Ok so this is our 4th year with this pool. The first year we used a SWG and loved it. The 2nd year we put the recommended amount of salt in and our SWG kept saying high salt and would not generate. We emptied some of the water and put fresh water in. Then we started having trouble with our timer and the SWG wasn’t able to generate. To top it off we had a lot of rain that year and so our salt level continuously stayed out of whack. So we fought a green pool all summer. Last year we decided to switch to chlorine. We used two floating applicators with the HTH 3” tabs. Occasionally we would put one in the skimmer basket and we shocked every couple of weeks and the pool was clear and beautiful all summer. This year when we uncovered it the water was green and had wads of algae floating on top. We skimmed as much of the algae out that we could with a hand skimmer. Then started the HTH start up, 2 bags of super shock, 4 oz algaecide and ran our pump 24/7. The water went from green to cloudy. Then I found this site and started trying the different things I have read on here. We added bleach and borax per the pool calculator. We finally have everything pretty closed to balanced, but it is still cloudy. Our pump has been running for 7 days, and we have changed out our filters and cleaned them but still cloudy. We brushed it today and some visible algae came to the top. I shocked again today. I am about ready to throw my hands up. Please any suggestions welcome. :?
cloudy pool some algae
- Thread starter SNOWPOOL
- Start date
I have a 6-way kit. The test tube for the CYA only goes to 30 and we could not get the black dot to disappear it was barely even cloudy. So I do not know what my CYA is.
After shock: Chlorine above 6 (I added a large jug of bleach this morning and a 1lb bag of super shock this afternoon)
pH 7.3
TA 120
After shock: Chlorine above 6 (I added a large jug of bleach this morning and a 1lb bag of super shock this afternoon)
pH 7.3
TA 120
Jeez, I sound like a broken record, so I apologize in advance...
1. Get a good test kit!! Ok, in your case, it's a little easier, since you have most of the tests taken care of....add on a FAS-DPD test kit. You'll need it to accurately measure both FC and CC.
2. Shock your pool. The short version is, shocking your pool is not dumping a powder product with the word "shock" in it. Shocking means raising the Free Chlorine level and holding it there so that it can effectively oxidize and sanitize all of the contaminants in your pool. You can get the long version in this Pool School Article and this thread here.
Your TA is a touch high, but your pH is on the low end of normal, so those are good for now. Get some stabilizer and raise your CYA to 30.
With a CYA of 30, shock level is 13ppm of FC, which means you need to add enough bleach to raise your FC to 13 and hold it there, for days, possibly more than a week, until you meet all three criteria in the "shocking your pool" article.
Please ask questions, because there are a lot of people that want to help you clear up your pool.
Finally, please take pictures, because we all like to share in the victory when your pool is crystal clear.
Welcome to TFP!!
1. Get a good test kit!! Ok, in your case, it's a little easier, since you have most of the tests taken care of....add on a FAS-DPD test kit. You'll need it to accurately measure both FC and CC.
2. Shock your pool. The short version is, shocking your pool is not dumping a powder product with the word "shock" in it. Shocking means raising the Free Chlorine level and holding it there so that it can effectively oxidize and sanitize all of the contaminants in your pool. You can get the long version in this Pool School Article and this thread here.
Your TA is a touch high, but your pH is on the low end of normal, so those are good for now. Get some stabilizer and raise your CYA to 30.
With a CYA of 30, shock level is 13ppm of FC, which means you need to add enough bleach to raise your FC to 13 and hold it there, for days, possibly more than a week, until you meet all three criteria in the "shocking your pool" article.
Please ask questions, because there are a lot of people that want to help you clear up your pool.
Finally, please take pictures, because we all like to share in the victory when your pool is crystal clear.
Welcome to TFP!!
Welcome to tfp, SNOWPOOL 
Smykowski does sound like a broken record
, but the advice is good.
As mentioned, here at tfp, shocking a pool is a process of raising your chlorine level to the appropriate concentration, then maintaining it until you pass all three criteria in the link that Smy gave you (in my sig as well). Also as mentioned, you will need a FAS-DPD FC test to do the process most effectivel:tftestkits.net
Smykowski does sound like a broken record
, but the advice is good. As mentioned, here at tfp, shocking a pool is a process of raising your chlorine level to the appropriate concentration, then maintaining it until you pass all three criteria in the link that Smy gave you (in my sig as well). Also as mentioned, you will need a FAS-DPD FC test to do the process most effectivel:tftestkits.net
Hi SNOWPOOL:
Welcome to TFP
Have you tested your FC and CC to rule out the need to shock? If CC > 0.5, then you need to shock, regardless of what your FC is. Another test you can run is the OCLT. Under the OCLT, if you lose more than 1 ppm of FC, you need to shock.
If you need to shock, you need to know your CYA level to determine your target shock FC level. Since you stated that your CYA test does not go below 30 and you could not get the black dot to disappear, then your CYA is less than 30. The target shock FC level for a CYA of 20 is 11; for CYA of 25 it is 12, per Pool Calculator. Thus, if you need to shock, I would target an FC level of 12-13. Note that these are target levels and not minimums. There is some buffer on either side of these targets. You will need a FAS-DPD test to measure FC and CC during the shock process. Here is a Pool School article on the shock process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool. The more diligent you are in maintaining the target FC level during the shock process, the quicker it will go.
I would also suggest getting your CYA to between 30-50 to avoid excessive FC loss to sunlight.
Welcome to TFP
Have you tested your FC and CC to rule out the need to shock? If CC > 0.5, then you need to shock, regardless of what your FC is. Another test you can run is the OCLT. Under the OCLT, if you lose more than 1 ppm of FC, you need to shock.
If you need to shock, you need to know your CYA level to determine your target shock FC level. Since you stated that your CYA test does not go below 30 and you could not get the black dot to disappear, then your CYA is less than 30. The target shock FC level for a CYA of 20 is 11; for CYA of 25 it is 12, per Pool Calculator. Thus, if you need to shock, I would target an FC level of 12-13. Note that these are target levels and not minimums. There is some buffer on either side of these targets. You will need a FAS-DPD test to measure FC and CC during the shock process. Here is a Pool School article on the shock process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool. The more diligent you are in maintaining the target FC level during the shock process, the quicker it will go.
I would also suggest getting your CYA to between 30-50 to avoid excessive FC loss to sunlight.
Ok so I've ordered the FAS-DPD test and some extra CYA reagent, because mine only does 2 test and I've already done one with no results. Anyone have any suggestions on getting my CYA up if all I know is that it is below 30 as I said in a previous post? Because I have no idea how far below 30 that it is, 20, 10, or 0. And in the mean time what do I do till my other test kit comes in?
When you have the FAS-DPD FC test, then it is time to do the shocking process. As for the cya, you want to shoot for 30 ppm during shocking. Since you only know yours is below 30, I would add 20 ppm more and test cya again in about 3 days. I would use 30 ppm cya now to calculate your FC shocking level.
OK received the new test in the mail today. We were a little impatient this week and put some clarifier in the pool a couple of times. We turned the pump off over night and you could actually see the bottom for the 1st time. We vacuumed, but once we were finished, the water was cloudy again. You can actually see white particles in the water. The filter had slimy stuff on it when we removed it. We put in a clean filter today after vacuuming. The test results this evening were:
FC 3.6
CC 0.4
pH 7.2
TA 120
CH 220
CYA 30
Any suggestions?
FC 3.6
CC 0.4
pH 7.2
TA 120
CH 220
CYA 30
Any suggestions?
Since you had algae in the filter and have cloudy water, it is time to follow my link above and do the shocking process.
SNOWPOOL:
Even though your CC is 0.4, I would still follow the shock process since your water is not clear. Since you indicated that you had algae on the filter, it is possible that you could still have very small amounts of algae in the pool. Keep following the shock process until you have met the three criteria of "done".
Even though your CC is 0.4, I would still follow the shock process since your water is not clear. Since you indicated that you had algae on the filter, it is possible that you could still have very small amounts of algae in the pool. Keep following the shock process until you have met the three criteria of "done".