Cloudy water for a week - now what??

[dlauer77]

I came home from vacation and my pool water was green. I read "how to turn your green swamp into a sparkling oasis" and started following the procedures. When I started, my PH was 8.2+, all chlorine tests were zero, and my CYA was zero. After bringing my CYA up to 30, I only had to bring my pool to shock level twice, and the FC reading has been consistent. After the first day, the green was gone, but the water was cloudy and now has been for 1 week. I have been testing every morning and night. Here are my readings:

CYA = 50 (after the FC was consistent, I started adding stabilizer to bring this up)
PH = 7.5 (this has been constant all week)
FC = 2.5 (after dropping from shock level of 16, it was 11, then 7, then 4, then 2.5 today. The pool is in full sun from about 9am-6pm)
CC = 0.5
TA = 200
BR = 4
CH = 450-500

I have backwashed my sand filter every other day. The first couple of times, the water in the clear container on the filter appeared very dirty, but the last time I backwashed, it wasn't very dirty at all. I have been running the filter 24/7 for over a week now. It has been running at 15 psi, which is it's normal level.

In regards to my CH, today is the first time I have tested this. I live in the country and am on well water, so my hardness is high to begin with. Do you think the high CH is the problem to my cloudy water, or am I still having issues with the algae? I only have well water to re-fill the pool with, so draining it and filling it up with water of CH=0 is not an option for me.

Thank you in advance for your time and help!!
Donna

 

[jblizzle]

Sounds like you did not pass the 3 tests to stop the shock process of your water is still cloudy. What was the result of the OCLT?

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

 

[dmanb2b]

Yup...you have to keep the pool at shock level until you can pass all 3 criteria in the Overnight FC Loss Test. Also, FC of 2.5 is too low for CYA of 50.

 

[dlauer77]

UGH, I was afraid I was a little too quick on that. The OCLT was 1.5. I figured since the green was gone, I was good. So...

1. Back to the shocking process? And don't fall below shock level until the OCLT is 1 or less?

2. Should I do anything or be concerned about my CH?

3. Am I correct in thinking that no one can swim while the pool is at shock level? Once it passes the OCLT, even if it's still cloudy, can the kids swim?

Back to the bleach!!

 

[dlauer77]

What are the 3 criteria? I thought it was just that the FC level had to remain with 1.0 from night to the next morning. What else am I missing?

 

[dmanb2b]

pool-school/shocking_your_pool

on CH...it's high, but not a problem as long as you keep PH below 7.8 at all time. Anything above 7.8 will put you at risk of calium scaling.

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, dlauer77

Just to add to what dman suggested, getting your TA down will also be important too with your high CH level. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/lowering total alkalinity

Ohh, and no need to list bromine levels unless you have put bromine in the pool. I am assuming that you used the OTO chlorine test (the one with shades of yellow) to get that? You only use the bromine scale on that if you use bromine otherwise just use the chlorine scale which is next to the bromine scale (and 1/2 of the value). With that said, no need to use the OTO test when you are measuring FC and CC, those tests are more acurate than the OTO test (which measures TC which is equal to FC+CC)