which will help clear up the pool, and you can tell it's doing it's job by seeing that increase in PSI.
In order to properly shock you're pool, take a read throught this and this. But everything in Pool School should be read if you haven't.
pool-school/shocking_your_pool
pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
Also size of the pool, equipment, and even pictures will help!
From what I gather it sounds like you have a sand filter. When debris gets filtered and "stuck" in the sand, it causes a tighter mesh meaning it will over time filter even smaller particles which will help clear up the pool, and you can tell it's doing it's job by seeing that increase in PSI.
In order to properly shock you're pool, take a read throught this and this. But everything in Pool School should be read if you haven't.
pool-school/shocking_your_pool
pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
Also size of the pool, equipment, and even pictures will help!
You are at the bare bottom end of your FC range with your CYA at 33 now-----------and that's if you had CC of .5 or less. Your shock value is 6 times that amount all at once just to reach shock level. About 4 gallons of bleach..and you have to keep adding to KEEP it at that level......12 or better. I'd aim for a schock value of 15 and have another 6 to 10 gallons of bleach on hand to add over a day or so minimum.
Just to add to woody is saying: Most likely you haven't actually killed all of the algae yet. Please read the section on shocking your pool over in Pool School, it explains the correct process very throughly.
I understand your frustration and what I am about to post will likely sound harsh to you but we need to get you on track and if you do this, your pool will clear up and be sparkling.
1. Stop listening to the pool store...you ONLY need chlorine to clear your pool
2. That nasty foaming is likely too much algaecide....stop using it..... you don't need it. In fact don't put another thing in the pool except liquid chlorine.
3. Saying your chlorine is "extemely high" doesn't help us....can you test it and tell us what it is?
4. That CYA result looks like it may have come from a test strip....can you tell us how you are testing?
5. You have likely been backwashing not because of the pollen but because of dead algae. I'm not sure on that and it doesn't matter, anyway. You NEED to backwash your filter when the psi exceeds 25% of the normal psi. So if your normal is 14psi, please backwash @ 17-18 psi....even if you backwash 10 times daily.
6. You must understand that shocking your pool is a process that involves high levels of chlorine over a long period. It doesn't matter how much it takes, it will take as much as is necessary to clear your pool.
7. Lastly, I want to repeat not to buy anything else to toss into your pool hoping for a miracle. Chlorine alone (bleach) will cure your pool and you will have it sparkling if you follow the advice from this forum.
Again, I realize I'm being dogmatic but we can clear your pool if you climb onboard.
1. Stop listening to the pool store...you ONLY need chlorine to clear your pool
2. That nasty foaming is likely too much algaecide....stop using it..... you don't need it. In fact don't put another thing in the pool except liquid chlorine.
3. Saying your chlorine is "extemely high" doesn't help us....can you test it and tell us what it is?
4. That CYA result looks like it may have come from a test strip....can you tell us how you are testing?
5. You have likely been backwashing not because of the pollen but because of dead algae. I'm not sure on that and it doesn't matter, anyway. You NEED to backwash your filter when the psi exceeds 25% of the normal psi. So if your normal is 14psi, please backwash @ 17-18 psi....even if you backwash 10 times daily.
6. You must understand that shocking your pool is a process that involves high levels of chlorine over a long period. It doesn't matter how much it takes, it will take as much as is necessary to clear your pool.
7. Lastly, I want to repeat not to buy anything else to toss into your pool hoping for a miracle. Chlorine alone (bleach) will cure your pool and you will have it sparkling if you follow the advice from this forum.
Again, I realize I'm being dogmatic but we can clear your pool if you climb onboard.
when they tested our water they used some electronic system and then did a print out. I'm not sure what the chlorine level is right now bc our test kit only goes to a certain amount and our readings are well above what our kit goes to.
Your FC is extremely LOW right now for your problem! Why do you insist that it is high? Because it "smells" like chlorine? If it does, it is because of your high CC---combined chlorine.........that is telling you to shock properly. You need a skimmer net on a pole to remove most of that floating pollen/stuff. I've skimmed mine by hand 3 times today-------and that's with the filter running. We're here to help.
+1 on everything Duraleigh said too.
+1 on everything Duraleigh said too.
If you don't have a decent test kit, The TF100 is what most people here would recommend you to buy. Test strips don't nearly have the accuracy of FAS-DPD.
http://tftestkits.net/The-TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html
http://tftestkits.net/The-TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html
I hear that you are getting frustrated. Pools can occasionally be like that.anorment9310 said:
We can help you solve your problem. It won't be free, and it won't be instant, but it will reliably solve your problem and it will probably do so less expensively than any other approach you might try. But it won't work if you pick and choose which parts of what we recommend you are actually going to do. Knowing your FC level in integral to the process we recommend, and that means having a good test kit. Once you know what your levels really are, things become much more predictable and understandable.
Many of the electronic test systems used by pool stores give very poor results. If you do some reading around the forum you will find many many stories from people who got their water tested at two or three different pool stores and got wildly different results.
well the main reason I had gone up there was because we could get our pH to go up, even after adding the right amount of baking soda, and bc our water was so cloudy. she told me that all of our levels were right and I new that they weren't and she also said that our water was CLEAR?!? how can she say my water is clear when I only gave her a tiny bit? just bc it looks clear to her doesn't mean that my whole pool is clean bc its not even close to being clear. I understand what all of you are saying and Im not adding anything else to it other than bleach now. Hopefully it will clear up soon.
anorment9310 said:
Hi anorment9310 and welcome to TFP!
The quote in bold was exactly where I was when I found this wonderful forum last year. (actuality I was about to be rid of it!)
With the pool store not getting my water clear, and spending way to much $$, I did a Google search for pool water chemistry and landed here.
It has become the best college education I got for free!
I did later become a TFP lifetime member to help the site stay around for newcomers like yourself!
Follow the advice here and you'll have a great pool for the summer, it's only March, I didn't start fixing my pool stored mess until May, I had the best pool all summer and cheap to maintain.
I also got a TF100 test kit and was scared to death about what to do, but I followed the instructions here:
what-we-need-to-know-to-answer-your-questions-t10341.html
Posted my results and got a surprising amount of help and after all the issues I had were cleared up, I have suffered from poolsparklitis
Chuck
Well I have shocked it one more time and added close to 14 gallons of bleach to it and nothing has changed. The chlorine level is off the charts it's so high but you still can't see more than a few inches in the water. I'm about to give up. I've already spent way to much on it.
Post your current numbers so you can get some help,
You keep saying your chlorine level is off the charts
What are the numbers?
I saw you mentioned something about a print out?
Sounds like you had your water tested by a local pool store? I can tell you that a good test kit is essential in getting your pool back to swimming condition!
Those automatic testers at the pool store are junk!
Do you have a fas-dpd test kit?
You keep saying your chlorine level is off the charts
What are the numbers?
I saw you mentioned something about a print out?
Sounds like you had your water tested by a local pool store? I can tell you that a good test kit is essential in getting your pool back to swimming condition!
Those automatic testers at the pool store are junk!
Do you have a fas-dpd test kit?