newbie - cloudy pool . . drain?

[Sandib210]

Hello,
I want to start by saying how wonderful this site is! I stumbled upon it last week when I hit a peak frustration with my new pool. I've decided to post after reading numerous other posts and still not finding a solution.

I bought and intex pool from walmart. It is a metal framed pool. So it's got the grey poles and exterior. It's 16' x 48"
Our water is high in iron so when I filled it with well water, it turned yellow. I took a neighours advice and ran the water through a 5 gallon pail will many holes in the bottom filled with pillows to rid the yellow iron. It worked! My water was beauttiful, crystal clear. So I took it a sample to the pool store, they checked my levels and gave me a step by step paper to get it ready with chemicals. I spent close to $400 on chemicals and followed the paper. Over the week of adding what the paper said, my pool turned cloudy. I believe it was the algecide.

Then I found this site. I've ready some responses to other people who have had the same issue and I just wanted to post my water test results to find out if I can fix this or if I should drain and start over. Honestly I am so frustrated because I have so much $$ into this pool in chemicals and it's grey as can be!

Here are my readings from yesterday afternoon and I welcome any insight. I'm willing to start over if it would be easier I have my niece and nephew coming over in 14 days and I really want to swim with them! Thank you.

Saturation 0.2
tds 1800
cya 30
tot chlorine 5
free chlorine5
ph 7.2
tot. alk 133
adj tot. alk 124
cal. hardness 490
salt n/a
borates 15
copper 0
iron 0
magnese no
cloudly no (YEAH RIGHT!!)
all algeas listed no

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! I have a couple of questions for you. What have you been using to chlorinate your pool? Where did your test results come from? Has your FC dropped below 2ppm?
I notice that your calcium is very high. If your fill water is also high in calcium then we can work around that problem.

 

[Sandib210]

I am using bioguard 200g tabs for chlorine. I just added the chlorine last week so, that was the first time the pool ever had any chlorine. So FC went from 0 to it's current level.
My test results came from the pool store. They a little lab there and they do all these tests.
As for my calcium, that's likely becuase our well water is very hard and it was raw water straight from the well.

Thanks!

 

[Charlie_R]

Let me guess. The poll store ignored the fact that it is a vinyl lined pool and had you add a huge amount of calcium hardener. That would be typical, even if your fill water tests high in CH. Couple that with the probable "shock your pool with this product" line that uses calcium hypochlorite. These products combined will turn even the large AG pools into a cloudy mess. Almost guaranteed.

STRONG suggestion: Get yourself a test kit and test the water yourself. Pool store testing is notoriously inaccurate at best, and outright fudged at worst, in order to sell you a bill of goods in the form of high dollar/high margin chemicals.

Also, you cannot rely on test strips. Most go bad quickly, and chances are high that any you buy are already bad, especially at the start of the swim season, being last year's leftover stock.

Being in Canada, you may have trouble with import duties if you buy from the above link, if you can get it at all. However, the FAS-DPD kits are available in country, just rather pricey.

If what I'm guessing at (and that is all it is) is accurate, you may have to bite the bullet and drain/refill.

 

[Sandib210]

Thanks for the reply.
I will look for a test kit today and I was assuming I would have to drain and refill but I thought I would check here first.

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for the reply.
I will look for a test kit today and I was assuming I would have to drain and refill but I thought I would check here first.

If you want a Taylor K-2006 and you're in Canuckistan, you have one distributor. http://piscines-apollo.com/cubecart/test-kits.html The website seems down at the moment.

 

[lee872]

Welcome to TFP! I wouldn't be too quick to drain. Your water is cloudy, so you need to be following the shock process on pool school. Get yout test kit and stock up on liquid chlorine, you'll use more than you think. I get mine at big box stores for $3 per gallon, it's called "shock" and is 12.5% chlorine. Pool stores here sell it for about twice as much, but they do happily put it in the car. Others use household bleach, with no additives, at less concentration. Test your FC and add chlorine as needed every couple of hours, using the Pool Calculator. The more often you can do this, the sooner your water will clear. Keep your FC at the shock level for your CYA on the chart. Be sure you test your own CYA, it determines the quantity of bleach you need and pool store results are suspect. Here are the links you need from Pool School:

pool-school/shocking_your_pool

pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

pool-school/pool_calculator

 

[Sandib210]

Thank you. I'll see how quickly I can get a test kit. We have 3 pools tores here so I'll check there first, then I'll look on line if I can't find one. I'll also buy some bleach. I do have 3 jugs of clorox but it's 'he' and I don't know if that matters.
Also, if I read the info in the above links correctly, I need to find out my CYA then raise my FC to the corresponding value . .right?

 

[Richard320]

Thank you. I'll see how quickly I can get a test kit. We have 3 pools tores here so I'll check there first, then I'll look on line if I can't find one. I'll also buy some bleach. I do have 3 jugs of clorox but it's 'he' and I don't know if that matters.
Also, if I read the info in the above links correctly, I need to find out my CYA then raise my FC to the corresponding value . .right?

That is correct.

 

[Sandib210]

I just called around the city to pool stores and one pool store says they have a variety of test kits ranging in price. So when I go in there, what specifically am I looking for in a good test kit?

 

[Richard320]

I just called around the city to pool stores and one pool store says they have a variety of test kits ranging in price. So when I go in there, what specifically am I looking for in a good test kit?

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

Ideally, the Taylor K-2006. It's going to be pricey, but probably still less than one hand-truck load of chemicals when you get pool-stored.

You want the highest range on the FC test that you can get.

 

[Sandib210]

I just called around the city to pool stores and one pool store says they have a variety of test kits ranging in price. So when I go in there, what specifically am I looking for in a good test kit?

I'm assuming something that tests all the chemicals listed in the ABCs of pool water chemistry?

 

[Charlie_R]

You are looking for a kit that has the FAS-DPD chlorine test, along with the pH, total hardness, and Calcium harness.

Most pool stores here in the States, if they have and quality kits at all, carry the Taylor K-2005, which is NOT the same thing as the K-2006.

When you ask for it, ask if you can open the kit in the store. If it has nothing but dropper bottles it is not the correct kit. The right kit will have a small vial of DPD powder and a very small scoop for that powder.

 

[Sandib210]

I ordered the test kit online. It's a week away so I drained the pool. I'll refill it when the test kit arrives and start over. I'll be re-reading pool school again to find out what the first steps are. Any additional advice is welcome!

 

[Charlie_R]

Could we have you add the pool and equipment to your signature?

You can get to it in your User Control Panel.

Adding that will make it so much easier to help you.