Pool was great, now it's cloudy.

[blondemarcello]

Here are my numbers with the recommended pool kit.

Wed Thurs Friday 11:00 a.m. Friday 2:30 p.m.
pH 7.5 7.5 7.3 (start aeration) 7.5
FC 5.0 5.0 3.0 (added 1 1/4 gal bleach) 10
CC .5 .5 .5 .5(prob. less)
CYA 90

Wednesday - Noticed pool starting to have some green "dust" on bottom. Was still clear, not sparkly. Didn't add bleach. Vacuumed extensively.
Thursday - Cloudy, not as much "dust"
Friday - much cloudier, brushed/vacuumed at 10:00 a.m. Added bleach as indicated above.

Do I shock even though CC isn't above .05?

 

[Richard320]

Yes, you need to perform the shock process. With CYA 90, FC should be maintained between 7 and 12. 7 being the minimum. One day wouldn't have hurt it, but you show several days in a row below 7.

Hopefully it will only take a few days, because it's going to take a whole lot of bleach to maintain the shock level of 23. Or you can drain off half the water and refill the pool to get CYA to 45, which will only require FC above 16 for the shock process.

 

[blondemarcello]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Here's another question. When doing the CYA test I keep adding until I can't see the dot at all, even a shadow, correct? Just want to make sure I'm reading it right. We started with zero CYA because it was a new pool.

 

[Richard320]

The dot is completely gone, totally obscured.

 

[blondemarcello]

Richard,

thanks for the reply about the CYA. After doing more reading, I was hoping that my CYA was reading false - 100 seems really high when I started with zero in May. Middle of July it was 20, unfortunately, my memory is fuzzy and I don't remember if I added more stabilizer after the reading of 20. I ran it through the coffee filter and it still read 90 .

Here's the progress since yesterday.

4:30 p.m. 9 + .5 = 10.5 tc - added 960 oz of bleach, brushed
6:30 p.m. 45 + .5 = 45.5 tc - brushed
9:00 p.m. 39 + 0 = 39 tc - brushed
today
7:30 a.m. (before sun hit pool) 37 + forgot to check = 37? some green dust on bottom around edges, water slightly improved
9:00 a.m. vacuumed
10:00 a.m. 34 + .5 = 34.5

I am beginning to doubt my counting abilities so I am going to have hubby start the counting - math major and all :-D

I am going to add 1 1/2 gallons of bleach per pool calculator.

Anything else I should be doing? We debated about draining to lower CYA, but have a farewell/pool party planned for Monday night and didn't want to lose the heat. I'm beginning to wonder if that is a wise decision - it looks like it won't top 80 degrees before Monday so I doubt we will have any swimmers anyways. What is your thought on draining?

 

[Richard320]

Does it appear to be improving at all?

At this point, it seems a little late to start draining. You've added so much bleach already. Plus, the swim season is drawing to a close up where you live, you'll be draining down soon anyway, right?

Perhaps a little DE added to the filter will get the particles out for you. Directions are in Pool School.

 

[blondemarcello]

Ooh, I really hope we're not nearing the end of our pool season, even if we are in Minnesota I have visions of still being in there in late September with the help of the solar cover. This is our first year, so we'll see if I'm being over optimistic. Guess I will practice a little POP.

I think it's still swimmable, just gotta get that cover back on to warm it up. I plan on throwing the cover, ladder and all the toys in there this afternon to make sure they are good and sanitized. Soak for a couple of hours, right?

 

[blondemarcello]

Another question plus the question above about sanitizing cover and etc.

If CYA is at 90-100, is it still an accurate reading? Should we go ahead and drain some of the pool?

 

[fast1971chevelle]

You can redo the test as many times as you want just pour the mixture back into the squeeze bottle and re test as many times as you like, but it is very important to have the sun at your back and hold the test tube at waist level and if you like have your spouse perform the test and compare results.....Mike

 

[fast1971chevelle]

It could also be above 100 so take a 50/50 mixture of pool water and tap water and double the results.....Mike

 

[linen]

Plus, the swim season is drawing to a close up where you live, you'll be draining down soon anyway, right?

Don't you dare say that Richard

IIRC, we swam until mid-september last year :tongue:

As to whether or not to drain...I probably wouldn't unless you get algae. As Richard said ( ), just make sure to maintain your FC above 7 ppm at all times. But do the dilution test that fastchev suggested, so we know where you are for sure.

 

[fast1971chevelle]

You know back in may the only thing I knew about pools was that there was water in them and that you swam in them but after 8 or so hours a day reading on here and learning I can help people thank you TFP you all are the greatest........Mike

 

[blondemarcello]

It could also be above 100 so take a 50/50 mixture of pool water and tap water and double the results.....Mike

I did this test. Much easier to read. Came up with 40 so I guess I'm actually at 80 so will adjust the chorline accordingly. Next year I won't be so anxious about getting the CYA up there if I'm not loosing a ton of chlorine. Maybe two weeks in between adding stabilizer just to make sure it's all absorbed.

I'm getting low on chlorine testing drops so I started diluting the water with distilled water like someone suggested on another topic to help me hold out until I get another refill. Email sent yesterday said it was on its way :-D

I'm passing one of the three tests and have questions about the other two.

Here are my test results since starting

Friday 4:30 10.5 added 960 oz of bleach, brushed
6:30 45.5
9:00 39
Saturday 7:30 37
10:00 34.5 added 192 oz bleach, brushed
Noon 40.5
3:30 29 added 384 oz bleach, brushed
6:00 41
10:00 36.5 added 96 oz bleach
Sunday 7:00 39.5
12:30 36 added 112 oz bleach
8:30 35 added 96 oz bleach, brushed
Monday 9:00 a.m. 30 added 172 oz bleach, brushed *** up to this point cc has been at .5 now it tested at 6.5 realized I overdosed on chlorine today when going back over the numbers - I subtracted instead of adding
Did diluted CYA rest - see above results
10:00 p.m. 38 - +++diluted chlorine test because I'm getting low on drops
Tuesday 7:30 a.m. 28 added 310 oz bleach ++++ see above forgot to check CC before dumping water and didn't want to redo because of low supply of tester chemical

Question 1 - how come all of a sudden CC jumped to 6.5? At 10 p.m. it was at zero again. On Saturday afternoon my husband put the ladder back in which had been out since Friday night - which is weighed down by filling with water. Could this have made CC jump up and then back down?
Question 2 - when do I put the cover and toys back in the pool to sterilze them?