Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed please

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dazzst

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Aug 8, 2012
16
Hi all,

I have an Intex 15' above ground pool (holding approx 17,000 litres of water I think) which I set up about two weeks ago when we had some decent weather in London. Everything was fine until the weather changed last week and I turned the pool pump & heater off.

We're expecting some good weather starting tomorrow so yesterday morning I turned the heater and pump back on. This morning, whilst checking the temperature (29 degrees Celsius) I noticed that the pool water was a pea green and I couldn't see the bottom of the pool (It had a solar cover which is why I hadn't noticed before). I added 150g of stabalised chlorine granules dissolved in water) and then asked my father in law who has a similar set up and he gave me a 500g of calcium hypochlorite shock treatment which I then added to the intake of the filter and within 40 minutes all the green had gone but only to be replaced with cloudy water. It's been like this for a couple of hours now.

What should I do? Will it clear itself or must I add something?

Many thanks
Darren
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

I should add that I have replaced the stock supplied filter / pump (very underpowered) with an Espa Silen 50M pump and I have a 9kW heater. I have no sand filter and the only flitration is the strainer basket in the pool and in the pump.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

I got rid of the puny filter that Intex supplied but do understand I am simply re-circulating water. I have added 200g of dry acid about 30 mins ago to reduce the pH.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

My advice would be ... install a filter on the pool.

You will never be able to keep a pool clean without a filter.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

This is the first time in 4 seasons that I've ever had pool water go green on me and to be honest the amount of use it gets in the UK is so minimal that I don't want the expense of a sand filter. Apart from the acid is there anything else I can do?
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

You have dead algae floating around in your pool. You really need to have a filter to catch the dead nasties. If you don't want a sand filter get a cartridge filter.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

What was the acid for? You did not post any test results. Adding enough chlorine will kill everything in the pool, but all the dead algae is just going to continue to blow around the pool.

So use the small cartridge filter ... it is better than nothing.

Your only other option to get rid of the cloudy water is to empty the pool and start over ... if you keep the chlorine levels correct, the pool should stay clear until any dirt/dust gets into the water.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

The shock does raised the pH and I was advised to add acid to bring this level down as it will remove the calcium...wrong?
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

Would I be able to use the Intex cartridge filter pump in-line between the outlet of the pool and the inlet of the Espa pump without actually plugging it in to the power. In other words it would only be passing water through the filter cartridge and not acting as a pump?
 

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Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

dazzst said:
The shock does raised the pH and I was advised to add acid to bring this level down as it will remove the calcium...wrong?
Click to expand...

Cal-hypo does not raise pH but does add calcium. Acid will not remove the calcium. You can read all about the different chemicals in Pool School (button at upper right).

dazzst said:
Would I be able to use the Intex cartridge filter pump in-line between the outlet of the pool and the inlet of the Espa pump without actually plugging it in to the power. In other words it would only be passing water through the filter cartridge and not acting as a pump?
Click to expand...

The filter should be after the pump (out of the top of the pump) and before returning to the pool. That should work (unless your current pump is too powerful for the small cartridge filter).
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

dazzst said:
Would I need to power the Intex pump or can I simply have the Espa force the water through it?
Click to expand...

If the Intex pump is not hooked up to any plumbing, (since the Espa pump will be plumbed to the filter), there is no point in giving it power.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

Well that didn't work too well. Blew the head off the Intex filter! Espa pump clearly too poweful for it. I can't connect the Intex from the pool outlet for sure?
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

I was afraid of that :shock:

Why not just use all the Intex equipment? (Granted the flow rate might be lower, but at least you can then filter)

You can not put the filter on the suction side, since then the pump will likely collapse the cartridge due to the high suction in the middle.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

The flow rate from the Intex filter is not enough for my pool heater from what I recall plus the amount of work of doing it is simply not worth it. Guess we'll have to live with cloudy water this season. Shame.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

Well I've connected the Intex filter pump back up and have had it running since 0930 this morning. It's a 1000 gallon per hour pump. Can't see any difference yet. Fingers crossed!
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

Yeah, that is a small pump. So it may take awhile, but you should start seeing improvement.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

Well I've just turned her off. After 6 hours it made absolutely no difference whatsoever! What a shame there isn't a chemical you add to clear the water of this calcium.
 
Re: Had algae now have cloudy water..help & advice needed pl

it will take days ... have some patience ;)

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 

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