Cloudy, can't shock -- options?

[lee872]

I did the AA treatment on Thursday, and it worked great on the stains. Liner looks better than I thought it could. But I only saw it briefly, because once I added the sequestrant the water turned cloudy -- it's milky. I can just see the liner on the shallow end, and about 4 1/2 feet down on the deep end. I guess the good news is that it is not getting worse. I feel sure it is not algae -- no signs of green, it's just milky blue. And I added 2 qts of polyquat 60 when I started. Also added DE to sand filter. I'd been using trichlor, and am now on just bleach.

When I backwashed, the water is milky with no discolored dirty water; I can see particles floating in the sight glass. Today is the first day my FC is holding. I'll do OCLT tonight, and raise FC to 5.5 tomorrow. I have 11 more days till I can shock for the cloudiness. Here are my questions:

Will a clarifier help since I can't shock? I have some Sea Klear Natural Clarifier, which says it "decreases excess metals". I also have some Natural Chemistry's First Aid.

I used Metal Free, would adding Metal Magic at this point help?

Should I backwash more often even though the pressure is not going up? I backwashed today when the pressure was only up slightly. I wanted to see what was going on in the filter, and water level is high.

Finally, this is a general question not related to the cloudy water. I use a sock in the skimmer and I'd like to use one also in the pump basket. Can I do that? My neighbor's pine trees send debris into my pool :grrrr:. Fortunately not many pine needles, but the small ends that fly so easily in the wind. Even with the skimmer sock, I clean a good number of the small things out of my pump basket every few days.

Sorry this is so long, thanks for sticking with me! Here are my numbers (TF100).

pH 7.2
FC 3.5
CC .5
TC 4
TA 70
CH 280
CYA 45

 

[JasonLion]

Cloudiness is to be expected and does not indicate a need to shock. It should clear up in two or three days. Watch the filter pressure and make sure to backwash/clean the filter when the filter pressure goes up 25% over the starting pressure. If the water does not clear up within three days of the start of cloudiness, then try a clarifier, but no point until then.

Don't raise the FC level too quickly. I like to only bring it up 2 ppm per day, so first day it holds raise to 2 ppm, second day to 4, and so on until you get to the normal level for your pool. Moving too quickly risks bringing the stains back.

 

[lee872]

Thanks Jason! It's reassuring to know that the cloudiness can clear without shock. Looks like I was optimistic about the FC holding. It held for about 4 hours today as opposed to 1/2 to 1 hour yesterday, but it dropped quickly when the sun came out this afternoon. Looks like I need POP --