woke up this morning to a cloudy pool

Jump to latest Follow Reply
M

Mellott98

0
Jul 24, 2012
64
I have worked very hard to clear up my pool from the nice green it turned over the 4th of July weekend, and succeeded last week! I purchased the TF100 test kit and have been doing everything I am suppose to do to keep my pool clear and safe. I passed the OCLT test and have been enjoying my pool ever since. I test in the morning and in the evening.

I woke up this morning to a pool that is starting to turn a little cloudy. I tested the water last night, and the FC was 4. I added liquid chlorine to bring it up to 8.

Here are my numbers this morning:

FC - 5 (looks like I lost 3 overnite)
CC - .5
CYA - 40
PH - 7.4
TA - 110


Should I start the shock process over again?
 
Thanks! I needed that! I already started the shock process. I used the pool calulator to get the amount of chlorine needed, and I added a little more because I now the sun will burn off some today. I am so glad I have my own test kit and can keep up with this on my own. Thank you for all your help.
 
That is the beauty of this forum... the info and the testing gives you control of your own pool. There are no guarantees that issues will not arise from time to time, but at least now you know what to look for and can take actions before small issues become major problems.
 
I'm still working on getting my pool under MY control. I'm still shocking and still losing about 3-4 each evening. I am brushing the pool everyday and adding enough chlorine to keep the shock level up to 16. My CYA is 40. I know I need to continue until I can pass the OCLT.

I have some questions. Once I pass the OCLT, when would be the best time (daily) to test the water for normal everyday use? Morning or evening or both? If I test in the morning, I know I want my level to be 5. So, do I add a little more chlorine to compensate for the sunlight during the day?

Also, I could never use my solar cover after shocking with granular. I do not use granular anymore. Can I use my solar cover when shocking with liquid chlorine? And, if I go away for a weekend, should I add extra chlorine so my level will not drop?
 
Yup...no covering the pool while at shock level. The sun helps burn off cc's and the high levels of FC can harm your cover. If you have to leave the pool while shocking, you can bump up FC a little above the recommended shock level too...over shooting shock level once by 5-10ppm won't hurt.
 
I suggest testing in the morning and evening for a while until you get an idea how your pool is behaving. Once you learn what your pool is doing then you can back down to testing in the evening. You want to add enough chlorine every evening so that your FC will not drop below the minimum amount for your CYA, which is 3 for 40 CYA.

Since you just finished the shock process not too long ago, do you know the cause of the algae this time? If you are using your cover and did not put it in the pool during the last shock process, that might be where this batch of algae came from. If this is the case, bring the pool back up to shock level and put the cover on for a day and make sure it gets water on both sides. After letting the cover soak for a day take it off the pool and finish the shock process without the cover.

I'm not sure if you are asking about adding chlorine during the weekend when you are going through the shock process or during normal conditions. If under normal conditions, bring your chlorine up near shock value and put the cover on. Remove the cover when you get back and adjust the chlorine from there. That should be good for a 2-3 day weekend. If you want to go away while you are shocking then I would do the same but raise the FC an additional 5 points or so.
 
So, if I am going away for a weekend, I can put the solar cover on and bring the pool up to shock level? It will not damage the cover (which is brand new this year)?

I have not had my solar cover on the pool in probably 2 months. But, I like the idea of bringing the pool up to shock level and bathing the cover in the water. Every little bit helps in battling algae, but since I have not been using it, I don't think that is causing my problem. Honestly, I don't know what is causing my problem. I just keep working hard at getting rid of the problem!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Always keep in mind that only two things consume chlorine.....sunlight and organics in your pool.

Since the OCLT eliminates sunlight, you are left with an inescapable conclusion....organics remain in your pool and you must maintain the shock process.
 
Mellott98 said:
I'm STILL trying to pass the OCLT. It's been 5 days now. Am I missing something???? The water is crystal clear. Last night my FC was 19.

This morning:
FC - 16
CC - .5
TA - 110
CYA - 40
PH - 7.5
Click to expand...



Is your pump running 24/7? If you're still in the shock process, the pump needs to be on 24/7, if I'm not mistaken....
 
You could try increasing the shock level.

Make sure to brush the pool often, including walls, floor, steps, skimmer, under ladders, everywhere.

If you have underwater lights, I suggest you remove them from their niche and see if algae is lurking there.

If you have water features, make sure they run during the shock process.

Hope you pass the test tonight :)
 
I brush the pool every day and my pump runs 24/7. We do have an underwater light, and my husband said he will take it off so we can get behind it.

According to Pool School, I should be keeping my shock level at 16. I actually always try to keep it higher.

I'm curious about something? With so much chlorine in the pool, wouldn't all the algae in the little nooks an crannies be killed?
 
Some algae build up a bio-film that's a little bit chlorine resistant and in order to kill it, you have to expose the algae to chlorine which means brushing it or otherwise disturbing the bio-film. That's why just shock level won't sometimes kill it all. s
 
OK. My husband just took off the pool light and it was disgusting behind the light! YUCK! Scum and Algae. It is now clean and I added a little extra chlorine to the water. We also took out the deep end steps. I will give them a good cleaning tomorrow. I have brushed the entire pool and cannot see where any algae would be hiding.

I will check the shock level again before bed.

Due to a major error by the so-called "electrician" at installation and the fact that there is now 7' of 5" concrete all around the pool, the fix never happened and the light has never worked. That's a long story. We had another light to put in it's place so the new light (not connected) is now in place of the old disgusting light.

Do you know of something that we could use to cover the area where the light currently is? Some kind of a solid faceplate? We can't connect the light and I would rather remove the light we are now using and have something to cover the entire area.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for all your help!
 
Butterfly said:
You could try increasing the shock level.

Make sure to brush the pool often, including walls, floor, steps, skimmer, under ladders, everywhere.

If you have underwater lights, I suggest you remove them from their niche and see if algae is lurking there.

If you have water features, make sure they run during the shock process.

Hope you pass the test tonight :)
Click to expand...



I DID IT! I PASSED THE OCLT!!!! FC last night tested at 21. This morning, 20. CC is 0 and my water is crystal clear!

I can't thank you enough for all the help, and especially suggesting that I remove my light. It was a disgusting, scummy, algae infested mess behind the light.

I can now turn on the heater (water temp is 76 (brrr)) and finally get some pool time!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply