Need help with cloudy water

[drnava99]

My water is slightly cloudy for 2 days now. Just broke out the TF100 for the very first time and did all the test on the white laminated card. On the CH the water turned pink not red. Is that ok for testing? This was my first time using the kit so if some numbers seem unreasonable please let me know...Thanks

TA: 110
CH:200
CYA: 40
FC: 5.5
CC: .5

 

[jblizzle]

It is more pink than red for the CH test. Just be sure you add until the last drop does not change the color (and then do not count that drop) ... this is true of all the tests.

You missed the pH test which is the the blue box.

Everything looks fine.
What happened to make the water go cloudy?
Did the FC ever get below the minimum of 3ppm based on your CYA of 40ppm?

You could elevate the FC up a bit and Perform the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, but generally with sudden cloudy water, you should just start the SLAM Process.

 

[Smykowski]

My water is slightly cloudy for 2 days now. Just broke out the TF100 for the very first time and did all the test on the white laminated card. On the CH the water turned pink not red. Is that ok for testing? This was my first time using the kit so if some numbers seem unreasonable please let me know...Thanks

TA: 110
CH:200
CYA: 40
FC: 5.5
CC: .5

What's your pH? What has your pump run time been?

Cloudy water will probably require a SLAM, but you can confirm it with an OCLT tonight.

 

[drnava99]

PH is at 7.5 ....going to elevate the FC to 7 now and perform OCLT tonight. Pump is running 8hrs daily beginning at 7pm...I wont be home till 10am tomorrow to check the FC. Is that acceptable for the OCLT?

 

[jblizzle]

You should run the pump all night when doing the OCLT ... but, you need to test in the morning before the sun hits the water (that is the point of the test), so sounds like tonight is not a good time to do it.

 

[drnava99]

Just recruited some one to check the FC before the sun hits the water. Thank you... will post my findings soon as i can

 

[drnava99]

Failed the OCLT. Begun the slam process this afternoon.

 

[drnava99]

Water looks clear.....still in the slam process....will check OCLT tonight again.

 

[drnava99]

Still Slaming.....I was gone for over 24hrs so i upped the FC to 30 before I left. Is that safe to do? Water looks crystal clear now. I will do another OCLT tonight to make sure all the algae is gone. At what FC levels is it still safe for the kids to get in at?

 

[pwrstrk]

It's safe to swim up to SLAM level.

 

[duraleigh]

Still Slaming.....I was gone for over 24hrs so i upped the FC to 30 before I left

The SLAM process suggests that you bring the FC up to SLAM value in the FC/CYA chart (which would be 16) and you brought your FC to 30?

Did you pick 30 for a reason? Probably no harm that you did that but it's a little too late to ask if it's safe after you have already done it.

SLAM requires a careful sequence of testing and dosing to make sure everything stays within ranges we know are harmless. Again, no reason to worry about it now.....done is done....but you are not following the SLAM process correctly if you arbitrarily dose the pool.