Cloudy with a chance of tears

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C

chjohnson101

0
Gold Supporter
Apr 24, 2012
9
Greetings,

I've done a ton of searching and have seen a number of posts concerning my issue but not having much luck. I've had my pool for two years and it's been trouble free until now. I cleaned my cartridge filter and failed to turn the pump back on and low and behold 4 days later I had a very cloudy pool. My TA was 240 and my pH is off the charts low, I added 65 drops to get pH to 7.4. The best part of the story is that my pump decided to die, can't help to think it's due to the acidic pool water I'm running through it. I'm hoping to gain some wisdom as to what is the best work flow/order to manage. Thanks in advance for the help, my kiddos are hoping to get at least one more swim before the end of the season.

Pool details:
11k gallons
Fiberglass
Cartridge filter
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

What test kit do you have? From what you posted, seems like you next investment should be one of the Recommended Test Kits.

It is pretty puzzling that you could have a high TA and a very low pH ... something about this information does not make a lot of sense to me (unless you added a LOT of acid recently).

So what is the story with the pump? If you do not have a working pump, then clearing the water is going to be impossible.

Also, when a pool suddenly goes cloudy, it is generally due to not enough chlorine (nothing to do with the filter). The required FC level is a function of your stabilizer level. How are you adding chlorine to your pool?

It is going to hard to help until you have a full set of test results: Please add your pool details to your signature and location to your profile as described HERE as it will help us help you.
 
My apologies for the lack of detail, comes with the level of frustration. I did recently add muriatic acid to try and bring down the alkalinity however, it didn't seem to bring down the alkalinity. Prior to doing anything else I figured I'd consult the folks here in order to glean a bit of wisdom from you all. The test kit that I'm using is the Taylor K-2006.
TC - 2ppm
FC - 1ppm
I have a pool frog which is feeding the chlorine. Once I realized it was off and yes, out of chlorine, I turned up the chlorine and shocked it.

I agree that it is unlikely to have the low pH and high TA but sadly these are the numbers I'm getting. The water was cloudy prior to the pump failure a couple days ago. I'm putting in my new pump tomorrow but want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to the water in the mean time to get it back in balance.

Crystal Clear?
 
How much muriatic acid did you add? You can not just keep adding acid in an attempt to lower the TA ... it does not work that way and will result in a pH WAY too low.

Post up ALL the test results: FC CC pH TA CH and most importantly CYA. As I said before, the required FC level is a function of the CYA level see FC/CYA Chart. If you are only using tablets in the Pool FROG (are you also adding the metals as we HIGHLY recommend NOT doing that) then your CYA could be way too high to get your pool back in shape, requiring water replacement.

To get the water cleared up, after the pump is running, you need to SLAM the pool with bleach. [slam:3lewknh3][/slam:3lewknh3]

BUT, we have to figure out the pH and the CYA situation first.
 
"Pool guys" can be so reckless ... they just do not have much of a clue and you will be much better off getting a test kit and learning from us.

What was the strength of the acid?

You should never just blindly add anything to you pool. You should have added some acid (maybe 1/2 gallon was fine) and then at least an hour later tested the pH to see if you needed to add more. You need to learn the poolcalculator which will tell you how much product to add to get a desired change.

I am reluctant to believe any numbers at this point. Do you have any basic test?
 
Hello again...

Okay, here's the update... I finally have a new variable speed pump up and running. I've been aerating for about 8 hours and here is where I'm at.

FC - 2.4
CC - 4.4
pH - 7.2
TA - 240
CYA - 80
TH - 230

I haven't added anything else with hopes aerating will get the pH up to a more reasonable level. The pool is slightly cloudy but is significantly improved, I can see the bottom of the 'deep end' which is just over 6'. Obviously alkalinity is still very high but was hoping to get some good advise from you all on what I should do next. The best part about this pain in my butt has been the amount of knowledge I've gained from this site! Thank you again everyone!!!
 
You need to go the SLAM process as explained in the above posts or in my signature.

First you need to decide if you want to SLAM with that high of CYA or drain about 1/2 of the water and SLAM with the CYA at 40. Reducing the CYA is recommended as it is easier to SLAM with a lower amount of CYA in the water. It will also make maintaining the pool in the future much more manageable.

If you do not want to drain, then you can start to SLAM right now.
 

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Thanks ping. I decided just to go ahed and SLAM with it as is. I'm switching over to a SWG in the spring and just want to get it in good shape before closing it for the year. One thing I did have a question about is when doing the FC & CC test. I finished with my CC waited about a min or so after to ensure it was truly clear and recorded my numbers. Left the water in the tube and came back about 10 min later and it was pink. How long should I be waiting between drops to ensure it remains clear?
 
Drops should be about 1 second between and once it goes clear, and the next drop makes it no clearer, then you subtract that last drop you added that caused no change and that is your result...no waiting. If you wait long enough, it will always turn back to pink.
 
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